The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A Modern Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror, well documented and taught since the French Revolution, was really only restricted to France. It's much different from the current reign of terror taking place in the world since Sept. 11, 2001. It did involve the killing of a king and many others, and it struck terror in the hearts of royal families in Europe and Asia, but involved far fewer casualties and terror than the present situation. Today's terror is a much different situation, as it involves civilian terror cell attacks on mainly innocent people apart from the insurgency bombings of coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also requires different methods of defence and laws. In a pair of recent editorials, the left-wing Toronto Star dealt with Canada's terrorism problem, using the same old tired arguments about tolerance, decency and major concern for accused criminals. One dealt with the problem of an Algerian terrorist named Harkat, who was held in Canada for nearly four years with little prospect of being deported because he claims he may be harmed in his native country. The article praised the federal judge who set Harkat free on bail with severe conditions Ð the reason being he won't be deported soon and the "values of our Charter" require he be set free. Canadian values? Most Canadians would probably feel that Harkat should be immediately deported to protect Canadians and would not even be slightly concerned about the safety of this Al-Quaida figure in his home country. How about it, Stockwell Day? Another article dealt with the poor potential terrorists arrested in Toronto and elsewhere in late May by CSIS and the RCMP. Their alleged plots would attack targets in Toronto and Ottawa, including the Prime Minister and Parliament. With the accused all radical religious fundamentalists, and all Muslims, the editorial warned against reprisals on Canada's 600,000 Muslims, treating them as innocent until proven guilty and emphasizing Canadian fairness. The article conveniently did not mention that none of the terrorists thought or talked of fairness for the innocent people they planned to kill, although many of them were obviously living in a religious fanatic's dream world. Far from following the advice of the non-influential Toronto Star, many commentators and Canadians are advocating Parliament bring in "Get Tough on Terrorists" policies, and are concerned about Canadian courts being too lenient with these potential murderers. They are advocating immediate deportation of any non-Canadians involved, and even stripping Canadian youths of their citizenship if convicted. They argue that you can't show weakness, kindness or toleration toward these people, as they have no respect or understanding of these values. To paraphrase Bismarck, just understand "Blood and Iron." It was "Blood and Iron" that the American military handed to the leading insurgent in Iraq, Al-Zarqawi, in early June. The Jordanian-born thug and murderer certainly won't be missed in the world, and his death will probably slow down the insurgency, as other Al-Quaida criminals will undoubtedly be worried that the Allies' intelligence and Special Forces will track them down. The elimination of this non-Iraqi criminal may also assist the Iraqi government in its quest for democracy. There are lots of different opinions in the U.S. Congress, but one report from Washington in the wake of the arrest of 17 potential terrorists showed the continuing American fear of our "porous border." An Indiana Republican said in a hearing there should be no delay in the proposed strict border identification plan, and immigrants and refugees should be shut out of the U.S. from Canada until we get our security in order. He claimed that Canada has a different attitude toward terrorism compared to America. Could he be right? Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
