Tracking Terrorists

"Most troubling, if they participate in a foreign conflict or train with a terrorist group, they might return with certain operational skills that can be deployed themselves or taught to fellow Canadian extremists."
Annual report, Canadian Security Intelligence Service

"We don't know their state of mind ... No one goes to a war zone without being affected, especially if they were exposed to a long period of indoctrination."
Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former CSIS officer

"CSIS is aware of Canadians who have returned to Canada after having been abroad for terrorist purposes ... [the agency] actively investigates such individuals and is co-ordinating with the RCMP in order to keep Canadians safe."
Tahera Mufti, CSIS spokeswoman

Goran Tomasevic

Well, thank heavens for that reassurance. CSIS is busy, and one can only assume that the intelligence agents that have been tasked to follow up on the activities, covert and otherwise, of the 80 Canadians that CSIS is aware of, are good at their jobs and capable of assessing their prospects adequately enough to ensure that their newfound skills are not put to the test of challenging the country's ability to protect itself from the malign efforts of some of its own citizens.

According to the inexplicit information about the activities of those on CSIS's radar, returned from their instructional, hands-on visits abroad, of some of the 130 Canadian citizens known to have made such trips, about one third of whom have resisted the homing impulse to return to Canada, and have presumably taken part in combat situations, many of them in Syria. With that knowledge, reassure us again, please do, it would be appreciated.

On the other hand, while some proportion of the absent-from-Canada on extremely violent jihad adventures have embroiled themselves in paramilitary action, others are believed to have studied in extremist Islamic schools.( Is this reassuring?) Or provided logistical or fundraising support. Some, presumably, like the paterfamilias of the notorious Canadian Khadr family, have engaged in all of the above. But they are, for citizenship purposes, Canadian.

The "foreign fighter" phenomenon is concerning for the intelligence community, provoking the spectre of those returning to Canada, radicalized beyond the impulse that took them from the country into the maelstrom of dysfunctional Islamic countries at war with themselves. And if it's concerning for the intelligence community, how much more concerning must it be for us poor innocent Canadians not knowing the vipers that exist among us, prepared at any moment to spread their deadly poison?

CSIS director, Michel Coulombe, reported to the Senate committee on national security and defence in early February, when he testified about his agency's awareness of the numbers of Canadians abroad, supporting extremist activities. The concern he and his minions are consumed with, should such individuals, on their return, decide to practise here what they learned and so enjoyed abroad, preying on the defenceless, clashing with their sectarian enemies, sowing fear, discord and above all, death.

RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Julie Gagnon commented her inability to "confirm or deny the existence of a national security criminal investigation for privacy concerns. Also, to do so could potentially negatively impact ongoing investigations", in response to the welcome revelation that the RCMP is working in smooth concert with CSIS. The public most certainly does not wish to impact negatively on such investigations, so we wish them all the luck in the world, for we will benefit hugely from it.

And we can hope that the set of anti-terrorism laws that the federal government passed last year, with new penalties in store for any jihad-minded Canadians who leave or attempt to leave Canada to participate in terrorist activities will have a useful impact. Now, if we could only be convinced that should some 'citizens' successfully leave to take part in such activities, their deaths-by-martyrdom could be guaranteed, thus gifting them with the honour they seek, and we could all be happy.

The Senate committee was informed that those individuals seeking their very particular Islamist life-fulfillment are in flux, motivations difficult to discern (oh, really?), destinations frequently to active conflict zones or failed states (think Somalia, Yemen, North and East Africa), so that co-operation with foreign 'partners' (other governments and their security and intelligence agencies) is not always possible. Right...

Another complication ... "Canada has not, to date, systematically collected exit information that could be used to reliably confirm an individual's departure".... 

And, for heaven's sake, why not?!