Ottawa Attack

In the aftermath of the Ottawa attack Jake Tapper pointed out a brief history of terrorism in Canada, but anyone familiar with the roots of AQ could not have been surprised at today's events nor would they be very impressed much with Tapper's newsreel.  The question is really not why, but why has it taken so long considering the history up there?

A good primer on the subject is Stewart Bell's "Cold Terror", which goes back into the 80s when Sikh terrorists operating from Canada plotted to blow up two Air India jumbo jets (they succeeded on one), progressing into the Islamic variety of today.  It seems the country has long been a soft landing pad for extremists, possibly due to their lax immigration posture and/or welcoming of multiculturalism. 

While America was surviving the Clinton years, legacy AQ operators came to Canada, including such noted figures such as Marzouk, Jaballah,  Mahjoub, Daher, and Jdey.  Elusive figure Adnan Shukrijumah was rumored to have spent time in Canada, perhaps attending school at McMaster (disputed).  Another who allegedly spent some time there was Mubarak al-Duri from Iraq, whom the 9/11 Commission described as a WMD procurement agent for bin Laden.  In recent years we've seen the Toronto 18 and the VIA Rail/Amtrak plot.  And of course the murder of a soldier just two days ago. 

People like to worry about terrorists being funneled across "the border" and most immediately think "Mexican" border, but the bigger threat has always been our neighborly border to the north.  

Meanwhile the spin never ends.  CNN admitted the shooter was a Muslim convert but made a point to stress he had a 10 year history with drugs, as if it might somehow negate his conversion.  Chances are he quit taking drugs after converting.  The media tried the same deflection approach with the workplace beheading guy in Oklahoma, focusing more on his firing or some nonsense about racial comments.  But the beheading was the screaming message everyone understood quite clearly.

PM Harper isn't fooling around--he has already called today's and Monday's events "terrorism"; Obama finally uttered the T word tonight (maybe he felt compelled) but he continues to pretend it doesn't exist when it comes to attacks here.  After all, Core-AQ is still decimated and on the run.