Mourning and heightened security in Milan after the Brussels attacks

MILAN—Flags in public places here are flying at half-staff to commemorate the latest victims of savage violence in the bomb blasts that rocked the airport and a metro station on Tuesday in Brussels.

Well before this week’s new attack, security in Milan was intense. Just to visit the cathedral can take well over an hour of standing in line to pass through security that includes a metal scanner and then a search of bags and parcels. Military personnel heavily armed with machine guns patrol the line. One can go through another line just to pray in sectioned-off areas of the cathedral; this line is much shorter, but the security is the same. Entering the cathedral is very much like passing through airport security. It was reported today that a woman was told to drink down a bottle of water she had with her. No water bottles into the cathedral!

People here are used to hightened security. Last year from May 1 to October 31, Expo Milano 2015 took place in Milan, a huge international event. Everyone was alert to the possibility of an incident. Fortunately none occurred. Still, heightened security sometimes led to two to three hours in line waiting to get in.

People accept the nuisance of high security as a necessary part of life these days. If a terrorist is willing to die himself in his determination to murder others, little can stop him except preventing his access to dramatic venues or events. And it is crucial, people conclude, to live life with reasonable caution but also without fear, refusing to give the terrorist the last word and thus the victory.