Search: “Terrorists”

Shortly after I joined CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) in January 2001 I attended a presentation by a friend who was working at the Canadian embassy in Kenya in the late 1990s.  He related that he was at home on August 7, 1998 when a massive blast took him and a colleague off their feet […]

I was reminded this week how old I am.  I was engaging clients on the issue of 3-D printable guns and whether or not they needed to worry about them for their business line.  In the throes of our back and forth I brought up that famous line from The Graduate, where Dustin Hoffman’s character, […]

It is never a good idea to get into a debate on the US Constitution’s Second Amendment – the one that talks about the ‘right to bear arms’ – because it is pointless.  Gun advocates seldom have any interest in discussing their God-given freedom to carry a weapon, any weapon including some very powerful automatic […]

An edited version of this piece appeared in The Hill Times on July 23, 2018 Is Alex Neve, the secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada insane? Full disclosure: I have been a supporter of Amnesty International and its work for decades.  I admire the positions they adopt and the advocacy they employ in the interests of […]

We need to take a realistic approach to all this. No, not all returning women and children pose a danger to our societies and not all are inhuman monsters.

Whenever we experience a mass shooting event like the one on Danforth Ave in Toronto’s Greektown on Sunday evening we go through several emotions: fear, shock, anger…and a need to understand why.  Why did a man shoot people enjoying a beautiful summer’s night in a part of Hogtown known for its restaurants and ambiance?  Was […]

When I was quite young I came across a very old edition of Rudyard Kipling’s Just-so Stories, written in 1902.  For those not familiar with this book – you really should be – it is a collection of  fantastic accounts of how certain animals acquired their distinctive traits.  Among the tales concocted by Mr. Kipling […]

One thing has always fascinated me, i.e. how stories that have no basis in fact defy all attempts to discredit or defeat them.  Some such fantasies, even if they are held only by those on the peripheries of public opinion,  include the belief that the moon landings were faked, the conviction that vaccinations cause autism, […]

Tunisia presents an interesting case study when it comes to terrorism.  The North African country was, of course, where the ‘Arab Spring’ began on December 18, 2010 (coincidentally my birthday!) when a crowd protested the self immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi who killed himself the day before when police had confiscated his wares and a female […]

One of the reasons why I continue to talk and write about terrorism is that I find the field fascinating, and not just because I have worked in countering it for nigh on twenty years.  I never cease to learn more about terrorism and terrorists and what makes the whole thing tick and as someone […]