Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Destabilizing influence

While CSIS isn't willing to disclose how far it's extended its mandate, some of the end results of its work are worth highlighting:
10 days ago (CSIS Director Jim) Judd said the U.S. war in Iraq was creating "long-term problems" for other countries. And testifying before the Senate committee he said Iraq provides militants with both motive and opportunity.

"It's been an issue in terms of providing individuals more of an opportunity to learn new techniques and expertise in this. And more generally, it may serve as a motivation. It's a serious concern," he said...

Judd says the main terror threat facing Canada comes from radicalized Canadians. And he says CSIS has seen Iraq cause that radicalization in real cases.

That last paragraph is particularly worthy of note: for all the U.S. criticism over Canadian immigration controls, the bigger risk doesn't involve the new arrivals to a country so much as it involves people already present in a given country who later become radicalized. And there can be little doubt which of the two countries is causing more harm in that regard.

We can only be thankful that the increased risk hasn't yet manifested itself in the form of serious attacks in Canada. But if it does, we should bear in mind that the U.S.' response to terrorism is more likely to be one of the causes than a solution.

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