Search: “CSIS”

If there is one agency that has not done too well, at least not publicly, since 9/11 it is the US’ CIA.  From failing to have the right people and resources in place to prevent those terrorist acts from happening to the news over the use of torture and ‘black sites’, the Agency – as […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on September 17, 2018. At the risk of engaging in pure self promotion I would like to announce that my fourth book on terrorism, entitled “An end to the ‘war on terrorism’”, is coming out later this month (for those in Ottawa who are  interested I will be […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on September 10, 2018 “Islam should be banned like we ban pit bulls”.  You read that right.  This was a Twitter post by an erstwhile candidate for the Parti Quebecois in the upcoming Quebec election.  Suffice to say he is no longer on the PQ slate.  But let […]

How much money do you carry in your wallet?  If you are Canadian not much.  We are apparently the world’s most frequent users of debit, followed by the Swedes.  So I guess not much then. Before the dawn of debit, though, I would wager that most people carried $60-100 on them at any given time. […]

A couple of months ago I attended a meeting of TSAS, an assembly of Canadian academics who look at terrorism and national security issues (TSAS stands for ‘Terrorism, Security and Society).  I have a number of friends at TSAS and am in fact an affiliate, although I am not myself an academic. At that meeting […]

One of the harshest criticisms over a lot of stuff that is written about terrorism is the distinct lack of reliable and primary sources.  Papers and books are written in an academic style with little use of actual data, although as my friend Bart Schuurman in the Netherlands has stated things are looking up as […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on August 27, 2018 Whatever side you take on the investigation by former FBI Director Robert Mueller on whether the Trump campaign team colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential elections – either it is a very serious allegation of wrongdoing by the current president and/or his […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on August 20, 2018 Is there any less desirable way to travel these days than by air?  Long lineups everywhere, intrusive searches, the delicate dance of holding up your pants while shuffling (since you have to remove your belt before  you pass through the scanner), trying to figure […]

I was very privileged to work in the Canadian intelligence community for more than 3 decades.  My career spanned 17 years with CSE – Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s signals intelligence agency – and 15 with CSIS – the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.  There was not a day when I could not wait to get to […]