US Ambassador Paul Cellucci warned that Canada was one of the only targets on Al Qa’eda’s list that had not yet been hit with either a successful or foiled terrorist attack. And that it was very likely we could be the next targets:
Canadians need to heed the dire warning this week from U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci that major cities in the Windsor-to-Montreal corridor face an Al-Qa’ida attack similar to last week’s terrorist strikes in Madrid, says one of the country’s leading terrorism experts.
“Our turn is coming. It may be coming much sooner than we think,” John Thompson, president of the Mackenzie Institute, Canada’s leading security and terrorism think-tank, said in an interview yesterday.
[ . . . ]
In a video that aired on the Al Jazeera satellite television station Nov. 12, 2002, the Al-Qa’ida leader singled out Canada as a country that should be attacked. Canada was listed along with several other U.S. allies on the tape.
Thompson said that Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy — all U.S. allies in the international war on terrorism — have either been struck by Al-Qa’ida or have had terrorists plots foiled on their soil.
“We’re the only ones they’ve threatened that they haven’t gone after yet,” Thompson said.
[ . . . ]
Thompson said Canadians must be shaken from their mistaken belief that they are somehow immune from terrorism.
“There’s this strong belief that we’re the world’s nice guys and everyone loves us,” Thompson said. “We have been sheltered for far too long. … Some day soon we’ll all have to wake up and realize we’ve been hit.”
The only question is, should Canada be struck, will we react like the U.S.? Or like Spain?
You mean throw out the govennrment that lied about the terrorist attacks? I would hope we would be like Spain, and demand that our government be honest, and confront terrorism squarely. Not treatr it as an electoral gambit.
Hey, the US gets a chance to be more like Spain in November. Let’s hope they’ll choose honesty.
If it happens it’ll be in Quebec, I’m guessing Quebec City; Quebec is the weak link. They’ll fold at the mere threat of terrorism. History will repeat itself.
If there’s one thing I remember about Mtl, it’s that it’s the safest place on the planet.
The corner of Cote De Neiges and Cote Ste Catherine is the geographical centre of the the Al-Qaida capital outside the middle-east.
If you are afraid of terrorism, move to this area.
Er, Josh, the corner of Cote des Neiges and Cote Ste Catherine is the site of the Jewish General Hospital.
Not to worry; that’d be the safest place. They’d pick the heart of French-Quebec. The Quebec French would blame us for their tradgedy and force the Feds to go the Spanish route…ok, make that rout. Hurting the Jewish population would get the same results as attacking us in Israel…
Argument anyone ?
They’d pick the heart of French-Quebec. … Argument anyone? Well, recent history would probably want to argue. Ahmed Ressam picked Outremont for what he thought was a high density of Jews.