Canada as a terrorist target?
I was listening to some David Cross comedy mp3s last weekend, recorded in 2003 or so. In one segment, he made the joke/argument that many others have, and it used to be a pretty solid point:
If Islam-inspired terrorists "can't stand freedom," as George W. Bush would have us believe, why aren't they attacking Canada, New Zealand, and the Netherlands?
And Cross did specifically mention Canada first. Well, the Canada arrests - assuming there is merit to the charges - are the latest in a series of reminders that this type of ideology knows no state boundaries, and any society seems fertile ground for its propagation. The Middle East is no stranger to terrorism, but in recent years Islamic fundamentalists have struck Africa, Russia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. More recently, Spain and Great Britain were hit, and then there was the case of Belgian Muriel Degauque - who blew herself up in Iraq. At first, attacks by radical Muslims outside of Southwest Asia seemed to be an exception, and attacks in a country by citizens of that country were quite rare. But the exception is becoming the norm.
The Edmonton Sun sums it up with the headline "Homegrown terrorism is the new reality," and has a pretty decent piece about the subject.
Note: The suggestion that terrorists "can't stand freedom" is still a gross oversimplification, but so is the notion of certain states being terrorism-free because they have comfy social safety nets.
If Islam-inspired terrorists "can't stand freedom," as George W. Bush would have us believe, why aren't they attacking Canada, New Zealand, and the Netherlands?
And Cross did specifically mention Canada first. Well, the Canada arrests - assuming there is merit to the charges - are the latest in a series of reminders that this type of ideology knows no state boundaries, and any society seems fertile ground for its propagation. The Middle East is no stranger to terrorism, but in recent years Islamic fundamentalists have struck Africa, Russia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. More recently, Spain and Great Britain were hit, and then there was the case of Belgian Muriel Degauque - who blew herself up in Iraq. At first, attacks by radical Muslims outside of Southwest Asia seemed to be an exception, and attacks in a country by citizens of that country were quite rare. But the exception is becoming the norm.
The Edmonton Sun sums it up with the headline "Homegrown terrorism is the new reality," and has a pretty decent piece about the subject.
Note: The suggestion that terrorists "can't stand freedom" is still a gross oversimplification, but so is the notion of certain states being terrorism-free because they have comfy social safety nets.
posted by bp at
8:05 AM
2 Comments:
I think Bin Laden's last statement explicitly mentioned countries like Canada, Portugal, Russia, Germany, and others. So while it might be an oversimplification ... if we take people like bin Laden at their own words, they do seem to be at war w/ Western secularism more broadly, not just certain states & their policies. It's always important to at least take the enemy seriously, and not put other rationales for their actions into their mouths.
By
Miguel Centellas, at 10:32 AM
Ah ... I wish someone would put a bullet in bin Laden already ...
(although I understand he'd have been caught or killed by now if possible ...)
By
t'su, at 9:45 PM
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