Search: “Iraq”

I am fairly certain that many people are getting sick and tired of hearing about terrorism.  IS this.  AQ that.  Some guys called Boko Haram.  The Taliban.  Etc.  Etc. Etc.  The so-called war on terror (a terrible description as I have said before) has been going on for 15 years or so.  When will it […]

As long promised, the Canadian government has announced its policy on dealing with Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Syria-Iraq.  Recall that while merely an opposition member Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was critical of the offensive mandate chosen by the Conservative government, mockingly referring to it as “whipping out our CF-18s”.  If elected, he […]

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 […]

The Southern Poverty Law Centre is an oddly named institution that gives little indication of what it does.  No, it is not some legal aid agency for poor people.  It is one of the most influential and comprehensive bodies that looks at hate and extremism in our southern neighbour, the US.  The SPLC looks at […]

There is  a lot of debate here in Canada on what we should do about IS.  The Trudeau government made a promise during the 2015 federal election campaign that if elected it would rescind the mission of Canadian CF-18s which are part of the international airstrikes on IS.  Mr. Trudeau had dismissively labelled the decision […]

We’ve had a tough time coming up with a name for our fight against terrorism. Leaving aside the ill-considered “crusade” that was used right after 9/11 (who the hell thought that was a good idea?), we have cycled through the Global war on Terror (GWOT) to the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism (GSAVE) – what […]

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 […]

“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.”  According to Google, this famous phrase was uttered either by Anglo-Irish statesman Edmund Burke or former Minnesota governor and ex-WWF wrestler Jesse Ventura.  I’ll go with Burke. What is more disconcerting is when we forget our history that happened, say, 4 years ago.  Remember the […]

I have stated this on several occasions and I will repeat it here: I am not an expert on the use of military force.  Hell, I’m not even slightly knowledgeable about all things military  So I write this blog carefully and hope I do not sound completely out of my depth by the end. Airstrikes […]

I see that Saudi Arabia and 33 other Islamic nations have created an anti-terrorism coalition with an operational headquarters to be established in the Saudi capital, Riyadh (see story here).  The coalition will reportedly fight terrorists in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan. Three cheers for the Saudis and their allies, right?  On the one hand, […]