Rebecca Klopf
10:06 PM, Mar 22, 2016
6:30 AM, Mar 23, 2016
How to stop a terrorist attack like the one in Belgium is something the country is focused on everyday. It takes teams of national security experts to stay one step ahead of the terrorists. And a Milwaukee man is one of the people who helps to train these experts.
A series of powerful, coordinated bombings in Brussels has the nation on alert. Milwaukee resident John Rodgers used to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense – now he helps train our intelligence community.
“If bad people want to do bad things it’s really hard to stop them,” Rodgers says.
A surveillance photo shows three of the suspected suicide bombers in Belgium. One is believed to have survived.
“The more sophisticated the attack, the more planning that has to occur with that attack, the better chance that law enforcement with pick up the different signals,” Rodgers says.
Rodgers says its so important that we watch for something that looks out of place because a lone wolf terrorist will likely work under the radar.
But the Belgium Ambassador to the U.S. says his country had expected an attack and had already heightened security.
“There were indications that something was in the offing,” says Ambassador Johan Verbeke.
Rodgers says this attack and the attack in Paris were likely all linked. With ISIS claiming responsibility, the work now will be on finding how far up in leadership the plans went.
“I think the analysis of that will show that there was a cell, it was in place and then the question will be why wasn’t the cell identified,” Rodgers says.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Hohnson says there’s no evidence of a credible threat here in the states, but says security is still being tightened. Rodgers says there is no need to cancel plans if you’re traveling to Europe.
