Search: “CSIS”

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 […]

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 […]

The photo has already become iconic.  The picture of the little Kurdish boy lying face down in the water has touched the lives of tens of millions around the world.  It ranks up there with the girl running naked after a napalm strike in Vietnam and the vulture stalking a starving Ethiopian boy.  This photo […]

In what seems likes eons ago,  former US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld once provided his take on what the US intelligence community knew about the terrorist threat during a news conference.  It is worth repeating here. “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is […]

It is rare for an intelligence agency to get public credit for what it does or how it does it.  It is even rarer for a group of intelligence analysts to be featured in a news story and described as at the forefront of understanding a particular threat. Analysts are like the Steve Carrell character […]

The Canadian Justice Department has been very busy on the anti-terrorism front lately.  After the Anti-Terrorism Act was passed what seems like ages ago, three other bills were rushed through Parliament in the past few years. S-7 made it an offence to travel to join a terrorist group or commit a terrorist act abroad.  C-44  […]

I see that the American government and its intelligence community are engaged in a debate over which terrorist group poses a greater threat to the US: Al Qaeda (and its affiliates) or the Islamic State (and its sorta affiliates).  There are proponents on both sides of the ledger and good points are being made by […]

In baseball, a batter that achieves a .300 average (i.e. 3 hits in every 10 tries) is considered a success.  A goaltender with a save percentage of over .900 (meaning he saves nine out of every ten shots he faced) is considered good.  Other professions undoubtedly have their own measures of success. So why is […]

We all know that politicians are generally not well regarded.  Recent surveys in the US have shown trust in Congress at around 14%.  Not good. I suppose the reasons for this historic lack of confidence vary from person to person.  Most news stories seem focus on illegal spending, or outrageous perks or how little time […]

When most people think about terrorism, they probably have some pre-set notions of what it looks like.  Terrorists are from disadvantaged backgrounds.  They are marginalised.  They have mental health issues.  They are inherently violent people. All these preconceptions are wrong.  Or at least they are not very good at predicting who becomes a terrorist and […]