What Do The Terrorists In Brussels and Paris Have In Common?

The terrorists, based in Hamburg, who were responsible for the 9/11 attack in the US are very different from those who carried out the attacks in Paris and Brussels.  The 9/11 attacks were conducted by highly educated individuals who had adopted a radical form of Islam under Osama bin Laden. The terrorists responsible for the attacks in Paris and Brussels had a long history of violent criminal behavior.  They had served time in prison for acts of criminal violence well before the violence they put on display in Paris and Brussels.  Criminal gangs have been transformed into terrorist gangs by ISIS leaders who have provided them with a justification for their violent behavior.  The criminal gangs in Brussels have something in common with criminal gangs elsewhere.  They grew up in conditions of extreme poverty where criminal violence was a common form of behavior.  Some intelligence experts describe them as Islamized Radicals.  Others claim that they are not radicals at all.  They are criminals who have found an excuse for the acts of violence that that they have come to enjoy.