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Denying citizenship to one extremist and handing it to another

I see that Ernst Zundel died the other day.  For many Canadians of a certain age Mr. Zundel was famous, or rather infamous, for being, well, to be blunt, a pain in the ass.  He was a Holocaust denier, a neo-Nazi and an all-around rabble-rouser.  He often surrounded himself with hard-hatted supporters when he made […]

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Are the Saudis really on our side in counter terrorism?

One country that remains a mystery to many is Saudi Arabia.  A relatively new state – it really only dates from 1930 – this desert land sprang from an odd mid 18th century agreement between a very conservative religious tradition, Wahhabism, and the rule of a single family, the Al Sauds.  The Wahhabis care for […]

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Canadian exports: softwood lumber, minerals…and terrorism?

July 1 is of course an important day for Canadians.  We may not wear our patriotism on our sleeve as often as out southern neighbours in the US, but July 1 – Canada Day – is an exception.  Average Canadians drape themselves in the national red and white flag, paint maple leaves on their cheeks […]

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Suffer the children of IS

If there is one searing image of the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe it is that of the orphanages of Romania. The regime of President Nicolae Ceausescu outlawed both contraception and abortion.  As a consequence, thousands of women left babies that were either unwanted or for which they could not care at state institutions. […]

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Why wasn’t Rehab Dughmosh being watched? Because we can’t watch everybody

We all know that hindsight is 20-20 – or at least we think it always is.  There is no question that having the best information possible is better than not having it and that usually more information is better than less.  If we knew then we what we know now we would certainly have made […]

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Fair stood the wind for jihad – part two

I suppose I have to explain the title for this blog.  I recall reading a book by English author H.E. Bates called Fair stood the wind for France back in high school about a British pilot that crash lands in Nazi-occupied France in WWII and ends up falling in love with the daughter of a […]

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Why we shouldn’t celebrate the imminent demise of IS too much

There is indeed good news coming out of western Iraq and eastern Syria these days.  When is the last time anyone said that?  Islamic State (IS), a truly barbaric terrorist group if there ever was one, is on the outs.  It is about to lose Mosul and maybe even Raqqa and, according to recent reports, […]

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What should we do to re-integrate returning foreign fighters?

Imagine the following scenario if you will.  You are an HR officer for a company or in a government department and you are going through a stack of applications for an open position.  One candidate strikes you as very qualified so you arrange for an interview.  In the course of your talk with the aspiring […]

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The Manchester terrorist attack and why intelligence agencies collect information

Intelligence agencies are generally poorly understood in our societies.  The agencies themselves are partly to blame since they shroud themselves in secrecy, albeit for good reasons.  In addition, public perception is at fault, partly due to the assumption by many that spies are nefarious creatures at heart and partly due to the often highly inaccurate […]

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An interim report card on the Trump administration’s approach to terrorism – in danger of failing the year

Well, we are coming up to the six-month mark of the Donald Trump era and it is time for a reckoning.  So much print and coverage has been devoted to the Donald that I hesitate to add to this amount.  And yet there is quite a bit that bears on counter terrorism policy and strategy […]