BELGIUM, 14TH ON GLOBAL PEACE INDEX RANKING STRUCK BY ISLAMIST TERROR.. THE LESSONS..

Tuesday the 22nd of March 2016 started as a normal day  in Brussels. Young  and old went about their businesses. Students prepared to go to the school, travelers decided to make their trips to their various destinations. 

A traumatized victim

THE DEVILS STRUCK

The BBC reports that witnesses heard screaming in Arabic as men prepared to meet their own detonated their lethal devices. Twin blasts hit Zaventem airport at about 07:00 GMT, with 11 people reportedly killed instantly killed. Another explosion struck Maelbeek metro station near EU headquarters an hour later, leaving about 20 people dead.

There was rife confusion. People who were alien to terrorism saw themselves scampering.for safety as is normal with man's innate value for life and hence the survival instinct at the slightest hint of danger.

THE GLOBAL PEACE INDEX

 The Global peace index is a rating metric used by the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) to rate the relative peacefulness and safety of a particular nation. It is  and developed in consultation with an international panel of peace experts from peace institutes and think tanks with data collected and collated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The First List appeared in 2007 and has consistently been updated .

Gathering evidence from the thrash

These three broad themes are used to gauge global peace; the level of safety and security in society' the extent of domestic and international conflict, and the degree of militarization. The Factors are both internal such as levels of violence and crime within the country and external such as military expenditure and wars.

The latest ranking was in 2015. On this List, Iceland takes the Lead at number 1 while Syria is at the bottom of the table at number 162, Nigeria is down below at 151. Belgium is a Very peaceful nation at number 14 with relatively little or no domestic violence and crime. 

A STRANGE OCCURRENCE

 No wonder the people of Brussels were awestruck when the suicide bombings took place at their home land airport of Zaventem and the Maelbeek subway. At least 31 lay dead with more than 200 injured while the living were running in all directions and experienced untempered  fear  in an alien experience.

ISIS

Flowers for the dead at Brussels

Islamic State of Syria and the Levant have claimed responsibility for the attacks daring the west to "catch us if you can". Why they chose Belgium is not really clear but from what we know, since the Paris attack, Belgium has been very outspoken against terrorism and have voiced unyielding commitment to help root out terrorism from its soil with cross border  collaboration with France and large scale internal raids. 
Four days ago Belgium and French police announced the arrest of  Salah Abdeslam, a central suspect in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. As of Monday, authorities were still looking for his accomplices in that attack reports npr.org. Republicans have condemned president Obama for treating the ISIS menace with kids gloves since the time they boldly emerged in 2013.

THE LESSON
The Eu raised alarm of impending attacks on an European soil. France and Belgium also  had hint of an imminent attack on home soil, especially with bold attacks on France by terrorists with links from Belgium. Why they failed to foil the attack is a question that requires answers. Technology , police might and their secret service alertness failed them in the day of their attack. 
Although a manhunt is on and video footage are being used to track suspected conspirators, the situation the that occurred at Brussels led to loss of lives, property and valuable infrastructure as it has been in Africa and Asia which have been at the heat of terrorism all these years. The west have been folding their hands and allowing the third world to wallow in what they termed "their problem" now no where seems safe anymore. 

I am Brussels

The west may raise is security levels from one to 5 but terrorism is an ideology that cannot be confined to one locality. With the vast reach of the internet, the African terrorists can share ideas with western ones. A brooding Islamic terrorist sect that is taking shape in a mountain cave in Pakistan can turn out to be a brutal source of wreckage to an Airport in a presumably safe western state.
The world seems to have left Africa and Asia to suffer their dismal fate but a lesson from Brussels calls for a global collaboration against the terrorists to root out these demons from the farthest end of the world to the foremost.