The
terrorist bombings in Brussels capped a two-decade long "fundamentalist problem" in the Belgian capital – and "the least effective internal security" of any city in Europe, says retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark.
In a blunt interview Sunday with radio host John Catsimatidis on
"The Cats Roundtable" on AM 970 in New York, Clark, who was stationed in Brussels from 1997 to 2000, said the tragedy must now spur Belgium to both tighten its borders – and share information more freely with its European and international allies.
"I'm not surprised [at the bombings] because they've had a fundamentalist problem in Brussels for over 20 years," he said. "These people came from the Middle East and North Africa, they just wander in."
The country doesn't have "good security. They didn¹t have good internal security 20 years ago," he added. "It was the easiest place to strike because, I think, on all the cities in Europe, this one probably has the least effective internal security."
Clark said he believes the terrorists involved in the bombings at the city's airport and subway "panicked" after the
arrest of Paris bombing suspect Salah Abdeslam, and "went into this kind of use it or lose it mode."
"There's tens of thousands that've come in as migrants," he said. "We don't know how strong ISIS is there. … They certainly need to tighten up borders and… the way they share information with international organizations."
In a separate interview with Catsimatidis, former New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly slammed Belgium for its overall handling of terrorism.
"Belgium has a complex government," he said. "It has police forces that don¹t talk to each other… I think they never received a wake-up call as we did as far as 9/11 is concerned… They sort of have remained disjointed for quite a while."
Kelly also was critical of Belgium officials for "not sharing intelligence internally" or "with other members of the European Union."
"We live in a dangerous world," he said.
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