I wanted to hold off commenting on this until a few more facts drifted in over the threshold....
The Canadian Mounted Police arrested 17 wanna be home-grown Muslim terrorists in Ontario that the Mounties claim were "inspired by al Qaeda" . The charges include plotting an attack on the CSIS (Canada's CIA) Toronto offices and the Canadian parliament complex in Ottawa, among other targets.
They had the tools of the trade to do it, too. The Canadians seized three tons of ammonium nitrate and other components of explosive devices like dtonators and fuses. That's the same kind of explosive used used to blow up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 that killed 168 people...except the Canadian Muslims had three times as much. Ammonium nitrate is an easily obtained fertilizer that can be converted into a bomb when combined with fuel oil.
The arrests involved more than 400 police officers and intelligence agents. All the men arrested are either legal residents of Canada or Canadian citizens.
One thing our FBI is looking into are contacts and a connection between the Canadian jihadis and two al Qaeda cell memebers arrested on terrorism charges in Georgia in March.
"These individuals were allegedly intent on committing acts of terrorism against their own country and their own people," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. "Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism."
Nope, it isn't.
In Britain, a similar raid occurred when more than 200 police raided a house in London's East End yesterday in response to what the cops called "specific intelligence about a suspected terrorist plot." ( In other words, somebody dropped a dime or `dobbed them in' for those of you who speak Strain.)
The raiders broke into two addresses and arrested two brothers, Mohammed Abul Kahar, 23 and Abul Koyair, 20, one of whom was reportedly shot in the shoulder when he tried to climb out a window to escape.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the anti-terrorist branch at the Metropolitan police, said the operation, which began just before 4am, was based on "very specific intelligence" but he declined to elaborate.
The operation "was de-signed to mitigate any threat to the public either from firearms or from hazardous substances."
The "hazardous substances" bit was interesting in that many of the police participating were wearing suits designed to protect against chemical or biological agents.
Now, here's the thing....first, an explosive bomb vest was mentioned, then deadly sarin, which could be shot from a canister or flask. But nothing has been found yet, either in the homes or at the suspects' workplaces.
Chemical weapons and the material involved can be very difficult to locate, since even tiny quantities can be lethal - and getting suspects convicted of this kind of terrorism can be very difficult. On Jan. 5, 2003, British police raided an apartment in North London and found some castor seeds from which ricin can be extracted. Nine people were suspected of plotting a toxic weapon attack were taken into custody, but only one was ever convicted.
Will the “specific intelligence” provided as the justification the raid, stand up?
Impossible to say. British intel has not had a very good record on these things. Regular readers ofthe site will recall that the commission formed to investigate the causes of the 7/7/05 London bombings found that the identity of two of the bombers was known to British Intelligence prior to the attacks...but surveillance was called off shortly before they struck, due to what the commission called `other pressures. MI5 has still not found a single lead to the vanished masterminds of the two July terrorist attacks in London.
With the anniversary of the 7/7 bombings just around the corner and the commision's findings still leaving a bad taste in their mouths, British Intel may be looking for an easy way to show the public they're on the job. We'll find out soon enough, as the suspects have to be charged or released by June 15th.
Stay tuned....
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