Terror in Belgium

At 8AM, Brussels was hit by one of the worst terrorist attacks in its history.  Two consecutive attacks occurred in the Belgium capital within one hour, killing more than 30 people and injuring more than 200 people.  The first attack occurred at the Brussels Airport, north of the city center while the second attack occurred at the Maelbeek metro station, near the European Union institutions.  The Belgium authorities said there were three suspects involved in the attacks and they were seen on a surveillance footage minutes before the explosions at the check-in area.  Two men are thought to have been the suicide bombers while the third man, according to Belgium authority, is to be at large and is on the run.

I was driving to work in this morning and as I listened to the news on the radio, I thought I was hearing things because it didn't seem right.  Belgium just captured the last Paris attacker last Friday and now there were attacks already in Brussels. It didn't make sense to me and as I shrugged off my skepticism and continued to listen to the BBC news, it hit me that there were actual terrorist attacks and Belgium is once again on high alert.

I have been wanting to visit Europe this year again and there is this voice in me saying that, "You should not fly there, Europe is unstable right now and it is better to wait for a little while until things are settled down and calmer."  I felt in love with the continent when I first visited it last summer and I vowed to return to it once again to see what more it has to offer.  I want to see Rome, Athens, Istanbul, Barcelona, and Berlin and with the news of the recent Brussels attack, it shook me a bit as I read the horrific accounts of the eyewitnesses at the airport and the metro station and for the first time in my life, I realize that I was experiencing the fear of going to another country. It does not help any bit when I read a news article stating that a prominent ISIS supporter wrote, "What will be coming is worse" on a Twitter post and this shook me a bit further and all I wanted was to cancel my next Europe plan.

Then I remember I felt the same way last year before I visited Chicago in December as there was a terrorist-related attack in San Bernardino, California a week before I flew to the Windy City.  I almost canceled my Chicago trip as the fear was blooming bigger and bigger in me.  But I kept my original plan--I flew to Chicago, spent a few days there, and had a blast.  The only regret I had would be if I chose not to stick to my plan.

The goal of terrorists is to put fear in us and when we let the fear takes hold of us, we become numb and unable to function in our daily activities. We become fearful of going to public areas, hanging out with friends and family, driving to work, basically going anywhere.  When we let fear controls us, the terrorists win; they have implanted this fear in us and their mission is accomplished.  But when we choose to not to be fearful and continue with our daily life, the terrorists lose and we have abolished their mission.  Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "Only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  Terrorists want us to be afraid of them and to be in the mode of fear and we cannot let that happen. We have to stand up on our two feet, fight it, and know what the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.


Note: This post was written on the evening of March 22, 2016.