| Submit your comments on this article |
| Great White North |
| Al-Qaeda attack on Canada probable |
| 2006-05-10 |
| While the threat from al-Qaida remains strongest overseas, a terrorist attack on Canadian soil is "now probable,'' the head of Canada's spy agency has quietly advised the government. In his annual report to the public safety minister, Jim Judd says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's highest priority involved trying to prevent assaults occurring in, or originating from, Canada. "The threat of further attacks by Sunni Islamic extremists and other like-minded groups continues, bringing with it elevated demands on the service's resources,'' says the report, which covers the year 2004-05. A focus of the intelligence service's counter-terrorism program "was therefore the interdiction and removal'' of such radicals. "During the past year, Canada and Canadian interests abroad continued to be under threat from al-Qaida and its affiliated groups,'' Judd says. "While the threat remains concentrated overseas, an attack on Canadian soil is now probable.'' Judd's comments represent some of the strongest language used by a senior Canadian official to date in characterizing the threat from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. A declassified copy of the top secret report was obtained Tuesday by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. It was delivered by hand in late November to then-public safety minister Anne McLellan, later defeated in the January election. Al-Qaida, which perpetrated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, included Canada on a list of target countries in both November 2002 and March 2004. Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan have come under repeated attack from al-Qaida and Taliban elements opposed to the new western-supported government in Kabul. Stephen Rigby, acting national security adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said Tuesday the government is maintaining "a very high degree of vigilance'' with respect to al-Qaida. "We're just trying to increase the level of sophistication as to how we refine that consideration of the threat, where it might come, how it might come,'' Rigby said after speaking to a conference on national security. For instance, federal officials pay "a lot more'' attention to the possibility of a strike on transit systems following the deadly terrorist assaults on commuters in Madrid and London, he said. That extends to closely examining the explosive devices used by extremists in these attacks. "We study those, and we sort of consider various scenarios in which they might be used in Canada,'' Rigby said. "We try to develop the most refined threat scenarios that we can.'' Rigby said, however, that Canadian officials have "no specific evidence'' of a plot at this time. Transport Canada's John Forster told the meeting, sponsored by the Conference Board of Canada, that transportation systems have figured in one way or another in almost every major terrorist attack during the last 30 years. "So, unfortunately, there's no reason to believe that this troubling reality will change,'' said Forster. One concern is that terrorists might set off a "dirty bomb'' -- a conventional explosive laced with radiological material that could contaminate several city blocks. Judd's report says the spy service's counter-proliferation branch, which tries to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, "continued to investigate Shiite and state-sponsored terrorism,'' as well as the activities of certain unnamed foreign governments. The report also stresses the service's involvement in security screening, namely the vetting of visitors to Canada, refugee claimants, immigrants, prospective citizens and employees who work at sensitive government jobs and installations such as nuclear plants and airports. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #9 Well said, FrankG. Those of us who are honest with ourselves, a prerequisite for being honest with others, are evolving as new information is absorbed and integrated - and that is to be commended. |
| Posted by: Shatle Sninetle3827 2006-05-10 19:47 |
| #8 Frank Thanks I might try both ends of that. |
| Posted by: jim#6 2006-05-10 19:47 |
| #7 Rafael took time off to rethink his comments (on his own) after some questioned him. When he returns - keep an open mind, listen to what he says, not what he said in the past? If I can, anyone can.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-05-10 19:31 |
| #6 Apparently Rafael the asshat isn't going to join in now that he has been officially targeted. |
| Posted by: jim#6 2006-05-10 19:06 |
| #5 #4 Where's that asshat Candanian that thinks Americas' economy can't support the WoT and seems to think that terrorism is Americas' problem? Posted by Mike N. 2006-05-10 16:44 _________ I don't know but I'm hoping Canadian Leftist asshats get a taste of the raw sewage they've admitted into their land and at the same time, permitted that sewage to seep southward. I understand that when you dance with a bear, itÂ’s the bear that decides when to stop dancing. |
| Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden 2006-05-10 18:16 |
| #4 Where's that asshat Candanian that thinks Americas' economy can't support the WoT and seems to think that terrorism is Americas' problem? |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2006-05-10 16:44 |
| #3 How far the mighty have fallen if the best they can do is attack Canada. Talk about being sent back to the minors. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-05-10 10:50 |
| #2 Time for Canada to start deporting terror-linked "asylum seekers", I think. Harper's Conservative government is making great strides toward controlling the situation, after years of surrender by Chretien, et al. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-05-10 07:56 |
| #1 Putin may yet get his chance to use the Gorby-Yeltsin-Putin Doctrine, where post-USSR Russia reserves its unilateral and unconditional right to use any means necessary, includ military force, to protect the lives of Soviet/Russian emigres and citizens anywhere in the world. MOTHER CINDY > FEAR NOT, "FASCIST-OCCUPIED NOLA/SOCIALIST AMERICA", HELP AND SALVATION, FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY, IS COMING C/O THE COMMIE INVADIN' = PEACEKEEPIN' AIRBORNE. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-05-10 04:15 |