Jun 03 2006
The Al Qaeda Threat In Canada
I posted previously on the news that Al Qaeda veterans had discovered Canada as the preffered place to ‘retire’ to:
Canada’s spy agency says potential terrorists already reside in Canadian cities.The deputy director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said Monday that there are many people currently living in Canada who fought with al-Qaeda during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
And Jack Hooper says those same people have since trained in al-Qaeda terrorist training camps.
I was curious as to what the Canadian response might be to this. Powerline has some breaking news up this morning on this very subject from the Globe and Mail:
Police across the Greater Toronto Area launched counterterrorism raids yesterday, arresting at least eight people in a roundup expected to continue overnight and beyond.
“We anticipate more arrests, but not necessarily tonight,†an RCMP source said of the arrests, in what appeared to be the most concerted such sweep in Canada since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service aided the RCMP and officers from Toronto, Peel and Durham in detaining the suspects, described by an undercover officer involved in the operation as “terrorists, the ones who hate the West.â€
The ethnicity of the group was not clear. A well- placed police source said they are Muslims, but not Arabs, and unconnected to anti-terrorism raids that occurred simultaneously in Britain yesterday.
I guess they had to move out quickly since the story had been ‘leaked’ in the earlier news article that the Canadian government was on to all these folks. Hopefully none of these thugs got away. Apparently they were preparing to attack Canada:
Intelligence sources allege the men were part of a terrorist cell, close to carrying out attacks on one or more Canadian targets.
Police seized chemicals used to make explosives and weapons.
“That’s the tool of choice for anybody who wants to cause damage,” a source who asked not to be named told The Canadian Press.
The suspects are either second-generation Canadians or recently immigrated to Canada with their families.
Sources claimed the men have no connection to al Qaeda, but were allegedly inspired by militant Islamic groups.
Why they think this would help their cause is beyond me. And I am not sure why anyone would buy into the idea they were not tied to, simply inspired by, Al Qaeda at this early stage. More here and here, and keep checking in on Neale News for updates.
For Enforcement, Terrye, etc.
You guys are rhetorically beating the crap out of each other over the immigration issue, when you probably agree on 90% of everything else, and your immigration views are most likely a lot closer to each others’ than you would want to admit. This issue is important. Unfortuanately, it has become a costly distraction from other, gravely important, issues. The war on terror is one hell of a lot wider than border enforcement or the lack thereof, earned legalization, or any number of other issues involved in the immigration debate. If everyone, who should be united in the overall cause, keeps bickering over this, we’re going to reap the whirlwind.
Almost half the nation has opted out of this war. The other half which is committed to this war is beating each other’s brains in over an issue that is only tangentially related to the war. Keep it up, and we’ll be looking a combination of Saigon 1975, Pearl Harbor, and the Battle of Britain all rolled into one, and I don’t see any Churchills out there who can save us from ourselves if we get to that point.
There are bigger issues out there than immigration. Don’t let it define you. If you don’t think immigration and the war are tied together, fine. Don’t shut out those who do see it that way. Some of the most innovative thinkers on the war and our warfighting strategy (Frank Gaffney comes to mind) see the issues as intimately related. They deserve to be listened to and take seriously. If you think immigration and the war are tied together, that’s fine also. Don’t shut out those who disagree with you. It’s possible to disagree on one issue, and still be allies, supporters, dare I say, hawks. Like I said earlier, this war is a hell of a lot bigger than just immigration. You could have forgiven Reagan for his apostacy on immigration. Give Bush the same courtesy. Just swallow hard and do it. This is a dangerous time and we need as much unity as we can muster right now.
COLIN
Excellent post. Agree with practically everything you said. one thing, I didn’t forgive Reagan for the Amnesty thing, even tho he is my no. one hero and the best president with the possible exception of George Washington. I do, in fact, consider the terror war our no. 1 problem, and the unsecure border as no. 2 with that being the case because as long as it is not secure we have no idea who is crossing it and the MAY be terrorists. Even IF they’re not, we need to KNOW that. Thanks for your thoughts
Hey Colin,
You seem to be missing the point enforcement is not missing the point Terrye is.
Enforcement is not talking about immigration.
He is talking about security. Too many folks like to see how smart we are by reinventing things.
Security is Security not immigration. Treat the cause not the symptom.
Illegal Immigration is a symptom and it is direct result of poor security and logic.
Terrorism is a result of poor security and logic.
See the connection fix the source and you can fix more than one problem. Politicians almost never goe to the source why should they put themselves out of work.
These bums are alway passing new laws to fix the symptoms.
They never get to the source.
Always looking to impress us and themselves how brilliant they are, LOL
They never fix the source just a constant band aid on the symptoms. destined to continue till we collapse.
One tool can have many uses. We do not need a new tool for every job.
Humans continually complicate this for the sake of ego.
We all should be applying a lot more logic and this can be fixed in short order.
Colin I just read Enforcments post.
Since he agrees with you 90% I guess I have to disagree with both of you .
They are the same.
They are not two different things and if we continue to look at them differently that will be the death of all of us and our way of life.
bloodyspartan, you got it right, I think you just misunderstood what I was agreeing with him on. That we were beating each other up and that we probably agree on most other things, BUT the main issue, the one you picked up on is the Security. I said that was the main problem, so I agree with you on that. Illegal immigration is just a result of the poor security, the same as terrorism , if we have terrorism, may be. So you didn’t get it wrong.
Colin:
You are right. In fact I would say that there are some soldiers that need our support right now.
We Have Miles to go Before we Sleep…
I’ve been spinning my wheels a little lately. Okay a lot. The Haditha story just flew all over me. The liberals/progressives, the MSM, the islamic masses have been having a feeding frenzy at the expense of our Soldiers and our nation….
Enforcment I have to disagree with Colin and Terrye. I may have put the mouth in gear a bit too fast.
But you have to give Terrye credit he don’t give up until we piss him off.