THE CONSERVATIVE HIPSTERS
Friday, July 22, 2005
POLITICS AS USUAL: THE REAL THREAT TO CANADIANS
As London grapples with a second bombing on their Underground subway system, thoughts naturally gravitate towards the security of Canada and its infrastructure.
I was particularly interested in Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan's comments in response to that very question:
I was particularly interested in Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan's comments in response to that very question:
"[there is] no specific threat against Canada at this time."
So here's my question:
Was there a specific threat to London? Either time? No. So this statement from the government doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.
Was there a specific threat to London? Either time? No. So this statement from the government doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.
My biggest concern here is that a number of Canadians absolutely feel we will never be attacked. Just take a look at the discussion going on over at Brock on the Attack. The general feeling from the left can be summarized in the following manner:
"We aren't in Iraq, so why would Canada be a target? Besides, we aren't a significant player on the world stage, so Al-Qaeda won't attack us"
Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
I've commented on this before, but people have to stop assuming that terrorists (Memo to CBC: that's what they are) think like us. They don't! They aren't worried about who did what to whom and who is engaged in what conflict. These extremists condemn our way of life. They want to cripple it through fear.
What better way to do that then by attacking an unassuming city like Toronto?
You know what message that sends? No one in the western world is safe. How's that for terror?
To be fair, McLellan seems to get that. From the Toronto Star:
"Canadians need to understand that the mere fact that we did not go to Iraq is not immunity," said McLellan, who is also public safety minister, in a conference call with journalists as she commented on the latest wave of London bombings.
"We live in a global context, we live in a free and Western democracy with a set of values and lifestyle that some ... do not find acceptable," she said. "When" an attack comes, she said — then quickly adding "if" it happens — it will be important for Canada to keep its resolve about those values, because that's the real terrorist target."
Absolutely. Terrorists are like spoiled children who want something desperately from a parent. They want you to give in. They want you to change your behaviour. That's why they do this. It isn't about killing people--that's just the means to an end. They want democratic societies to be fearful, lose their confidence, start questioning themselves and their values.
That's when they win.
My concern is that *when* a terrorist attack occurs, many Canadians will pull a Red Ken and start blaming the War in Iraq, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, etc, etc, ad nauseum, rather than the terrorists themselves. If they do, they only thing they're saying is that the end justfies the means. In this cases, the "means" is killing innocent people.
You know what that says to the terrorists? "You're on the right track."
You know what that says to the terrorists? "You're on the right track."
# posted by Anonymous : 10:35 a.m.
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