And so the debate continues. Arguments range from the alarming view that those who fought with terrorist groups like Islamic State will return to wreak havoc and death on an epic scale to an Alfred E. Newmanesque ‘What me worry?’ response. As with pretty well everything in life reality is somewhere between those two extremes. […]
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This piece appeared in The Hill Times on November 16, 2017 (http://www.hilltimes.com/2017/11/16/go-mental-health-terrorism/125792) What is it about terrorism that people fail to grasp? I’ll put it as simply as I can: there are individuals (and groups) out there that plan and carry out heinous acts of violence we label as terrorism because they really believe in […]
This piece appeared in the online edition of The Ottawa Citizen on November 27, 2017 (http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/gurksi-why-parliament-needs-a-dose-of-intelligence) At long last Canada is getting some serious oversight for its intelligence agencies. Well behind most of our closest allies, including the US and the UK, the Trudeau government has created the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians […]
Don’t say I didn’t warn you, because I did (here is the blog post in case you did not see it first time). Yet another person is planning to sue the Canadian government for its ‘complicity’ in alleged abuse in connection with a counter terrorism investigation. An Algerian citizen, Djamel Ameziane, says that Canadian security […]
A few weeks ago I found myself on a panel at a National Judicial Institute conference at the storied Algonquin resort in picturesque St. Andrews, New Brunswick along with Federal Court judge Richard Mosley and retired Ontario Superior Court judge Douglas Rutherford. The three of us were asked to discuss the challenge of trying terrorism […]
Before I start, let me state this, and state it categorically: torture is unacceptable under any circumstance. While we may disagree on what constitutes torture we can all accept that subjecting anyone to systematic and prolonged severe physical and/or psychological pain in order to extract information (or to fulfill some sadistic sickness) is wrong, immoral, […]
First of all kudos to the Trudeau government for its commitment to the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (CCCEPE – that name is way too long however) $35 million over five years is an excellent start and, although details are wanting, the government sees the new office as a leadership post […]
US authorities are still searching for a motive behind Stephen Paddock’s rampage in Las Vegas last week. A number of ‘theories’ have been put forward, none of which are very helpful. For instance, the fact that Mr.Paddock’s father was a bank robber and once on the FBI’s most wanted list has turned out to be […]
It has been a little more than a week and a half since Canada suffered its latest, and thankfully still rare, terrorist attack. A 30-year old Somali refugee named Abdulahi Sharif hit and stabbed an Edmonton police officer before leading authorities on a race through the city’s streets where he struck four pedestrians before he […]
Years ago I attended an International Studies Association (ISA) conference in New Orleans and found myself in a small room at a hotel listening to a former CIA guy give a talk on something or other under the rubric of the ‘Intelligence Studies Group’ (or something to that effect). I do not remember what his […]