Search: “islamic state”

As the entire world continues to follow the media frenzy over a bunch of probably ineffective pipe bombs sent to a couple of high-profile people – former President Obama, philanthropist George Soros, actor Robert DeNiro and a few more – this may be the perfect time to talk about the nature and frequency of terrorism […]

It is pretty tough, and rightfully so, to feel sorry for those who think becoming a terrorist is a good idea.  These are choices made and bad choices sometimes have bad consequences.  Those who recognise this realise that there is a price to pay for making a stupid decision. Then again there are those who […]

I am pretty sure I have mentioned this before but here it is again.  When I worked for CSIS and my colleagues and I had occasion to talk to Canadians who had traveled to Afghanistan to join Al Qaeda we would often hear some lame excuse from the returnees as to what they did while […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on October 15, 2018. There is no question that when the topic around the water cooler turns to terrorism – not that I hope or think that it often does – as far as the average citizen is concerned the particular brand of terrorism that garners the most attention […]

Canadians are justifiably angry at those among us who spat on our flag, burned their passports and left one of the world’s finest countries to join terrorist groups like Islamic State (IS).  Not that the numbers are that high – a few hundred maybe compared with thousands from several European, African and Asian nations – […]

Foreign fighters are all the rage these days in Canada (hmm, ‘all the rage’ – kinda describes jihadis to a T doesn’t it?).  Many, many Canadians are going ballistic over reports that some of our citizens who left our land to join Islamic State or other terrorist groups abroad have had a change of heart […]

While this may strike some people as arrogant and dismissive I have to confess that when I listen to ‘experts’ talk about national security issues in the media I first look at who is speaking.  Some of those who offer opinions are journalists, others are politicians or political junkies, still others are academics.  All have […]

Have you ever been to Singapore?  I have, several times.  Nice city, clean, ordered, not really a lot to do there though. Capable intelligence services from my perspective. What has always struck me on arrival at Changi Airport is the location of very, very big signs in English that tell you in bold letters what […]

The stories of so-called ‘foreign fighters’ – outsiders who left their homelands to hook up with terrorist groups like Islamic State (IS), Al Qaeda (AQ) and others – are a dime a dozen.  Literally.  As estimates range up to 40,000 who joined IS alone over the past five years or so, one can be excused […]

Ready for a “where were you when…?”  question?  I launched my first book last week in Ottawa and my host, the CBC’s Hannah Thibedeau, asked me what my favourite part of ‘An end to the war on terrorism‘ was.  She had warned me she was going to throw that one at me so I had […]