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 When the official tried to arrange meetings, however, his Belgian
counterparts were not welcoming, according to U.S. officials
familiar with the events. The Belgians indicated it was a bad time
to speak to foreign officials as they were too busy with the
investigation, said the officials, who asked not to be identified.
Belgian officials declined to comment on the incident.
The brush-off was one small sign of mounting U.S. frustration over
Brussels’ handling of its worsening Islamic militant threat.
Concern that the small European nation's security and intelligence
officials are overwhelmed -- and that its coordination with allies
falls short -- have again come to the fore following the Islamic
State-claimed attacks on Tuesday that killed at least 31 people.
Several U.S. officials say that security cooperation has been
hampered by patchy intelligence–sharing by Brussels and wide
differences in the willingness of different agencies to work with
foreign countries, even close allies.
 One U.S. government source said that when American investigators try
to contact Belgian agencies for information, they often struggle to
find which agency or part of an agency might have relevant
information.
Belgium has ordered a sharp increase in security budgets following
the Paris attacks, despite being under steady pressure to limit its
debt levels under euro zone rules. The government has promised to
recruit around 2,500 more federal police, who pursue major crimes,
to make up for a shortfall of close to a fifth of the full-strength
force of 12,500.
It also says it thwarted a major attack in January 2015, and is
eager to cooperate with European and U.S. counterparts.
"These attacks show that more coordination with the United States is
clearly desirable," Guy Rapaille, the president of the committee
that provides oversight of Belgium’s security and intelligence
services, told Belgium’s state broadcaster RTBF.
“But you have to remember that big powers guard their intelligence
very closely."
U.S. officials acknowledge the recent Belgian efforts to step up
funding and recruitment.
Yet they say Belgian security services are outmatched by the threat
in a country that, per capita, has supplied the highest number of
foreign fighters to Syria of any European nation.
"They're way behind the ball and they're paying a terrible price,"
Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence
Committee, told Reuters.
[to top of second column] |
Asked on Wednesday whether Belgium was too complacent over the
threat posed by Islamic militancy, State Department spokesman Mark
Toner said:
"I want to stay clear of saying that Belgium was somehow caught by
surprise or not aware. You know, we collaborate, we work with
Belgium closely."
Some U.S. counter-terrorism officials say much of the gap between
Washington and Belgium -- and some other European countries -- is
cultural. Europeans' deeper commitment to personal privacy sometimes
prevents or delays sharing of information such as travel data --
that is taken for granted in the United States.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the U.S. government radically
reshaped its counter-terrorism agencies. It broke down walls between
law enforcement and intelligence authorities, and created new
coordinating institutions such as the Director of National
Intelligence and National Counterterrorism Center.
Belgium, by contrast, is a patchwork country divided between French
and Dutch speakers and with multiple levels of government.
Belgian security chiefs have repeatedly complained that they cannot
handle up to 900 home-grown Islamist militants, among the highest
per-capita rates in Europe. Belgium does not divulge the exact
number of personnel in its security services and military
intelligence, but security experts say they appear under-resourced
compared to European counterparts.
"Add to that the problem of two languages (French and Flemish), lack
of Arabic speakers, and weak coordination between national and local
government, you have a huge discrepancy between threat and
response," said former CIA official and White House advisor Bruce
Riedel, now at the Brookings Institution.
(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Jonathan Landay in
Washington, Robin Emmott and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Writing
by Warren Strobel; editing by Don Durfee and Stuart Grudgings)
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