Terror strikes Brussels

Terrorism has once again spread its devastating tentacles into Europe. Three bomb explosions shook Brussels during the morning rush hour Tuesday, injuring nearly 200 people and killing at least 34 and injuring nearly 200. But the death toll is set to rise according to Belgian authorities. The attack comes days after a police raid culminated in the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, who is accused of being involved in the Paris attack that killed 130 people, in Belgium. The dreaded Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the two bomb attacks in Brussels, a news agency affiliated with the group said. Similar to the one in Paris, the attack on Brussels holds great symbolism for the attackers. The current war between IS and Western powers has spread across Iraq, Syria, and Libya. These nations had stable, but undemocratic regimes that were attacked by US-led Western powers with little more than a regime change in their minds. The regimes were beaten to a pulp, but what was left was chaos. The retaliatory war is now being extended to from where it first came. The decision to choose Brussels as a site for the attack holds great symbolic value since it is the headquarters of NATO and lie at the center of European political integration. Suffice to say, this newspaper wholly condemns the horrific events of Tuesday. Whatever the motive, nothing can ever justify the sheer horror many innocent civilians suffered in Paris or Brussels.  It is, however, impossible to delink the horrors of March 22 from the larger geopolitical crisis that has engulfed the Middle East in recent times. Without the US-led NATO invasion of Iraq, there would be no Islamic State. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in an interview with CNN, partially acknowledged this very claim.