Tragedy in Liège

Today at lunch time has been a terrible tragedy in the historic city of Liege when a murderous attack killed four people and injured 75 (so far, numbers may change) in the middle of the city. The first target seems to have been a bus shelter at Place Saint-Lambert. There are conflicting reports about who is guilty for this. Witnesses said there were a group of attackers, shooting guns and throwing bombs, officials though say there was only one, Nordine Amrani (32) who carried out the killings and then did suicide to himself. Emergency stations were set up, people were advised to stay off the streets and emergency assistance was sent from Namur and Maastricht. It is a terrible, terrrible day and the pictures released even by the media are shocking of the horror and bloodshed. Who could do such a terrible thing? I don't know who is Nordine Amrani. The police say he was sentenced to 58 months in prison in 2008 after an inspection of his home found stocks of illegal weapons and 2,800 cannabis plants. From just the name, Amrani, I would guess he was a Moroccan but I cannot know that for sure yet. After what has happened in so many cities all across Europe and what happened in Norway, the first thing that entered my mind was this was either a deranged Muslim or a deranged Belgian angry at the Muslims all over the country. Every act of mass violence seems to be one of those two nowadays. Just recently the news said that in my beloved Antwerp a Kalashnikov (AK-47) was found in the home of a young Belgian convert to Islam who is a member of the radical group Sharia4Belgium. And in Mons a Muslim father was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison for the "Honor Killing" of his own daughter, Sadia Sheikh. A brother who was the one who actually shot the poor girl was sentenced to 15 years in gaol and a sister was given five years. She was 20 years old and what was her "crime"? She wanted to marry her Belgian boyfriend instead of the Pakistani chosen by her parents. What is the country coming to? Never before have such things happened. Even my parents who are the most peaceful, moderate (and really boring!) people you can think of, are becoming alarmed by all of this that seems to be increasing every day. But what can you do? Today all I can do is say a prayer for the poor people in Liege and their families who have been robbed of their loved ones by this maniac.

The King and Queen late tonight visited the scene of the disaster, meeting with local officials, survivors and families of the victims. The feeling of horror could be seen on their faces all day.

Riots Rock Antwerp, Asylum Seekers Pile Up

This problem really is getting out of control. Only recently there have been many stories about the centers to house those seeking asylum in Belgium are over-filled to bursting with over 2,600 more people coming in just in the month of October. And the government is trying to deal with this problem while the national debt is growing larger and the EU-economic crisis becomes more extreme every day. And, at the same time, while more and more people flood Belgian shores, there is rioting in Antwerp between rival immigrant groups; Kurds and Turks, that the authorities have to deal with. The big riot on Saturday in Antwerp was the third such disturbance in only one week. Bus shelters were torn apart, store windows were smashed, cars were vandalized, at least one person was stabbed and many have been taken to hospital. Each side blames the other for responsibility for the violence. Surely anyone can see that this problem is not going to disappear, take care of itself or become better instead of becoming worse. There are Muslim groups now taking to court the government for discrimination (the burqa ban) and rioting in the streets, yet each month thousands more arrive wanting asylum in Belgium. This cannot be a good idea, especially for a small country where, as we see painfully today, even the native population has some problems getting along with each other. Nothing will be done it seems like, at the moment nothing can be done I guess because of the political deadlock but I am afraid these riots and things will only get worse as we have more people coming in and now bringing their own  ethnic feuds with them.

Burqa Ban Remains

The constitutional court has thrown out a case filed by two Muslim women which called for the law which bans the wearing of the burqa (that awful head-to-toe goth beekeeper outfit) in Belgium. This was put forward by the women on the claim that it limited their freedom of movement since they cannot wear the burqa in public yet they feel they have no choice but to wear the burqa at all times -so they claim that they cannot go anywhere. The court thought this was ridiculous and threw away the proposal. Whether or not the burqa ban is constitutional has still not been decided so the law could go away anyway next spring when the court is expected to make the big decision about the law. I don't like any government telling people what to wear but for me this case only illustrates why I support the ban on the burqa. By saying they cannot go anywhere without being covered in black robes from head to toe these women only show how repressive their religious belief is and not the law. This is why I think the ban is necessary because it will force people to make a decision who have been trying to push legalism to the limit or to say it different, using freedom to promote oppression. I say I do not like laws telling people what to wear but this is exactly what these women are saying about their religion -it tells them what they have to wear everyday! For my opinion this shows a simple test these people did not make. Belgium is a traditionally Catholic country, today largely non-religious and tolerant. If your religion is so repressive to demand this extreme form of control you really should not be moving to a place like Belgium at all. We have a tolerant society but that cannot mean we tolerate everything. Oppressing women, which the burqa is a symbol of, keeping them subservient and second class is not something we will tolerate. If the Muslim men think women should have to wear a burqa and if it is not oppression then they should have to wear the burqa also and see how they enjoy that! Besides, most women are beautiful and it seems a bigger crime to hide them all just if the men cannot control themselves.

Belgians Killed Osama - NO!

A friend of mine (who I always disagree with) said, just in mention, that he was afraid Belgium might come under attack by Muslim terrorists because “our weapons” killed Osama bin Laden. This I had not heard! Seems strange to me, America being the country where almost everyone has a gun, why would United States use Belgian weapons for their best troops and secret missions? This I had to investigate. I also should mention my friend was very upset that Osama bin Laden had been killed. He thought it was very stupid for the Americans to do since Osama had not done anything for 10 years and now his death would cause Muslim terrorists to launch a whole new wave of attacks in revenge for the killing of their leader. Allow me to say here that is NOT my point of view. Osama bin Laden was responsible for the killing of thousands of people at 911 and he deserved to pay the consequences, no matter how long it took. For example, there are very old men still being arrested for war crimes done in World War II, it does not matter that they are 80 or 90 years old and have done nothing wrong in all the decades since. Still the authorities pursue them.

Anyway, I do a little search and find out really there is no evidence the American commandoes used Belgian weapons anyway. It is true (I was surprised to learn) that the United States bought Belgian made rifles from FN Herstal in Liege because they thought they were superior weapons. Nice to know we make good guns but there is no evidence the Americans used these in the killing of Osama, other articles I found said they used a US-made rifle called M4 Carbine. The only thing I could find that was Belgian being used in the attack was “Cairo” the Belgian Malinois who was trained to find bombs and alert the commandos to escaping terrorists or the arrival of Pakistani soldiers to the compound. So, calm down everyone, probably the only thing Belgian involved in the attack was the dog and he probably was born and bred in America also with the only thing Belgian of him being his breed.

But regardless of that though, I do not think we should have to be in fear of taking any action against a known criminal because it might upset others in his gang. Law and order has to be upheld and the guilty have to be punished no matter the consequences or otherwise we have to be just cowering in the corner anytime someone attacks us, doing nothing in response but begging for mercy. And also, these sort of terrorists that admired Osama bin Laden seem to need no provocation to attack western countries. As long as we have a different religion or no religion at all we will be the enemies of those kind of people no matter what other actions we take. That is a fact we have to face.

Terrorists in Belgium

The government is reacting more to the recent arrest of terrorists in Antwerp and Brussels. Unfortunately, they seem still to not be receiving the right message of all of this. All seven terrorists have now been formally arrested (not just “detained”) according to Federal Public prosecutors with their investigation focusing on a Chechen terrorist organization. Their plans for an attack in Belgium remain still unclear as to exact targets but it is also believed they were working to recruit more terrorists and raise money for carrying on their brutal war in southern Russia. This is what the website “Ansar Al Mujahadeen” was crucial in for the terrorist operations. The investigation is being led by the Mechelen examining magistrate and the seven terrorists will appear in court on Friday. Unfortunately, I do not think the authorities are taking this as seriously as they should be doing.

Of those detained in the police raids in Brussels against terrorist suspects only two out of fifteen have been kept in detention. This operation has focused on a network of Islamists in Belgium trying to raise money and recruit killers for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Belgian authorities have asked for the extradition of three suspects currently being held in Amsterdam, Netherlands and it is now up to the Dutch courts to cooperate on that issue. However, the Head of the Threat Analysis Centre has come out now, very vocal, to assure everyone that this recent round of arrests is an anti-terrorist operation not directed against the Islamic religion. Does he suppose we will all believe that the fact that all of these terrorists are Muslims has absolutely nothing to do with their actions? He also denied the critics that the police raids were made too quickly and without proper evidence. Where do you suppose these criticisms were coming from? And what would be “proper evidence”? Do they think the police should wait for a national monument to be blown to bits or maybe a crowd of people to be murdered before they take action?

Head of the Threat Analysis Centre André Vandoren said, “I think we should await the results of the investigation, but I wouldn’t want people to think that this was an operation that was initiated with undue haste. There is one matter that I want to make very clear: This is not an anti-Islam operation. Not at all. We should appreciate that radicals often only make up a small minority within certain groups”. Give me a break! This is the soft attitude of denial of reality that is putting the lives of all Belgians and all Europeans in danger. Face the facts Vandoren! No one is being fooled anymore. All of these terrorists are not Christians or Jews or Buddhists -they are Muslims. We all know that, we know what it is all about and to continue to deny the problem will only make things worse. Also, for the charge that these arrests were done too hastily, that is just stupid. All of these arrests have been part of investigations that have been going on for years. There has been nothing hasty about it.

Terrorist Plot Stopped in Antwerp

This is what happens when people do not take seriously the threats of massive immigration of foreign cultures and hostile religion. Today raids in Belgium, Netherland and Germany after more than a year-long investigation resulted in the arrest of Muslim terrorists in Antwerp who were planning an attack on Belgium. What was to be their target exactly is not known but they were all in their twenties, living in Antwerp and, of course, were all Islamists. The killers have been called "international jihadist fighters" and have been linked to the Islamic fundamentalist website Ansar Al Mujahedeen, set up to recruit terrorists. Seven killers were arrested in Antwerp who were Belgians (by citizenship), Dutch (by citizenship), Moroccans and Chechens from Russia. Two more are being held in the Netherlands and one in Germany in connection with the plot. Police reports say they are focusing on the effort of these individuals to recruit more terrorists and to raise money for the Chechen rebels/Muslim terrorists in southern Russia. Most of them are, police believe, linked also to the Chechen terrorist group 'Caucasus Emirate' that wants an independent Islamic Chechnya apart from Russia.

More disturbing is that three of the terrorists arrested in Antwerp are believed to be members of the group "Sharia 4 Belgium" which most know after their threat to murder author Benno Barnard. The effort to stop these plots in Belgium are being coordinated by the federal prosecutor's office. No news have I heard yet of their possible targets. But also in Brussels police have taken action against a number of suspected terrorists as part of a 3-years long international investigation. Seventeen places were raided by police in Brussels, prompted by the desire to stop a possible major terrorist attack in Belgium these Muslims were planning. Many people have been questioned and the action, police say, is being taken against Muslim terrorists in Belgium with ties to Iraq and Afghanistan. A Muslim not-for-profit organization has been active in recruiting terrorists to fight and make attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the targets of the police investigation was the Belgian Islamic Centre in Brussels and has brought up memories of Malika Al Aroud, the corrupted Belgian woman convicted of using her website to recruit more Muslim terrorists. There may even be some connection between her and this present threat but that is not certain right now.

Europe Multi-Cultural Failure

On Saturday Bundeskanzler Angela Merkel told young members of the Christian Democratic Union that multi-culturalism in Germany has "utterly failed", citing the growth of the Muslim community which started with Turkish immigrant workers and has grown to about five million Muslims living now in Germany. She pointed out that society is now polarized and many of the Muslim youth are not even learning to speak German. This, naturally, set off new accusations of Islamophobia on the part of Merkel but the chancellor also could not quite bring herself to be as brave in addressing the obvious problem as she tried to be. She had to add the argument that this was a problem of integration and not one of cultures and civilizations. She also had to add that the mosques and burqas are in Germany to stay. Well, no use worrying about it now then, it can't be helped so why bother talking about it?

Is she being honest about this, who can say? One thing is sure is that there are not many public officials with the courage to even address the issue. The Queen of Denmark did once, in a very polite and non-confrontational way, safe in the knowledge she could do nothing about it. But let anyone actually address the problem as a problem and you will see how the likes of Geert Wilders, Jean-Marie Le Pen or Jörg Haider are treated. In other words, tell the truth of what Islam teaches, oppose unlimited immigration and you will be branded as a criminal, a bigot and a nazi or a fascist. Well, I am safely out of reach of the politically correct gestapo and I can say that not only is the massive Muslim immigration a problem but integration is not the answer and it will never happen. Even if it could happen, how would turning Muslims into a new breed of Germans, French, Dutch or Belgians be good for them? That would be betraying their own religion and culture as well. However, if you try to restrict immigration and say that if you are a Muslim you will not be 'at home' in a country like Belgium, Netherlands or Germany, you will be called a bigot and a racist. But this is not simply a racial issue. Belgians know very well you can be of the same race and still sharply divided (regardless how absurd it is). It is not the race of these millions of immigrants that is causing the biggest problem but the religion of them.

The problem is that Islam is a religion absolutely opposed, fundamentally, to the history, culture and values of Europe. It is also true that Islam is not purely spiritual but enforces a legalistic government of its own. They cannot integrate and never will because to be a Muslim means you cannot be a German or a Belgian or an Austrian. These are Christian countries with Christian cultures. These are democratic countries that are not and never have been theocracies. It is totally repugnant to the values of, let us say Belgium but choose as you please, to force women to cover up, to mutilate people who do a crime, to allow you to lie to someone who is not of your religion or treat some people as having more rights than others. All of these things Islam demands of its followers. They have their own laws, leaders and loyalty and in Belgium there should be room for only one flag; the black-yellow-red. But, because the major parties try to avoid dealing with this issue it is pushed to the fringes and I will admit quite often the parties that take it up are suspect and not ones most people are comfortable with. In Belgium they are a small minority in support but across the border in Netherlands they are becoming more mainstream as the situation worsens. If this is a problem it is only because the mainstream parties have refused to address the issue and surrendered it to the fringes who seem insane.

Europe is going down the tubes because people are too busy arguing with each other to address common problems, because too much power is given to unelected EU bosses who do not care about their countries or peoples and because everyone is so afraid of what others will call them that they will not state honestly the problems we are in. This allows the situation where Europe is now falling apart. Huge waves of immigrants are coming in like we have never had happen before, younger people are not getting married, no one has alot of children anymore (bad for the environment if you do anyway) and everyone feels sorry for themselves and act like they hate their own history and traditions and want them to be replaced by something else. By the time they are starting to realize that something else is not so nice as they were told it is getting to be too late to do anything about it. Like Merkel said, it is a fact of life, we have to get along because there is no going back. That is always the way is it not? There's no going back, you can never go back, no matter how wonderful anyone remembers things had been before, you can never go back. My God we are on the road to our own death and they still say we cannot go back!

Perhaps I have been corrupted by my foreign education but I want to turn the car around.

Possible PM Gets Death Threat

(from Flanders News) The Flemish commercial broadcaster VTM has received a letter containing death threats addressed to the man currently leading the negotiations for the formation of a new federal coalition Elio Di Rupo (Francophone socialist). VTM passed the letter on to the Federal Judicial Police in Brussels.

A police spokesman told journalists that the threats are been taken seriously and that an investigation has been launched.
The spokesman added that the very fact that an investigation has been launched proves that the Federal Police don’t believe that the letter is the work of a prankster.

The letter opens with the words “In the name of Allah”.

The writer goes on to say that “A homosexual can’t become the Prime Minister of a future Islamic state like Belgium.”

“The sinner and homosexual Di Rupo will die by the white sword.”

Although Mr Di Rupo keeps his private life very much to himself he makes no secret of his homosexuality.

If he becomes Belgium’s next Prime Minister he will be the European Union’s first openly homosexual PM.

The Interior Ministry’s Crisis Centre has decided not to give Mr Di Rupo extra protection.

The Centre will continue to monitor the situation and make any changes if necessary .

Belgian Marines Deploy to Djibouti

Six Belgian marines are on their way to the former French African colony of Djibouti to take part in Operation Atlanta in the Gulf of Eden. One of the marines will be the second-in-command of the mission for a certain time. The six Belgians boarded a French navy frigate bound for Djibouti at the end of July and are due to arrive on station today where they will join the other forces of the European Union's Atlanta mission in the Gulf of Eden. Belgian Defence Minister Pieter De Crem (Flemish Christian Democrat) tried earlier this year to convince the French to hand over command of the operation to Belgium but the French refused. This will be the first time that Belgian naval personnel will take part in Operation Atalanta. Last year the Belgian Navy frigate Louise-Marie was sent to the Gulf of Eden and earlier this year the Navy supply and logistics ship Godetia participated in the mission also.

Operation Atalanta is part of the multi-national coalition to guard against terrorism and piracy in the seas around the Horn of Africa, mostly originated in Somalia where Islamic terrorists have mostly taken control from the ineffective government. The operation has been underway since 2008 and includes forces from across the European Union as well as Montenegro, the Ukraine and Norway.

Radical Muslims in Belgium (Scary)

The First Crusader

Today the Muslim population is exploding in Belgium (no joke) both because of laws, Belgian and EU, favoring immigration from Africa and Asia and also because they are just have many more babies than the native Belgians. This is already leading to big problems of assimiliation and social cohesian and we see this in the burqa ban and other laws. It is ironic that while politicians continue to try to encourage the divisions between the Flemish and Walloon populations, even endangering the country itself, they encourage acceptance of diversity and more immigration that means soon all Belgians, Dutch or French speaking, will be outnumbered by Muslims. This should not be allowed! Nothing could be more contrary to the history and culture of Belgium which is a country of Christian religion, love of life, love of liberty, and love of beauty. If there is a Muslim majority in the country the Kingdom of Belgium will not be one anyone will recognize any more from the country that has always been.

What makes this even more outrageous is that the first Crusader of history was the Belgian noble knight Godfrey de Bouillon. His example shows that the current viewpoint of the Christian armies that fought in the Middle East is totally wrong, that they were good men but like many good man they are attacked today for that basic reason. During the First Crusade there was no official leader but 2 or 3 gradually emerged and the greatest of these was Godfrey de Bouillon who led the knights from Lorraine, Belgium and other 'Low Countries' area. Even though they had every disadvantage the Catholic Crusaders, small armies of Christian warriors, captured Nicea in April 1097, Dorylaeum in July and Antioch the next year. In 1099 they moved to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims and Godfrey de Bouillon led the attack, the final attack, in a siege tower that he had to support with his own back when a holding beam broke and fell!

Godfrey and his Belgian soldiers smashed through the Gate of St Stephen, as the shock troops of the army, so that the French knights of Raymond of Toulouse could charge in to take the city. Then there was the infamous "sack of Jerusalem" where some of the Christian knights got out of hand and killed some civilians and destroyed some parts of Jerusalem. However, Godfrey de Bouillon took no part in that action and condemned it for being behavior unworthy of the Catholic religion. He was such a great warrior and such a respected man of integrity that he became the first King of Jerusalem. Are modern people really that aware of this great historical hero?

If Godfrey de Bouillon could see Belgium today, what do you think he would say about the large and growing Muslim presence? If King Richard 'Heart of the Lion' could see England today what would he say? Religion used to be something that the large majority of Belgians had in common, even if not everyone carries it out the same way or to the same extent, but being a Catholic country was something that united the people because most everyone had that in common with each other. How can a growing Muslim population do anything but cause even more division to the country? How can such a population ever really fit in to a country that is so directly opposed to what they are all about? The culture of Belgium and the culture of Islam are opposed to each other and if things continue as they are one will have to win and one will have to lose, one will dominate and the other will be suppressed. I know which side I support! Vive le Belge!