Search: “national security”

Have you been following the tortuous twists and turns surrounding the brutal torture, killing and apparent dismemberment of Saudi journalist and critic Jamal Kashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2?  Can you make sense of all the claims and counterclaims?  Do you know who ‘did’ the deed?  If you answer yes to […]

Here we go again.  Another terrorist attack, this time in Melbourne, Australia, another chorus of ‘he was mentally ill’ and, I guess, not responsible.  Last Friday (November 9) an ethnic Somali man drove to that city’s central business district with a bunch of gas cylinders turned to the open position (seeking one surmises to cause […]

OK, it is probably best to get this out right at the start.  When it comes to ‘terrorism experts’ I have a HUGE bias.  As a former practitioner, someone who spent decades in counter terrorism as an analyst for a security intelligence service, I lean heavily in favour of listening to those who work in […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on November 5, 2018. For a country that is thankfully rarely touched by terrorism we in Canada sure seem to talk about it a lot.  I suppose I am partly responsible for this as I tend to write about violent extremism ad nauseum, but given my career in […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on October 29, 2018 Now that we are two weeks and counting away from the ‘incident’ involving Saudi dissident Jamal Kashoggi at the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul I have lost track of how many versions of the story we have received from our Saudi ‘friends’.  First Mr. Kashoggi […]

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 […]

With all the talk lately about bringing terrorists who fought for Islamic State (IS) and other groups abroad back to Canada to face charges here one glaring omission is often made: just how hard it is to prosecute people under sections 83.01ff of the Canadian Criminal Code (the sections that deal with terrorist activity). Cases are tough to […]

With all the talk lately about bringing terrorists who fought for Islamic State (IS) and other groups abroad back to Canada to face charges here one glaring omission is often made: just how hard it is to prosecute people under sections 83.01ff of the Canadian Criminal Code (the sections that deal with terrorist activity).  Cases […]

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 […]

Well, the Saudis may have really put their foot in it this time.  The mystery surrounding the disappearance of vocal Saudi critic and journalist Jamal Kashoggi at the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul ten days ago is deepening.  Saudi claims that he left of his own accord are laughable: his fiancee was waiting for him outside […]