-Caveat Lector- Canada: A conduit for terrorists http://www.nationalpost.com/features/siege/story.html?f=/stories/20010913/685401.html Stewart Bell National Post Tom Hanson, The Canadian Press TORONTO - "Reports that at least two of the terrorists responsible for the devastating strike on the World Trade Center may have travelled from Canada have again put Ottawa's immigration and counter-terrorism policies -- already under fire over the Ahmed Ressam affair -- in the spotlight. But even if the suicide attacks at New York and Washington are not directly tied to Canadian-based terrorist cells, critics contend the federal government's weak response to the threat has nonetheless contributed to an international climate that has allowed terrorism to thrive. Through negligence and indifference, the Canadian government has permitted virtually every major terrorist organization to operate within its borders. From South Asia to the Middle East, there is hardly a struggle in the world that is not dependent at least in part on Canada. The al Qaeda group of Osama bin Laden, the Middle Eastern extremists Hamas and Hezbollah, the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, the Sikh militant groups fighting India -- all have a presence in Canada. So does the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Mujahedeen, Al Jihad, Colombian rebels and Armed Islamic Group of Algeria. "With perhaps the singular exception of the United States," Canada's leading intelligence official, Ward Elcock, said in his 1998 testimony to the Special Senate Committee on Security and Intelligence, "there are more international terrorist groups active here than any other country in the world." Canada's vulnerability to infiltration by terrorists is deeply entrenched. Its refugee laws are probably the most lax in the Western world. Anyone who arrives on Canadian soil and claims to be a refugee is entitled to a hearing, a lawyer and generous welfare benefits. Government-funded programs pay for language training. Well-paying jobs are readily available, and for those seeking to hide out or raise money, f victims. Security background checks are routinely done, but it is no easy task to investigate someone from half-way around the world, particularly if there is a war or upheaval in the country, and especially when they are not forthright about their past, or even their true identity. Given the nature of terrorism, it is hardly surprising agents of political violence seek out and exploit the weaknesses in the Canadian system to support their campaigns. "There are a variety of factors which explain why Canada is vulnerable," Mr. Elcock said in his Senate committee testimony, breaking the agency's traditional silence on intelligence matters. "Our borders and our coastlines are long. Our society, like all developed countries, is comparatively wealthy -- a source of technology, of equipment and funds. As with other democracies, our openness and respect for rights and freedoms limit the ability of the state to suppress terrorism in a ruthless, repressive fashion. "We, uniquely among developed countries, exist alongside the United States, one of the world's pre-eminent terrorist targets." ... "Canada is susceptible to the spillover from foreign wars and civil strife for a number of reasons: Its open society and relatively porous borders, its activist international policies and robust defence alliances, and the presence in Canada of various 'homeland' communities," the Security Intelligence Review Committee said in its annual report tabled in Parliament in October, 2000. Sympathizers provide essential assistance to the terror campaign but assuage their guilt by limiting their activities to lobbying, donating money, or perhaps even loaning out their passports. But in reality there is no clean line between committing terrorism and supporting it. As the Federal Court of Appeal pointed out in its ruling on the case of Manickavasagam Suresh, the leader of the Tamil Tigers' Canadian branch, those who raise money to buy bombs are as culpable as those who actually plant them. ... The federal government's response has been under aw, the government appears in no hurry to correct that gaping hole in its security system. The Liberals have drafted a law that would deny charity status to groups that fund terrorism, but it has stalled, in part due to opposition from such lobby groups as the Canadian Islamic Congress. There has been talk of a law that would ban terrorists from fundraising, but it is not considered a policy priority within the Department of Justice, which is instead focusing on the development of anti-gang legislation. In addition, some Liberal MPs have attended rallies for the Tamil Tigers. Two federal Cabinet ministers, Paul Martin and Maria Minna, were guest speakers at a May, 2000, dinner hosted by the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils, which CSIS and the U.S. State Department have labelled as fronts for the Tigers. The Liberals get their support largely from the major urban centres, such as Toronto, where the largest number of new immigrants live, The party fears that any anti-terrorism policies will be perceived as racist or anti-immigrant, costing it support. But crying racism is a ploy used by extremists with their own agendas. ... As Canadian politicians are quick to point out, Canada itself is not a major terrorist target. But when terrorists are using it as a staging ground, building bombs, buying equipment and raising money to attack allies, assassinate democratically elected world leaders and strike against civilians, the nation clearly has a serious problem." FBI probes Canadian links to attacks http://www.nationalpost.com/features/siege/story.html?f=/stories/20010913/684746.html "The FBI has appealed to the North American airline industry to help track down 10 people identified as possible associates of the hijackers responsible for Tuesday's catastrophic terrorist attacks, according to documents obtained by the National Post. The FBI and RCMP are also investigating the possibility that some of the people behind the attacks in New York and Washington entered the United States through Canada. FBI officials estimated there were three to five hijackers for each of the four planes. Some were on the Immigration and Naturalization Service's "watch list," and some apparently travelled to the United States from Atlantic Canada. Authorities are investigating the possibility that two of the dead hijackers might have taken a ferry to either Portland or Bar Harbor, Me., from Yarmouth, N.S., early Tuesday. The ferry operator has handed his passenger manifest to U.S. investigators. Mounties were also said to be checking Halifax hotels for witnesses and had also seized a Chevy Malibu rental car at the Halifax airport that was being dusted for fingerprints. ... Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, said yesterday there was no indication so far the terrorists had come from Canada. Vincent Cannistraro, a former chief of counter intelligence for the CIA, said authorities believe the hijackers may have entered the U.S. via two Maine border points -- Jackson, a remote site near Armstrong, Que., and Portland, via the ferry from Yarmouth, N.S. "As many as five people came across from Canada," said Mr. Cannistraro, who was in contact with people close to the investigation. He said the five terrorists went to Bangor, Me., where "they boarded a feeder plane but only three of them could get on board because it was full and the other two went on to Portland and got a flight from Portland." They all flew to Logan Airport in Boston where they regrouped. A U.S. border patrol official confirmed that t of interest in the investigation, but he refused to elaborate. ... The hijackers of the two planes that flew out of Logan had no guns. Instead, they smuggled box cutters and knives with plastic handles embedded with razor blades in their shaving kits and in other carry-on luggage onto the flights. Two of the suspects were brothers who held passports from the United Arab Emirates, a tiny Arabian Gulf sheikdom known as a major banking and commerce centre. One was a trained pilot. Officials from the UAE later said the two men, Wa'el Mohammad al-Shehri, 29, and Ahmad Ibrahim Ali al-Hazzouni, 22, were in fact Saudi nationals with international driving licences issued in the UAE. The luggage of one of the men who flew to Logan airport on Tuesday didn't make it onto his scheduled connection. The Boston Globe reported that two suitcases contained a copy of the Qur' an, an instructional video on flying commercial airliners and a fuel-consumption calculator." <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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