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Quick Hits

What the heck is a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’?

The US has long listed Cuba as a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’. Why? Is there any usefulness of such a designation?

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Quick Hits

Quick Hits – Episode 204: Canada drops the ball on ISIS terrorism

Canadian authorities elected to extradite an ISIS recruiter in Edmonton to the US where he is given a stiff sentence: why wasn’t he tried here?

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Quick Hits

Constantly citing ‘colonialism’ does not make counter terrorism any easier

Too many nations use the spectre of ‘colonialism’ to cover up their ineptitude in many spheres, including countering jihadi terrorism

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Does Canada need a ‘terrorism’ offence?

A recent court case in which a young man pleaded guilty to murder in a 2020 attack raises the issue of why we need to have terrorism charges at all

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Islamist terrorism is a far bigger threat than ‘Islamophobia’

Claims that Islamophobia trumps Islamist terrorism in 2022 do not have a statistical leg to stand on.

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Quick Hits

The curious case of the ISIS plot in Ottawa that got ignored by Canadian media

A recent ISIS plot to attack a university in Ottawa by an Alaskan man got attention in the US but not Canada – why?

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Quick Hits

When it is ok to talk to terrorist groups?

The belief that we should never talk to terrorists under any circumstances gets dicey when we are talking about saving people from starvation.

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Quick Hits

Why are Canadian courts so inconsistent when it comes to terrorism?

A recent US court decision to sentence a Canadian ISIS jihadi to life behind bars highlights the differences in terrorism cases on either side of the 49th parallel.

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Quick Hits

The linguistic flimflammery of terrorism language

There are many social ills we need to deal with urgently, including terrorism. It’s too bad some of us cannot seem to call it what it is

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Quick Hits

Terrorism and terrifying acts are not synonymous

Many things are terrifying in our world but that does not mean that every single terrifying act is an act of terrorism