Terror in Bulgaria. Why Bulgaria?

Novinite Insider » EDITORIAL | Author: Milena Hristova |July 23, 2012, Monday // 09:57
Bulgaria: Terror in Bulgaria. Why Bulgaria?

What makes Bulgaria a soft target for terror attacks? The question has been on everybody's mind since Wednesday when a suicide bomber blew apart a bus at Burgas International Airport, killing five Israeli tourists and wounding more than 30.

In short - the cash-strapped country has turned its back on preventive measures in almost every field. National security proved to be just one of them.

It is not like a lanky, long-haired man in a baseball cap, plaid Bermuda shorts and a bulky backpack hanging from his shoulders just decides one day to go on a terror spree, is it? The terror outfits need a lot of planning and coordination before they can successfully carry out a terror strike, and there is a big chance that their plan is foiled mid-way. Not so in the case of Bulgaria.

Six days after the terror strike it takes no expert to see that none of the important questions have been answered.

How did the bomber succeeded in entering Bulgaria? Who supplied him with the explosives? Did he have an accomplice? Why were security measures for Israeli tourists not stepped up after the January alert, when the target was a bus chartered to take Israeli tourists to a Bulgarian ski resort? What will it take for the Interior Ministry to concede defeat? (Obviously something more shocking than a deadly terror strike in the middle of the summer season) How come the fact that the bomber looked like any other impatient tourist checking the big board at airport arrivals is cited as a valid argument in defense of the security system? How come anyone could wander in and out of the terminal?

The questions remained valid even after Israel admitted there was no intelligence indicating Israelis in Bulgaria were about to become a target.

Terrorists know that if they strike, there would be hardly any follow up, and they can strike at will after the earlier incident is forgotten. This, coupled with the warm ties between Israel and Bulgaria, as well as the high number of Israeli tourists here, make Bulgaria a terror target much more than we have expected.

Terror has emerged as the new equalizer in the modern world, delivering the most perverted type of "justice". We, Bulgarians, are shocked because it is a horror we have only heard about on the news, a horror, which seems to have come out of the blue.

In fact, it did not.

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