How we must respond to Brussels

I was at European Union headquarters in Brussels last month, before moving on to Paris to discuss anti-Semitic hate crimes, terrorism and thwarting ISIS’ brilliant leveraging of social media.

At the end of our EU meetings, my Simon Wiesenthal Center colleague Dr. Shimon Samuels and I rushed to Brussels’ Central Train Station. “Better get there early,” Shimon advised, “after the Paris attacks and the Brussels connection to the terrorists, there are strict new security measures in place.” When we arrived I found no special security in place, just a few bored soldiers smoking cigarettes and one rail worker who asked for an ID to match up to my e-ticket.

The next day, a senior French Interior Ministry official responded with a diplomatic shrug when I asked “what good were the new strict security measures taken on all outbound rail traffic from Paris when there seemed to be nothing serious in place in Brussels, a mere hour away by train?”

Experts are investigating whether today’s highly sophisticated and coordinated attacks in Brussels are linked to the capture this week of Salah Abdeslam, sole survivor of the 10 men behind the French terror mass murders, or if they were set in motion long ago by another ISIS cell. There are now an estimated 5,000 European-born Islamist terrorists, trained in Syria or Iraq or Libya, who have melted back into cities across Europe.

The tactics displayed are deeply troubling to say the least. ISIS has apparently been able to use its control of the vast territories and vast sums of money it has amassed to upgrade the education of bombers and suicide vest makers and to deploy these weapons across Europe.

What must European leaders do?

First, get rid of the open-borders Shengen Agreement, which allows unencumbered travel between 26 European countries. It has been in place for 20 years, but it clearly allows terrorists to move around undetected. Second, all Western countries must vet all migrants from the Middle East. The decency of European countries has been abused by terrorists, some of whom have entered their nations comingled with legitimate refugees.

France, Germany, Belgium and other democracies also must take control of all urban neighborhoods. No-go zones in Arab and Muslim areas are incubators of Islamist extremism and, as in the case of Brussels, safe haven for terrorists.

Failure on the part of European democracies to fully implement these measures will not only ensure escalating terrorist outrages but will push even more European voters to join the ranks of xenophobic far-right parties.

It is clear that Europe is in for a long and, God forbid, bloody struggle.

The unending terrorist carnage should also force the hi-tech and social media giants, from Apple to Google and YouTube, to develop and deploy technological trip wires to thwart ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Al Shabab’s unfettered access to Internet technologies. If they don’t, many officials across Europe have told me they will use their legal and economic clout to force them to do so.

But even if Europeans undertake all of these steps, they cannot win the day without a global commitment to crush ISIS, kill their leaders, and take back all the territory they currently control.

That war can only be led by one country—the United States of America.

The easy thing to do is to focus our attention on the five remaining presidential candidates and to hear from them what steps they would take to eradicate the enemy, starting in January 2017.

But world events won’t wait for a new leader. Right now, the evildoers are winning.

Here is what President Barack Obama said today while in Havana:

“…and we stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people.

“This is yet another reminder that the world must unite,” Obama said. “We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism.”

Sorry President Obama, such words are meaningless unless we commit to stop “degrading” ISIS over time, and undertake to destroy them. There is a coalition of the willing waiting to be activated. It will mean putting American, European, Turkish and Arab boots on the ground. All that is needed is leadership from our president.

In sports, we are taught that the best defense is an offense. The same should apply to defeating terrorism.  So after watching the ballgame in Havana, I urge the president to travel to Brussels, lay a wreath in memory of the latest victims, then step up to the EU podium and declare war against ISIS incorporated.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper is Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.