Search: “Terrorists”

So the Trudeau government has responded to a Parliamentary “Supply Day Motion” (NB I have NO idea what that means) dated October 23 that called on the Government of Canada to “immediately bring to justice anyone who has fought as an ISIS terrorist or participated in any terrorist activity, including those who are in Canada […]

When you look at what is happening around the world these days – riots in France, Brexit, anti-immigrant feelings, a general feeling of being pissed off at the status quo – it should come as a surprise to no one that there are groups of people who want to get away from it all.  The […]

As we continue to freak out about what to do with those of our citizens who stupidly chose to leave the comforts of our lands to join terrorist groups like Islamic State (IS), Al Qaeda (AQ), Al Shabaab and others, or planned terrorist acts in our backyards, we still need to follow our laws and […]

As a former practitioner in the security intelligence world I have, as do many others, a distinct bias. My understanding of many different social phenomena is informed and framed by the job I did and the particular kind of information I had access to for more than three decades: i.e. classified secrets.  In light of […]

There was a very interesting juxtaposition of stories on violent extremism this week in two Western, democratic nations where two acts of terrorism shocked their populace’s in recent years.  Oddly enough, in an era where we almost instinctively associate terrorism with Islamist extremism, these two were right-wing in nature.  And, the perpetrators of these acts […]

One of the most difficult challenges for governments around the world is what to do with their citizens who left to join Islamic State (IS) or other terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq from 2013ish to 2017.  As we all know, IS is a shadow of its former self. It has lost swaths of territory.  […]

I am a parent (and now even a grandparent – how the hell did I get THIS old?).  As a parent I helped to raise three children, all of whom are now young adults. As all parents know, our kids do (or did) things we had a problem with and there were times when we […]

Finding fault with security intelligence and law enforcement agencies and personnel is a bit of a sport, I find.  Second guessing and armchair quarterbacking seem to appeal to many who latch on to any mistake, real or perceived, to case aspersion on the efforts of those who are supposedly there to keep us safe.  “What […]

On my first trip to Singapore many years ago I was struck by signs placed throughout the airport that warned of severe penalties for drug trafficking.  If my memory isn’t failing me, I seem to recall that those signs didn’t mince words.  They made it quite clear that the penalty for peddling in illegal drugs […]