Search: “ISIS”

It sometimes seems that we have a love-hate relationship with our law enforcement agencies.  We want to feel safe and we expect our men and women in uniform to protect us from serious crime, save women and children from domestic abuse and be human enough to engage with the homeless and destitute on on streets […]

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 […]

The questions surrounding how many Muslims support terrorism and hence represent a threat to Western societies never seem to end.  It seems that this is an obsession with us.  This is not that surprising when “politicians” like Donald Trump tell the world that “Muslims hate us”.  Not just the terrorists – all Muslims, which is […]

In light of all the terrorist attacks that occur with disturbing frequency, it is not surprising that a lot of ink is dedicated to violent extremism.  Newspapers, journals, books (some time ago I read somewhere that 10,000 books had been published on terrorism since 9/11 – I wonder what that number is now?) and other […]

I see that one of the greatest terrorism scholars alive, Bruce Hoffman, has just published a piece in Foreign Affairs predicting an eventual alliance between Al Qaeda (AQ) and Islamic State (IS).  I see this article as Mr. Hoffman’s attempt to remind us,  as he so often has, that AQ is not dead and cannot […]

From time to time a bizarre case crops up in the world of terrorism, even in Canada.  We have all read of individuals who are portrayed as incompetent or cells described as “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight” (that was the consensus on the Toronto 18 for a long time and may still be believed […]

I see that the US has undertaken airstrikes against the Libyan “province” of Islamic State (see article here).  The initial focus seem to be tied to targeting an individual behind two attacks  in Tunisia.  It is likely that more strikes will take place and it is even possible that Canada will get involved in this […]

What threats and concerns should be at the top of Canadians’ lists? Well, according to interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose the answer is clear.  It is Islamic State.  The terrorist group, in her view, poses “the greatest threat to humanity” (I really need to support this statement with a citation otherwise people will think I […]

Do you remember when former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in an interview with the CBC, said that “Islamicism” was the greatest threat to national security?  I think we all knew what he meant – Islamist extremism – but his use of “Islamicism” was roundly criticised and led to accusations that the Conservative government viewed […]

I bet some of you are wondering why this blog post is being written, in light of the title.  Surely, you are probably saying, there is no contest.  Iran meddles in the affairs of other countries, supports terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizballah and is trying to acquire nuclear weapons.  And then there is that […]