I changed the subject of the thread to "Brussels: Why?" - I think that's the question the OP wants to ask.

I was listening to an analysis on the radio the other night. The speaker said that Brussels has a large Muslim community that has been neglected for decades. The people get very little in the way of government services, and they feel forgotten and despised.

This creates an environment where extremist groups can form and operate with very little notice, and they have a large supply of unhappy young people to recruit.

There are large Islamic communities in many cities in Europe. While they have been there for decades, they have not been integrated into society. And that's a powderkeg.

I suppose both the Muslims and the Europeans are at fault. It won't be an easy problem to solve. I usually feel safe going anywhere in Europe, but I admit that there were times I felt uneasy when walking alone in Muslim areas of Paris and London and Berlin - and my experience in Berlin was when I lived there in the 1970s. Back then, everybody with dark skin was thought to be a "Turk," and they were treated as lower-class citizens.

To ask why the Brussels attacks happened, is certainly not racist. To assume that the nature of Islam is the reason for the attacks, that could be racist. Many Muslims are peaceable, generous people. To assume they're all terrorists or that their religion is a foundation of terrorism, is racist. It can be used as a foundation of terrorism, but many good things can be twisted to bad uses. The problem is far more complex and far older than we might think. And the blame is widely spread - it's not just one side who's at fault.

-Joe-