Canada has been named again in a chilling new call to arms from al Qaeda. A posting found this week on an al Qaeda website places Canada fifth on a target list.
| That idea would probably make more sense to me if I had a turban. As it is, it make no sense. |
The website is believed to be published by senior al Qaeda figure, Saif al-Adel. It calls on followers to attack Canadians and other westerners at home and abroad.
| The policy would seem to be exploiting the weakest links in a supposed alliance of infidels to break it. But Canada hasn't been that great an ally in the WoT, with the exception of the guys in Afghanistan. I think the Liberals would be much happier if they shared a border with Luxembourg, rather than with us. |
Experts warn it could be only a matter of time before Canada is hit. Several other countries named on the list -- such as Spain and Australia -- have already been attacked. Terror experts warn that Canadians have a false sense of security. "We're a target. We're very clearly in its crosshairs," says John Thompson of the Mackenzie Institute. Terror experts warn there appears to be an escalating strategy to strike "softer" targets of the West.
| Hey! I guessed that before I read this far! Do I get a prize? |
"I think Canadians should take it very seriously," says American terror watchdog Rita Katz. "Especially considering the fact that the manuals they are using are the ones they use to communicate to al Qaeda throughout the world." In Ottawa, Public Security Minister Anne McLellan downplayed any threat.
| Which is precisely why it's a waste of explosives for al-Qaeda to target the Great White North... |
"We are a named country, that is very clear. That is not new. Osama bin Laden named us. We know that we are a named country and we act accordingly," she told reporters in Ottawa.
| "We're negotiating right now to trade most of what is now Canada for part of Belgium — the French part, not that icky Walloon part — and as soon as the deal goes through we're moving." |
But a new report suggests Canada wouldn't react very well at all. A Senate committee found that if Canada is hit with a terrorist attack or major natural disaster, its frontline workers won't be equipped to deal with it. The committee found:* There is still no national plan to deal with biological attacks
* Few police forces are equipped with the proper protective gear
* Police, firefighters and ambulance forces in most communities are all on different communications systems.
* The report also found problems at our national agency responsible for co-ordinating emergencies, the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness.
* The office's phone system when down during the power blackout in Ontario last August. As well, half of Canada's communities didn't know what the agency was. Of those that did, half questioned its usefulness. Red tape and bureaucratic hassles are hampering their potential effectiveness, said the committee, which studied the issue for more than two years.
| See how European they are? They set up a committee. That way they didn't have to do anything for two entire years. Look at all the money they saved, money much better spent on social programs. |
Canadians "should be damned mad about it," said Colin Kenny, chairman of the Senate committee on national security and defence, at an Ottawa news conference. "Canadians are entitled to reasonable service when an emergency hits, and entitled to have their officials plan in advance and have the right equipment there and available," Kenny said. Kenny was particularly scornful of OCIPEP, saying it can do everything but respond to an emergency. |