Search: “9/11”

Terrorism eats up a lot of our time as citizens and news consumers.  IS.  AQ.  Boko Haram.  Hizballah.  Hindu extremists.  Anti-abortion extremists.  Boy, things have really changed since I was a kid.  Sure there was the odd story about a hijacked airplane and the Troubles in Ireland, but it wasn’t a daily occurrence (maybe it […]

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 […]

President Obama addressed the US people last night in prime time.  A nation shaken by the attack in San Bernardino needed to hear from its leader, wanted to know that he was going to do something, and craved assurances that they were safe. It was obvious before the President began his speech that many would […]

I’ve been noticing a lot more coverage of terrorism and radicalisation in the pages of New Scientist lately.  On the one hand I find this curious since the magazine, which I have enjoyed reading since the early 1980s, usually includes articles on the harder sciences: physics, astronomy and biology.  True it does treat the somewhat […]

The debate on refugees has taken a nasty turn in Canada and the US.  Some US Republican Presidential candidates have repugnantly suggested that the country take in only Christians.  Several governors have refused to take in any refugees from Syria.  In this country, several officials, including Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, have called on the Trudeau […]

As we sift through the carnage and horror of last Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris we are already seeing the ugly underside that humans all too frequently exhibit.  Republican candidate Donald Trump calls for American mosques to be closed.  Other presidential hopefuls, and several state governors, have stated that will stop Syrian refugees from being […]

We live in an age of instant information.  This is largely a good thing.   We can learn about what is happening  around the world almost instantaneously.  What used to take weeks or months to come to our attention now takes minutes.  That is a very good thing when it comes to human tragedy.  Earthquakes, […]

A few days ago I stood overlooking what was no-man’s land outside the little town of Auchonvillers in the Somme department of Picardie.  In a battle that became known as Beaumont-Hamel, the morning of July 1, 1916 saw the slaughter of most of the Newfoundland Regiment (it later received the title “Royal”): of the 780 […]

There are a lot of misconceptions out there on how intelligence agencies do what they do.  It is not hard to see why this is: after all, spy services work in the shadows and seldom say anything publicly (“I can neither confirm nor deny…”).  On the contrary, if these organisations were open books then they […]

When a terrorist act occurs there are a number of inevitable events that follow immediately afterwards.  The attackers are called “cowards” (while those who leave IEDs may be described so, can anyone really call a suicide bomber a coward?).  There is a usual demand for vengeance and retaliation. And the head of state promises that […]