Well, the inevitable has happened. We all knew it was coming. Canada’s most famous ‘child soldier’, Omar Khadr , is about to receive an apology and a compensation package from the Canadian government – i.e. the Canadian tax payer – ” for abuses he suffered while detained in the U.S. military prison for captured and suspected […]
Author: Phil Gurski
Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. Phil is a 32-year veteran of CSE and CSIS and the author of six books on terrorism.
Imagine the following scenario if you will. You are an HR officer for a company or in a government department and you are going through a stack of applications for an open position. One candidate strikes you as very qualified so you arrange for an interview. In the course of your talk with the aspiring […]
One thing we have all gotten used to in the post 9/11 era is the question: at any given time how at risk are we from terrorism? In an effort to answer this query for a nation’s citizenry a number of methods have been proposed. One of the more famous ones was the US Department […]
As I sit looking at a torrential downpour out my kitchen window on this Saturday morning July 1 I am nevertheless quietly happy to reflect on what it means to me to be a Canadian on my nation’s 150th anniversary. For many today the weather here in Ottawa is reflective of a sour mood. Many […]
Intelligence agencies are generally poorly understood in our societies. The agencies themselves are partly to blame since they shroud themselves in secrecy, albeit for good reasons. In addition, public perception is at fault, partly due to the assumption by many that spies are nefarious creatures at heart and partly due to the often highly inaccurate […]
Parliament Hill in Ottawa is one of those treasures found only in liberal democracies. Anyone can show up and lobby, protest, shout his lungs out or carry a placard peacefully and silently, no matter what the cause. It is also a great place to watch the fireworks on Canada Day as long as enjoying the […]
Well, we are coming up to the six-month mark of the Donald Trump era and it is time for a reckoning. So much print and coverage has been devoted to the Donald that I hesitate to add to this amount. And yet there is quite a bit that bears on counter terrorism policy and strategy […]
If there is one issue that is quite controversial and sensitive when it comes to our discussion about terrorism it is the relationship between Islam and violent extremism. As with a lot of subjects there are views that are extremes on either end, ranging from ‘Islam is a terrorist faith’ to ‘Islam, as a religion […]
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Seeking to stop the unstoppable
Some people have unrealistic views of security intelligence services. I cannot count how many times I have turned to my wife, while we were watching a movie featuring the NSA (the US signals intelligence agency) or the CIA, and guffawing ‘as if!’ when something truly outrageous is presented. Like when a small team can find, […]
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The terrorist next door
Following up on yesterday’s blog about a possible Canadian who knifed a police officer at Flint Airport in Michigan, we now know that yes indeed he is Canadian. Thankfully, the wounded officer’s condition has gone from critical to stable after he underwent surgery yesterday. The assailant, Amor Ftouhi, has been taken into custody and charged. […]