Search: “al shabaab”

I bet some of you are wondering why this blog post is being written, in light of the title.  Surely, you are probably saying, there is no contest.  Iran meddles in the affairs of other countries, supports terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizballah and is trying to acquire nuclear weapons.  And then there is that […]

In the wake of the Paris attacks and continuing developments, we have been inundated with dire warnings that everything has changed. These attacks were the harbinger of a “new wave” of terrorism  now that Islamic State has left the confines of Syria-Iraq and decided to spread its carnage elsewhere (Egypt, Lebanon, France…).   So much […]

As we sift through the carnage and horror of last Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris we are already seeing the ugly underside that humans all too frequently exhibit.  Republican candidate Donald Trump calls for American mosques to be closed.  Other presidential hopefuls, and several state governors, have stated that will stop Syrian refugees from being […]

Now that everyone and his uncle has had a chance to comment on the nuclear accord reached with Iran, it’s my turn. (Full disclosure: I was an Iranian analyst in the Canadian intelligence community for twenty years and was even fluent in Farsi at one point – alas no more!) There is no question Iran […]

As US officials and others struggle to understand why Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez shot and killed five Marines in Tennessee before he himself was shot to death by police, we are left with the usual potential suspects.  He had mental issues (depression).  His father was a radical (he was once on a US terrorist watch list). […]

This has been a very, very disturbing day. An attack – including a decapitation – in France.   Tourists slaughtered in Tunisia.  Shia Muslims killed by a suicide bomber at their mosque.  After prayers.  This evokes the senselessness of the massacre last week in Charleston, South Carolina. I’ve always advocated keeping things in perspective and […]

The RCMP in Winnipeg detained a 23-year old Manitoban and seized a number of hard drives they said he used to express support for the Islamic State (see story here).  The youth arrested is a convert to Islam and the son of a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.  He as apparently been on CSIS’ watchlist […]

Our prime minister is quoted as saying that “jihadi terrorism is one of the most dangerous enemies our world has ever faced” (see article here). Really? Bigger than the threat of MAD during the Cold War? Bigger than the Nazi onslaught of the 1930s and 1940s? More dangerous than climate change or run-of-the-mill violence?  (homework […]