The Incredible Shrinking Terror Case
by Thomas Walkom,
Toronto Star, Canada,
Apr 16, 2008
Once labelled Canada's first homegrown, Islamist terror plot, the case
of the so-called Toronto 18 is quietly melting away.
With yesterday's decision to stay charges against four more of those
that it had once labelled dangerous terrorists, the federal government
is now admitting that it never had a serious case against almost half
of the men and youths charged two years ago.
So far, the Crown has stayed charges against seven of the 18 Toronto-
area Muslim males. While technically, that means it could re-lay
charges within a year, legal experts call such a move unlikely.
This does not necessarily mean the Crown's case is entirely bogus. The
government argues that some of the remaining 11 were involved in a
scheme to obtain explosive material, while others participated in a
terror training camp.
Because of a judicial publication ban, whatever evidence =96 if any =96
that the government has produced in court to bolster these allegations
cannot be re****ted.
But what is becoming clear from material that can be revealed is that
the alleged plot was never quite as advertised.
Back in June 2006, the overriding sentiment in government and media
was that a dangerous attack had been narrowly avoided. The allegations
=96 that Canadian Muslim extremists were planning to behead Prime
Minister Stephen Harper, seize MPs and blow up the CBC =96 seemed
unbelievable. But in a post-9/11 world, the unbelievable had, for
many, a ring of truth.
"We are a target because of who we are and how we live, our society,
our diversity and our values =96 values such as freedom, democracy and
the rule of law," Harper said.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day hinted darkly of more arrests to
come. The media asked how homegrown terrorism could happen here, a not
illegitimate question, but one that implicitly assumed the 18 were
guilty.
Coming at a time when Parliament was reviewing the 2002 anti-terror
law, the arrests bolstered the arguments of those who wanted the more
draconian aspects of that legislation kept in place.
The arrests also stoked fears that Islamist radicals were motivating
impressionable Muslim youths.
In some press accounts, the eldest person arrested, a Mississauga bus
driver named Qayyum Abdul Jamal, then 43, was painted as the Islamic
firebrand behind the youthful plotters.
This view was reinforced when then Liberal MP Wajid Khan (he's now a
Conservative) told re****ters that he had once heard Jamal at a mosque
badmouthing Canada's troops in Afghanistan.
Ironically, Jamal was one of the four who had his charges stayed
yesterday. He may indeed be a critic of Canadian foreign policy. But
it seems that he is not a terrorist ideologue.
Other elements of the government's case did not stand up well under
scrutiny. The alleged terror training camp turned out to be a hapless
adventure in the rain, one where participants spent much of their time
in a local doughnut shop and where the ammunition for target practice
was apparently provided by one of two paid RCMP informers.
As for the alleged plot to behead Harper, it was apparently derailed
because the plotters didn't know how to get to Parliament Hill.
Nor, it seems (according to material released by the Crown), were they
exactly sure who the Prime Minister was.
Still, we are sure to learn more about the case against the rapidly
shrinking Toronto 18 when the actual trials begin =96 if, by then, the
Crown still has anyone left it wants to try.
(Thomas Walkom's column appears Wednesday and Saturday.)
From: http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/414859
----------------
NATO Forces Supplied Food, Water and Arms to Taliban Forces in
Southern Afghanistan
But this was a mistake. Trust us.
The Guardian,
via cryptogon.com,
April 19th, 2008.
Nato forces mistakenly supplied food, water and arms to Taliban forces
in southern Afghanistan, officials today admitted.
Containers destined for local police forces were dropped from a
helicopter into a Taliban-controlled area of Zabul province.
The coalition helicopter had intended to deliver pallets of supplies
to a police checkpoint in Ghazni, a remote section of Zabul late last
month.
By mistake they were dropped some distance from the checkpoint where
it was taken by the Taliban, the Internal Security Affairs Commission
of the Wolesi Jirga =97 the Afghan parliament=92s lower house =97 was
told.
Hamidullah Tukhi, a local politician from Zabul, told the
parliamentary commission that the consignment had been taken by a
local Taliban commander.
A Nato spokesman said the pallets were carrying rocket propelled
grenades, ammunition, water and food.
Afghan politicians have said they do not believe the drop was an
accident.
Nato=92s General Carlos Branco blamed it on =93human error=94 when the
navigator confused two very similar grid references.
A spokesman at Nato headquarters in Brussels denied the suggestion the
alliance had deliberately armed the Taliban. =93We are aware of it but
we are not fired up about it. It sounds like someone made a mistake.
It was a cock-up rather than a conspiracy.
=93The forces on the ground are working to get the message across that
we do not deliberately supply the Taliban with arms.=94
From: http://cryptogon.com/?p=3D2420
Original source at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/18/nato.afghani=
stan
Related Stories:
'Britain in Secret Talks with the Taliban'
http://cryptogon.com/?p=3D1797
'Afghanistan: Planned British Covert Operation Included Training in
=93Farming and Irrigation Techniques=94 for Taliban Fighters'
http://cryptogon.com/?p=3D1988
Narco Aggression: Russia Accuses the U.S. Military of Involvement in
Drug Trafficking Out of Afghanistan http://cryptogon.com/?p=3D2120
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