Intel failure

Brussels Attacks Highlight Breakdown In Belgian Intelligence

...TEMPLE-RASTON: Well, for years, Belgium was dealing with a homegrown radical group called Sharia4Belgium. It's since been banned, but quite a few lost young men - petty criminals, immigrants nursing resentments - have found their way to the group, and many of them then ended up in Syria. Belgian officials say, 79 of the Belgians who traveled to Syria to fight were linked to Sharia4Belgium. In fact, they say the group is part of the reason why, on a per capita basis, Belgium is the No. 1 source of Western fighters going to Syria and Iraq.

And the numbers, actually, are quite stunning. More than 500 people have left Belgium to join the fight, and about 120 have returned. And I spoke to a US official close to this investigation, and he says part of the problem had been that Belgian police were willing to turn a blind eye to those who were leaving because most of them were criminals, like the el-Brakraoui brothers, and the thinking was, you know, good riddance; they'll probably get themselves killed on the battlefield, and then they won't be our problem anymore.