The terror attacks on the airport and a subway station near the European Union headquarters in Brussels have left at least 34 dead, and some 170 injured. Amaq News Agency [10], an ISIS propaganda organ, issued a claim of responsibility. (Long War Journal [11]) This was of course good news for the Republican presidential contenders in the US, helping to shift the debate from domestic economic suffering to the international jihadist threat. Ted Cruz [12] wasted no time, saying in a statement: "We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaida or ISIS presence. We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized." This was of course a call for bringing back the NYPD surveillance program [13] that targeted Muslims before it was shut down in the wake of outcry and litigation. It was all the more galling that Cruz made his comment on a visit to New York City, where he was quickly blasted by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton [14]. "If he's that short-sighted, I can understand why the American public would repudiate his efforts to run this great country," said Bratton. (Daily News [15])
Meanwhile Bloomberg [16] helpfully asked Donald Trump [17] if he would consider using nuclear weapons against ISIS. The inevitable response: "I'm never going to rule anything out—I wouldn't want to say. Even if I wasn't, I wouldn't want to tell you that because at a minimum, I want them to think maybe we would use them. We need unpredictability."
Even these ultra-reactionary Republicans hadn't yet broached a nuclear option—despite repeated calls for "carpet bombing" (Cruz dusted that one off too after the Brussels attack, as Salon [18] notes), which would be a clear violation of the Geneva Conventions (see Article 51, paragraphs 4 & 5 [19]). Cruz's previous pledge to find out "if sand can glow in the dark" was a veiled reference to nukes, as Salon [20] noted in December. But now it is out in the open, helping to make the unthinkable thinkable and bringing us one step closer to Einstein's predicted "unparalleled catastrophe [21]." Thanks a lot, Bloomberg.
Of course, the March 13 attack in Ankara [22] claimed as many lives as the new attack in Brussels, and elicited no such global outcry. Attacks of this scale are now practically routine in Nigeria [23]—to the barest trickle of media attention. But there's no sense in belaboring that point [24].
