If there is one shining light in the aftermath of the Arab Spring it is Tunisia. Not that the competition is very tough. Egypt went from an elected Muslim Brotherhood (MB) government to a military one under General Sisi. Bahrain’s short-lived revolution is no more. And as for Syria, well I really don’t think I […]
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How one boy became a terrorist
Terrorism is very simple and very complicated at the same time. Its simplicity comes from the set of axioms that underlie every terrorist and every terrorist group. We can summarise terrorism in three compact phrases: My people are suffering. I/we know who is responsible for the suffering. I/we need to use violence to stop the […]
I am afraid of heights. Even climbing a ladder scares me. I also don’t like amusement park rides. You could say that both of these things terrify me. I am not ashamed of that. So, if I read a few columns lately by Doug Saunders and Allison Hanes correctly, I should call high places and […]
Years ago I attended an International Studies Association (ISA) conference in New Orleans and found myself in a small room at a hotel listening to a former CIA guy give a talk on something or other under the rubric of the ‘Intelligence Studies Group’ (or something to that effect). I do not remember what his […]
In the immediate aftermath of the incident in Edmonton Saturday evening I quickly found myself caught up in a battle of words on social media (Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn) over my use of the word ‘terrorism’ to discuss what had happened. The truth be told I was in one way merely following the lead of Edmonton […]
It has now been almost 24 hours since a man in a Chevy Malibu drove up to an Edmonton police officer doing traffic duty outside a CFL game, struck him at some speed, knocking him in the air, and proceeded to stab him several times before fleeing. The suspect later was stopped in what appeared […]
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A week of terrorism in Canada
If you were to ask most people around the world about my country I am pretty sure that few would respond “Canada? Oh it is a hotbed of terrorism!” This is not to say that there have not been any terrorist acts over the years – in fact many forget that the single largest act […]
Three cheers for Saudi Arabia! The conservative Kingdom has ruled that women can now drive and no longer need to be accompanied by a mahram (essentially a male guardian) when they are in a car. Many are celebrating this decision although some conservative killjoys have accused the government of ‘bending the rules of Sharia’. Some […]
In the wake of the recent storms that ravaged the eastern Caribbean and Florida a lot of Canadians were stranded in resorts and hotels and undoubtedly were suffering under horrible conditions, life-threatening ones even. Many savaged the Canadian government and Canadian airlines for not acting more quickly to get them home and out of harm’s […]
Well this is a strange move by the Trudeau government. It was announced yesterday that Canada’s police, intelligence and border agencies – i.e. the RCMP, CSIS and CBSA respectively – can use “torture-tainted information” in efforts to stop a terrorist act from occurring. The allowance was not unlimited however, as these organisations cannot “disclose information […]