Categories
Perspectives

Today in Terrorism: September 26, 2014

In all the debates about what is more important today from a terrorism angle, i.e. where we should put the greatest concentration of resources to counter it, I find there is one glaring omission. As we go back and forth on whether to put all our eggs in the jihadi basket or the far right […]

Categories
Perspectives

An all-around, all cause violent radical

If you think about it, there are a lot of things to be angry about today. Whether it is social inequality, racism, the inadequate response to global climate change, ‘collateral damage’ or just your everyday unfairness there are more than enough causes to get behind.  For those who go beyond talk, i.e. activists, most  are […]

Categories
Perspectives

Has CSIS been getting counter terrorism wrong all these years? Nope.

OK, OK, I am a little sensitive when it comes to articles on CSIS. I did work there for 15 years after all and was (and still am) very proud of what I and my colleagues did to help keep Canadians safe. No, we were not perfect but I think we did our best. So […]

Categories
Perspectives

Is Antifa a terrorist movement?

I cannot imagine that the Canadian government, or any other Western government for that matter, will try to list Antifa as a terrorist entity any time soon.

Categories
Perspectives

Making CSIS ‘smarter’ at counter-terrorism, easier said than done!

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the very good when it comes to Canadian counter terrorism.

Categories
Perspectives

What now – ecoterrorism??

It has been a busy – and rough – time for agencies engaged in counter terrorism of late. We have been focused on Islamist extremism for so long now – and for reasons that have been 100% justified as I have written on many, many occasions – that those agencies have been accused of not […]

Categories
Perspectives

The danger of ascribing motive to violent acts too early

All of Canada is living through a real time manhunt as I type. Three people were killed in remote northern BC on July 15, a young American woman and her Australian travel mate as well as a 64-year old man from Vancouver. The suspects in the case, Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod, are believed to […]

Categories
Perspectives

1,000 blogs on terrorism and counting…where will this all end?

When I left the Canadian civil service – more accurately the security intelligence world – in May 2015 I had some of the restrictions on what I can say and do lifted. Up to a point. I still cannot talk in detail about operations I was part of or intelligence I was privy to and […]

Categories
Perspectives

Terrorism: plus ca change (part 1)

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) For many in the post 9/11 world it may seem as if terrorism is something new – and terrible. We are constantly inundated with news about attacks here and attacks there, sometimes […]

Categories
Perspectives

Bad actors are winning the online battle. It is time for the majority good actors to step up

News flash! The Internet is not always used for good! What are we going to do about it???? I don’t suppose these headlines strike anyone as real ‘news’, do they? We have long known that any technology can be leveraged for good or for bad (dynamite was developed by Alfred Nobel – yes, he of […]