Looking in the Wrong Direction

Let the 5,000 mile border between Canada and the United States stand as a symbol for the future. Let it forever be not a point of division but a meeting place between great and true friends.
- Ronald Reagan, 1978 -

For twelve years, Canada was controlled by an ultra-liberal government which not only did little to identify terrorists, but almost passively encouraged them. As long as their hate was directed southward towards the United States, not much was done to interfere with them. However, the Canadian terrorists finally crossed a line (a change of government didn’t hurt, either - Conservative Prime Minister Steve Harper was elected in January of 2006).

According to news reports, some of the 17 Muslim men accused of plotting terror bombings in Canada also planned to storm Parliament, take hostages and behead the prime minister and other leaders, according to accusations revealed Tuesday by the lawyer for one of the suspects. The 12 adult suspects all are charged with one count of participating in a terrorist group. Three of them - Fahim Ahmad, 21, Mohammed Dirie, 22, and Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24 - also are charged with importing weapons and ammunition for the purpose of terrorist activity. Nine face charges of receiving training from a terrorist group, while four are charged with providing training. Six are charged with intending to cause an explosion that could cause serious bodily harm or death.

This is not shocking. It was foreseeable.

In 2002, the Washington Post raised concerns that the radical Islamic group Hezbollah was not banned in Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien refused to proscribe this murderous organization because it does social work among Lebanon's poor and has representatives in that country's legislative assembly. In March of 2003, the Ottawa Citizen wrote:

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien insisted Wednesday that his government is not anti-American even as some Liberal backbenchers called on him to censure or expel U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci for publicly denouncing Canada's refusal to participate in the war on Iraq.

Toronto MP Jim Karygiannis suggested Mr. Cellucci should have kept his comments to himself. "Mr. Cellucci does not get elected in our constituencies, he does not get elected in Canada. We're the ones that express our views for our constituents."

Upon his return to Massachusetts, Ambassador Cellucci was heard to remark that returning from Canada was not that different from returning from Iraq. An interesting article on ‘pervasive anti-americanism’ in Canada was published by a "caricature of a bluestocking blue-stater" (see article HERE) .

Canadian CSIS Deputy director Jack Hooper told a Canadian Senate defense and security committee on May 29, 2006 that a lack of resources has allowed about 90% of the 20,000 immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan to enter Canada in the last five years without proper screening.

So, arch-conservatives rant about illegal immigration from the Mexican border. They mail bricks to construct a wall the offices of their congressman. Porcupine approves of the sentiment and applauds the wit; really, perhaps they can be engraved with memorial names like you see in front of monuments built for charitable purposes. In the meantime, Canada and the United States of America share the longest common border among any two countries that is not militarized or actively patrolled. That 5,000 mile border with our ‘great and true friend’ remains utterly open, while a hostile jihadist culture is allowed to fester.

It is worth noting that so far, every successful terrorist has entered the United States from Canada. And we will just begin to require passports late this year.