Search: “national security”

In many instances historically amnesties were offered to former combatants in the interests of getting the violence to stop and giving a society a chance to rebuild itself.  A really good example where amnesty seemed to work would be in South Africa where it was part of that nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission after Apartheid […]

OK, I admit I am a little sensitive when it comes to the term “intelligence failure”.  You would be too if the profession you devoted three decades to was constantly criticised in the media for screwing up.  The failure to predict 9/11.  The failure to predict India’s acquisition of a nuclear weapons capacity.  The classic […]

By now I am sure that you are aware of the fact that a referendum carried out by the Colombian government on a peace deal with the FARC was narrowly defeated.  The difference between those in favour and those opposed was razor-thin, something like 50.2-49.8%  In other words, the vote could have gone either way. […]

Another set of terrorist attacks in the West, another desperate search for answers or explanations or rationale.  A man now in custody, Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalised US citizen of Afghan origin, is charged with planting a variety of bombs in Manhattan and New Jersey.  The targets selected and venues chosen to hide the explosives […]

No, you are not watching the US Republican Party propose measures to stop terrorism that each time are more and more draconian and more and more dismissive of basic human rights.  This is the Conservative Party of Canada talking, the holders – until recently – of government in this country.  And yet if you didn’t […]

Last week the Canadian Department of Public Safety issued its annual terrorist threat report.  You can read the whole thing here but I would like to comment on some of it in the paragraphs to follow.  The paper is unclassified and is intended to inform Canadians in a general way what the threat level is […]

As we still reel from the foiled terrorist attack  last week in Strathroy, Ontario, we can still rest assured that attacks, successful or not, remain a rarity in Canada.  In the period since 9/11 we have had no more than 8 such incidents: on average one every two years.   When we compare our experiences […]

We expect a lot of those agencies tasked with keeping us safe.  We demand that they identify those who mean us harm, investigate the nature of the threat they pose and take appropriate action to disrupt their criminal acts.  When they fail to do so many are critical and want to know why they were […]

The general public has little insight into how intelligence agencies operate.  That is good on one level since these organisations’ success depends in large part on their ability to work in the shadows.  On another level, however, the information vacuum invariably opens the door wide open for anyone – and I do mean anyone, qualified […]

The shootings in Dallas last week are a tragedy no matter what your political stripe.  The murder of five police officers, those we entrust to keep us safe, tends to hit hard.  The apparent unjustified shootings and deaths of several black Americans by police officers in recent months is likewise a very sad series of […]