Search: “far right”

What threats and concerns should be at the top of Canadians’ lists? Well, according to interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose the answer is clear.  It is Islamic State.  The terrorist group, in her view, poses “the greatest threat to humanity” (I really need to support this statement with a citation otherwise people will think I […]

I just realised that the title of this blog is a little ambiguous.   For the purposes of this entry I don’t mean using legislation to deal with the effects of radicalisation (passport seizure, peace bonds, arrests, etc.).  No, here I mean using law enforcement personnel to help stop radicalisation before it starts. We know […]

We know that terrorism is an all too common occurrence these days.  It seems sometimes that there are attacks everywhere all the time.  In the past ten days alone we saw successful plots in Istanbul, Jakarta and Burkina Fasso – in the latter two seven Canadians were killed. In light of all this, what is […]

I must admit I am getting tired of seeing nation states repeat the same mistakes they made previously in counter terrorism policy.   I suppose the only saving grace is that the officials making these errors are sometimes not the same ones who made the errors initially, but can’t they learn from previous ill-considered policies? […]

Whenever a terrorist attack happens and innocent lives are lost we get a typical litany of accusations.  The attackers were evil. Their act was heinous.  They are inhuman.  Sometimes the terrorists are called cowards. Contrast this with how the terrorists refer to themselves.  Mujahideen.  Jaysh al Islam (Army of Islam).  Ansar Muhammad (companions of the […]

There is no question that in the war of ideas between us and the terrorists we are not winning, despite the fact that the odds are so much in our favour.  Our way of life is so superior to that of the terrorists that this should not really be a contest and I shouldn’t have […]

I have just returned from spending three wonderful days in New York City.  Broadway.  Central Park.  American Museum of Natural History.  Bryant Park.  The city that never sleeps.  And the city that is never far from the attention and aspiration of terrorists. When I used to work in security intelligence it always struck me that […]

At the risk of inviting criticism for leaping in just after the tragic events in Paris last night, before all the facts are in, here are a few thoughts on terrorism and risk. First and foremost, it is important to reject to the degree possible the heinous crimes committed.  It is very early still, but […]

The field of psychology has taken quite a hit lately.  Since the true test of scientific veracity is replication (if I make a hypothesis about a phenomenon based on an experiment and no one can get the same results based on the same methodology the hypothesis is weak), a recent report that slightly more than […]