Search: “Al Qaeda”

The state of freedom of speech seems to be a hot topic these days.  The Economist devoted a recent cover story to it.  UK scholar Timothy Garton Ash has just written a critically acclaimed book on the issue.  Every day we read of new assaults on journalists and activists in China, Russia, Egypt (two Al […]

We are getting all too used to this.  A man (usually, but very occasionally a woman) walks into a theatre/school/office/restaurant with a weapon that has no place other than a war zone and kills dozens.  Sandy Hook. Aurora.  Columbine High School.  San Bernardino. Now Orlando.  More mass shootings in the US than there were days […]

Over the past few years we have been informed that a significant number of Canadians – probably close to a 100 according to the latest data (i.e. the CSIS Director) – have decided to travel to Syria/Iraq and join terrorist groups such as Islamic State and, to a lesser extent, the Al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al […]

Canada is a pretty good place to live.  We constantly rank high on every conceivable list (quality of life, happiness, opportunity, openness…) and it is no secret that millions who live elsewhere would give anything to move here.  Sure, we are not perfect and we have a few skeletons in our closet (first and foremost […]

As I wrote in a blog post yesterday, today marks the 10th anniversary of the arrest of 17 men in the Greater Toronto Area in the culmination of a massive terrorism investigation by Canadian authorities.  In what came to be known as the “Toronto 18” (the last subject was arrested in August 2006) Canadians were […]

One of the most central tenets of the ideology that drives terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Boko Haram and others is the belief that Islam and the West are in a state of war.  This war, they maintain, was not instigated from within or by the Ummah, or Islamic world, but rather is […]

A lot of people and a lot of governments are getting tired of the so-called “War on Terrorism”.  More and more attacks seem to be happening all the time.  What we used to think was a problem “over there” is now “over here”: Brussels, Paris, San Bernardino, Ottawa…  We cannot seem to get away from […]

The rolling hills of West Sussex provide a beautiful backdrop for just about any activity. I have just returned from a two and a half day conference at Wiston House (Wilton Park) at which 50 people were charged with looking at the relationship between religion and radicalisation.  An emotional and difficult topic to be sure […]

The other week Islamic State (a.k.a. ISIS) came out with issue #14 of its premier on-line magazine Dabiq.   There was the usual stir over the appearance of yet another propaganda product from the world’s most worrisome terrorist group as analysts pored over the text to do content analysis and determine whether this edition contained any […]

We learned today (April 25) that a Canadian citizen, John Ridsdel, was killed by a terrorist group that had been holding him and three others, including another Canadian, a Norwegian and a Filippino, hostage since last September.  The extremist organisation, Abu Sayyaf, had made several demands for ransom and appears to have beheaded Mr.Ridsdel when […]