belgium – Moe Lane

Jihadist in Belgium stopped by off-duty US military.

I’d say that they should make a flick about this, except that it was over so quickly.

A massacre on a high-speed train in Belgium was prevented Friday when two members of the U.S. military in civilian clothing surprised an Islamist militant, authorities said.

The suspect was loading his automatic Kalashnikov rifle in a toilet, apparently preparing to attack, when the service members confronted him, said a European counterterrorism official.

As such things go, it ended well for the jihadi. Which is to say, he didn’t die. A trained American soldier who has been alerted to danger is not a soft target, armed or no. One of the soldiers was injured (three people total). Details beyond that are still a little sketchy, which is suggestive…

#rsrh Domestic terrorist attack in Belgium leaves three innocent people dead.

The Guardian reports that this was a murder-suicide: the attacker (reported by authorities as being one Nordine Amrani): threw grenades and fired an automatic rifle, murdering three people, then killed himself. Prayers for the innocent victims and their families/loved ones, of course.

If you’re wondering about the name, it appears to be Mediterranean/North African in origin. Not specifically Muslim, although the Guardian is falling all over itself to try to warn of “the risks of journalists rushing to speculate in incidents such as this.” Which is actually not bad advice – this guy sounds like he might have been an apolitical druggie that went psychotic – but it makes you wonder what the Guardian knows that it isn’t telling. Or whether it itself rushing to speculate, based on the last name.

#rsrh Belgium.

Long a favorite curse word among such diverse groups as anti-EU agitators and the science fiction community, the days of Belgium may be coming to a close:

Belgians were voting Sunday in general elections that are widely seen as a vote on an orderly breakup of this country where 6.5 million Dutch- and 4 million French-speakers are locked in a quarrelsome union.

Polls predicted a solid showing for a mainstream Flemish party whose leader wants Dutch-speaking Flanders to sever its unhappy ties with Francophone Wallonia and, in time, join the European Union as a separate country.

Via @jstrevino. I don’t know: between the Congo Free State, World War II (not WWI), and of course the entire ‘HQ for the EU’ thing, should we just concede that Belgium had its chance, flubbed it, and break it down for scrap parts?

Moe Lane