Search: “Islamic State”

I just know that this blog is going to get me some flack. What in heaven’s name does a non-Muslim have to say that is remotely informed or relevant about Islam?  What is an outsider doing commenting on the “soul of Islam”?  Why doesn’t this person quit before he writes something stupid? Sidenote – my […]

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 […]

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 […]

We know that terrorism is an all too common occurrence these days.  It seems sometimes that there are attacks everywhere all the time.  In the past ten days alone we saw successful plots in Istanbul, Jakarta and Burkina Fasso – in the latter two seven Canadians were killed. In light of all this, what is […]

The  other day a young Muslim in Marseilles attacked a Jewish teacher with a machete.  The victim was able to fend off some of the blows with a copy of the Torah and suffered only minor injuries.  Attacks on French Jews are of course not new: last year’s siege of a Jewish grocery in Paris […]

Two recent attacks in the West have gotten a lot of press attention.  A man in Philadelphia shot a police officer in his vehicle before being shot himself and arrested.  He claims to have acted on behalf of Islamic state (see story here).  Across the “pond”, police in Paris were able to neutralise a man […]

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 […]

Whenever a terrorist attack happens and innocent lives are lost we get a typical litany of accusations.  The attackers were evil. Their act was heinous.  They are inhuman.  Sometimes the terrorists are called cowards. Contrast this with how the terrorists refer to themselves.  Mujahideen.  Jaysh al Islam (Army of Islam).  Ansar Muhammad (companions of the […]