Categories
Perspectives

Today in Terrorism: 13 November

The Bataclan theatre attack catapulted ISIS, and more specifically, returning foreign terrorist fighters into the international limelight. I have never witnessed a terrorist attack, let alone been injured in one. I have had to analyse the aftermath of many terrorist attacks and even been a small part of a larger team that helped to prevent […]

Categories
Perspectives

Today in Terrorism: 28 October 2004 Bombing at bar in southern Thailand

On this day in 2004, two were killed in bombing three days after 85 Muslims were crushed to death by military.

Categories
Perspectives

Al Baghdadi’s death will not signal the end of ISIS

Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi has been killed by US Special Forces but ISIS will live on.

Categories
Perspectives

Today in Terrorism: 26 October 2005 market attack in Israel

Six killed by suicide bomber at market in Israel; attack by Islamic Jihad

Categories
Perspectives

Is tit for tat terrorism now inevitable?

When you are a child your first instinct is to hit back at others who have hit you or with whom you are frustrated (I see this a bit with my 19-month old grandson). We have to be taught not to lash out at others – in other words to resist our natural reactions. This […]

Categories
Perspectives

The terrorist attack that wasn’t – and one that may have been

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on April 1, 2019. If you are like me – and I really hope you are not for many, many reasons! – you probably read the news with a certain slant and through a certain filter. In my case, I read almost everything via a terrorism lens – […]

Categories
Perspectives

The US keeps shooting itself in the foot in its CT policy

As the nation which suffered the single greatest terrorist attack in history – 9/11 – the US has a vested interest in developing a counter terrorism policy so that these events do not happen again, especially in the US. To be honest there is also a completely understandable desire for bringing the perpetrators to justice, […]

Categories
Perspectives

Tit for tat terrorism

Of all the analysis on the terrorist attack in New Zealand which an Australian white supremacist slaughtered 50 innocent Muslims at prayer, including a three-year old boy, what has surfaced on occasion is the fear that this incident will inspire others to carry out similar heinous acts of violence: copy cat crimes if you will. […]

Categories
Perspectives

Are terrorist victims receiving less sympathy than the terrorists who victimised them?

Is it just me or has there been a tendency of late, at least for some people, to see terrorists as victims? If you have been reading the many, many stories about those who joined Islamic State (IS) or other terrorist groups and who now want to come home, you may have noticed that they […]

Categories
Canadian Intelligence Eh! Podcast

What now? Road terrorists?

Episode 1 – In this inaugural broadcast, former Canadian intelligence analyst Phil Gurski looks at what we mean by terrorism and sets the stage for future podcasts.