Search: “Iran”

There sure seems to be a lot of hand wringing over travel these days.  We have had two bans imposed by the US, one ridiculous (the generic ban on anyone coming from 6 Muslim countries) and one more realistic, albeit still open to question (the ban on electronic devices for passengers boarding aircraft in 10 […]

There have been many times in history where statements made publicly have turned out to be somewhat less than true.   Remember the famous “Dewey defeats Truman” headline in the 1948 US Presidential election?  What about then CIA Director George Tenet’s claim that intelligence pointing to weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a “slam […]

Well, if there was any doubt about what a Trump presidency means for the US, and by extension for all of us, over the next four years there is little doubt now.  In the first week alone a flurry of executive orders have been signed on a whole bunch of issues that Mr. Trump promised […]

I am a glass half full kind of guy, someone who seeks to find the positive in life.  I am an optimist tinged with realism.  Three decades in intelligence and 15 years in counter terrorism do tend to give one a good look at the less savoury aspects of life on this planet and as […]

OK, it’s done.  Donald Trump has become the US’ 45th President, markets have swung wildly, people are panicking, some fear the Apocalypse.  Take a deep breath and calm down.  As the 44th President, Barack Obama, predicted last night, the sun did indeed rise this morning (even if I cannot see it in cloudy Ottawa). A […]

If there is one thing we know about terrorism it is that what we do – or what we don’t do – has a real chance of effecting what terrorist groups do.  For terrorist groups are really good at telling the world why they use violence and usually place the blame for their carnage on […]

Foreign policy is tough.  I say that not with any hands-on experience as a former foreign affairs officer but as a former intelligence analyst who worked alongside many people at GAC (Global Affairs Canada, formerly DFATD, formerly DFAIT, formerly EAC, formerly…) on international security issues.  I learned that Canada has a very good reputation internationally […]

I have often said that we here in Canada are living in a post-religious society.  This is not to imply that religion does not exist here or that faith is not very important to many Canadians, but rather that it does not have the profile it once did and does not appear to have a […]

I listened to a fascinating interview on CBC Radio’s The Current this morning (February 25) with former Google executive Wael Ghonim on the role that social media played in the Egyptian uprising of 2011.  Mr. Ghonim was the creator of the FaceBook page We are all Khaled Said, named after a young man brutally beaten […]

The new Liberal government in Canada has been talking about terrorism quite a bit lately.  We now have a decision on what Trudeau’s policy on Islamic State (IS) will be as well as a renewed – and much needed – emphasis on countering radicalisation in this country. And the Defence Minister, Harjit “bad-ass” Sajjan, has […]