Categories
Perspectives

Funda-mental?

We can’t seem to get away from the whole mental illness/terrorism nexus.  Popular wisdom still maintains that people who engage in acts of terrorism must have some form of mental disturbance.  This argument is being put forward yet again in the case of the Chatanooga shooter, as he was allegedly depressed at some point in […]

Categories
Perspectives

Judicial jihad?

A couple of years ago, I remember reading an article in the Wall Street Journal in which the phenomenon of “lawfare” was featured.  Lawfare occurs when a person misuses the legal system to intimidate others from criticising him/her and threatens to bring personal liability action.  The term was applied to a number of scenarios: when […]

Categories
Perspectives

Losing faith

In a recent video appearance before the Canadian national security and defence committee, charged with preparing a report on threats to national security, former Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali warned the Canadian government that “you should be looking out for the sprouting of mosques and Islamic centres. You should be looking out for the establishment of Islamic schools […]

Categories
Perspectives

No way to run a railroad

The Canadian government has been in the counter terrorism (or countering violent extremism – CVE – as it is now known) for a long time.  In addition to the hard response (CSIS, RCMP…) there is the softer approach.  The latter involves engaging with Canadians and communities to talk about difficult issues like terrorism and radicalization. […]