Obamas are all smiles as they continue tour in Argentina despite growing criticism they should return home in wake of Brussels terror attacks
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The moment he found out: Obama and his National Security advisor Susan Rice talk on the phone with Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco to receive an update on the terrorist attack in Brussels; He made the call from the residence of the US Chief of Mission in Havana
Donald Trump came out against President Obama after his two Republican rivals, suggesting that the speech to the Cuban people looked 'ridiculous' in light of today's news
John Kasich followed suit and suggested that President Obama return home 'immediately' instead of staying in Cuba through the rest of the day
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz whacked President Obama this morning for staying put in Cuba instead of coming home to deal with the terrorist situation in Brussels or heading to the country
No worries: President Obama later reacted to today's ISIS attack in Brussels during an ESPN interview but at the top of the game he was clearly having a good time
The world's on fire and this guy's pandering to communists.
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President Obama was all smiles this afternoon as he arrived at an exhibition baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national baseball team
In his speech 0bama will espouse the great wonders of unfettered immigration.
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No worries: President Obama later reacted to today's ISIS attack in Brussels during an ESPN interview but at the top of the game he was clearly having a good time
38 dead and counting. NYPD goes on Alert and Obama goes to a baseball game. He can't get out fast enough
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Obama - accompanied by wife Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia - is on a two day official visit to Argentina having just left Cuba on an historic trip
[h=1]BREAKING NEWS: Paris master bombmaker and two Belgian brothers are named as the Brussels airport bombers who had been on the run for eight days after shoot-out with police[/h]
Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, from Brussels, pictured on CCTV at airport minutes before blowing themselves up
At 8am pair detonated suicide vests killing 14 people - accomplice in white Najim Laachraoui is on the run
At 9.19am a 20 were killed at Maelbeek Metro station when a suicide bomber blew himself up on packed train
Laachraoui believed to be the extremist bombmaker who made suicide vests for the Paris murderers who killed 130
Anti-terror police found another bomb, an ISIS flag and 'chemical products' in hideout used by the bombers
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Brussels massacres, which killed 34 in total and injured around 230 others
Belgian brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui have today been named as the two airport suicide bombers who murdered 14 people - eight days after escaping a shoot-out with police in Brussels. The third member of the bombing squad - now known as the 'Man in White' - was named as expert bombmaker Najim Laachraoui, who is still on the run after leaving a suitcase packed with explosives and calmly leaving the terminal moments before the massacre at 8am yesterday. Just 79 minutes later a suicide bomber detonated his vest on a Brussels Metro train at Maelbeek station killing 20 people. Laachraoui was already one of the world's most wanted men, having built the suicide vests that helped kill 130 in Paris last November and went on the run with Salah Abdeslam before hiding in Brussels for four months. And Khalid El Bakraoui rented the apartment where Paris terror attacker Salah Abdeslam was captured by anti-terror police last Friday, according to respected Belgium news organisation RTL. Abdeslam's arrest on Friday is believed to have sparked yesterday's twin terror attacks on the Belgian capital that left at least 34 people dead, and police fear Laachraoui could be planning another attack in Belgium unless he is found. All of the men were 'well known' to detectives and had been on the run for almost ten days following a shoot-out in a terrorist hideout in the Belgian capital's Forest suburb. They opened fire on police and fled. Yet they still managed to find another address to stay, where they stored the explosives and guns used in Tuesday's attacks.
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Brussels bombers: (Pictured left to right) Brother Khalid El Bakraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui have been named as the airport suicide bombers and explosives expert Najim Laachraoui is the third man - still on on the run
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First picture: Belgian brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, left, have been named by the Belgian media as the two airport suicide bombers - their accomplice in white remains at large having walked out of the airport
Najim Laachraoui, one of the suspects of the Paris terrorist attacks, is believed to be the man in white on the run - and is a close associate of Salah Abdeslam, right, who was arrested on Friday - an act said to have sparked yesterday's bombing by his terror cell
The brothers were the same two men that fled a Brussels police raid last week where police shot and killed Paris bombing suspect Mohamed Belkaid. The raid carried out last Tuesday on a flat in the suburb of Forest saw a sniper kill Belkaid while the El Bakraoui brothers managed to escape police. Police acted on a tip-off in connection to the Paris terror attacks, and carried out the raid in Forest, which is close to Molenbeek, where several jihadis behind the Paris attacks lived. While there was initial speculation that the raid had aimed to capture Paris-terrorist Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested later in the week in a separate operation, this was later denied by a police spokesman. Belkaid, an Algerian national who was illegally in Belgium, was found with an ISIS flag, AK-47 assault rifle and a book of jihadist literature next to his body. At the time police said: 'two persons [the El Bakraoui brothers] who were probably in the flat fled the scene and are being tracked down'. Less than one week later, Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui carried out the terrorist attack at Brussels airport and as passengers queued to check in for flights at around 8am local time (7am GMT) the first blast rang out.
People fled towards the entrance of Brussels Zaventem Airport, a second much bigger blast in front of them brought down much of the ceiling and sent razor-sharp shrapnel, body parts and clouds of thick dust and smoke billowing through the building. According to Belgian news website 7sur7, Ibrahim was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for firing at police with an AK-47 assault rifle during a robbery. Khalid was also given a five-year jail term in early 2011 for possessing AK-47s and committing a series of car-jackings, it was reported. It is not clear when they were released from prison. Their use of Kalashnikovs, a signature weapon for ISIS and other extremist groups, will raise questions about why they were not monitored more closely by security services. Belgian terror expert Pieter Van Ostaeyen says French prosecutor indicating that Abdeslam had started talking to police may have triggered attack ‘The three terrorists thought their network would be exposed and carried out their terrorplan before this happened as a pre-emptive move,’ he told Aftonbladet. ‘It happened today [Tuesday], maybe weeks or months before the planned date. ‘The French prosecutor should not have talked so much. He sent out the wrong signals to the ISSI network still intact in Europe, so it was high time for them to act and that's exactly what happened. ‘The Belgian police investigation was leaking, and that’s why it happened now,’ he adds. Belgian intelligence services are already under intense pressure to explain a number of failures that have allowed members of the ISIS cell to operate under their noses in the capital.
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Cover: Belgian police are 'actively searching for' Europe's most-wanted man, who had been wearing a white coat, glasses and a hat - he was named today as Najim Laachraoui
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Close up: This man is believed to be Khalid El Bakraoui, seen at the airport and pictured wearing a black glove, believed to contain a detonator on his left hand
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In detail: This man, believed to be Ibrahim El Bakraoui, said to have had a detonator, who later exploded his nail-shrouded device at Brussels Airport yesterday
At least nine Americans injured in Brussels terror attack including 3 Mormon missionaries, a US Air Force lieutenant colonel and five members of his family
Richard Norby, 66, (left) Joseph Empey, 20, (far right) of and Mason Wells, 19, (center) all from Utah were hurt in the blasts along with the US service member who was with his partner and four children.
[h=2]Take THAT, terrorists! Cartoonists show famous Belgian statue URINATING on ISIS as the internet unites in tribute to the bomb blast victims [/h]
In a stirring sign of mass defiance, thousands have posted images that show the boy from Brussels' Manneken Pis statue - who is depicted urinating into a fountain - relieving himself on ISIS jihadists.
Social media users around the world have paid tribute to the 34 people who lost their lives in a series of blasts across Brussels by sharing cartoons that undermine the terrorists responsible. In a symbol of mass defiance, hundreds have posted images that show the boy from the city's iconic Manneken Pis statue - who is depicted urinating into a fountain - relieving himself on ISIS fighters. They have also adopted the phrase 'Je suis', which became a hallmark of support for France in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, using #jesuisbruxelles in a show of solidarity with Brussels. Others tweeted pictures of Tintin - one of the country's most popular exports - mourning those who lost their lives in blasts at Brussels Airport and a crowded Metro station.
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Defiant: Cartoonists have undermined those responsible for the bomb blasts that devastated Brussels. The boy from the city's Manneken Pis statue, who urinates into a fountain, is seen relieving himself on terrorists
Other images showed the flags of France and Belgium standing together as the French illustration labelled '13 Novembre' - the date of the Paris attacks - places its arm around its Belgian companion. Many were simply love hearts drawn in the distinctive Belgian colours of red, black and yellow, while others had ribbons inset.
Another showed the legendary Belgian creation Tintin crying a solitary tear. The caption read: La belgique pleure ses enfants, which translates to 'Belgium weeps for her children'. The French 'Je suis' hashtag first gained international popularity in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks on January 15 last year. It again resurfaced following the Paris attacks in November, when ISIS terrorists murdered 130 people in coordinated gun and suicide bomb attacks.
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Iconic: Some of the cartoons shared show Tintin, Snowy and their friends, including Thomson and Thompson, the series' bumbling detectives, crying and mourning those who lost their lives in the explosions
In the wake of the two atrocities, thousands attended rallies carrying placards bearing the phrase, while it was also used on social media as a focal point for tributes. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo today announced the Eiffel Tower will be bathed in black, yellow and red light in homage to 'the victims, their loved ones and all the people of Belgium'. 'Today Europe is targeted at her heart,' Hidalgo said. 'Once more it is basic values that are attacked: freedom, humanism, tolerance and unshakeable commitment to democracy.'
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An illustration depicting the French and Belgium national flags as people shows the two united in grief following the respective attacks on the countries on November 13 and today
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Another shows a paint-spattered love heart coloured with the distinctive black, yellow and red of the Belgian national flag
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The show of solidarity erupted on Twitter under the hashtag '#jesuisbruxelles', French for 'I am Brussels'
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This tribute, posted under the 'jesuisbruxelles' hashtag, showed a peace sign and said: 'Pray for Brussels'
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Another showed the Belgian national flag with the Ribbon International placed in its centre
She expressed her 'full solidarity and that of Parisians,' the statement said, adding that the mayor spoke to Brussels counterpart Yvan Mayeur to 'tell him how much we share their sadness and grief'. And French President Francois Hollande said that attacks in Brussels that killed at about 35 people struck at 'the whole of Europe'. 'Through the attacks in Brussels, the whole of Europe has been hit,' he said in a statement, urging the continent to take 'vital steps in the face of the seriousness of the threat'. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: 'We are at war. Over the past few months in Europe, we have endured several acts of war'.
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This image roughly translated to 'thoughts for Belgium.. and Brussels'
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The hashtag started trending after similar declarations of solidarity were published in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo and Paris attacks in 2015
The November 13 attacks in Paris claimed 130 lives, 10 months after attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket left 17 dead. Several of the jihadists involved came from Brussels. The last surviving jihadist of a 10-man team who carried out the November attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in Belgium on Friday, where the attackers had rear bases and what appears to be an extensive network of support.
At least nine Americans injured in Brussels terror attack including 3 Mormon missionaries, a US Air Force lieutenant colonel and five members of his family
Richard Norby, 66, (left) Joseph Empey, 20, (far right) of and Mason Wells, 19, (center) all from Utah were hurt in the blasts along with the US service member who was with his partner and four children.
Turkey detained one of the Brussels suicide bombers, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, in June 2015 on charges of being a foreign fighter.
El-Bakraoui was later extradited to Belgium where he was cleared of the charges after they couldn’t find sufficient evidence. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Belgium ignored Turkey’s “warning that this person is a foreign fighter.”
Posted by The Right Scoop on Mar 23, 2016 at 4:49 PM in Politics | 90 Comments By The Right Scoop
This is not good.
AP – Security officials have told The Associated Press that the Islamic State group has trained at least 400 attackers and sent them into Europe for terror attacks.
The network of interlocking, agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, describe camps designed specifically to train for attacks against the West.
The officials say the fighters have been given orders to find the right time, place and method to carry out their mission.
Don’t worry. Obama says ISIS isn’t an existential threat. So nothing to worry about here.
