No one is so confident in their opinion as an ignorant person.
The screams coming out of the right-wing about the horrors of resettling 25,000 refugees from the bloody Syrian-Iraqi corridor controlled by Daesh, (you may know the group as ISIS or ISIL), is an illuminating example.
They even have their own petition to stop the rescue of refugees. (No, I'm not linking to it).
Their greatest fear, (and they are certainly demonstrating huge amounts of that), is that in a single intake of 25, 000 refugees, terrorists will come in with them. And then they demonstrate their profound ignorance by pointing at the Paris attacks while they wet their pants.
1. To date, none of the Paris attackers, so far identified, were refugees. They were native-born French or Belgian. Whatever their ethnicity, religious beliefs (if they actually had any), or training, they were home-grown radicalized thugs, many of whom had criminal records in Europe.
2. The refugees being brought to Canada are currently already identified. Most are living hand-to-mouth existences in refugee camps where conditions are the closest thing to a living hell anyone can imagine. Your typical terrorist isn't drawn to that type of lifestyle. Some of the Paris attackers were described by their own families and acquaintances as hard drinkers, smokers and party animals. The refugees being brought to Canada are unique in that on this occasion we actually get to pick them. These are not people showing up on a sinking boat or putting their lives in the hands of human smugglers.
3. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Tell me WHY any idiot inclined to come to Canada to blow up the doorstep of some semi-informed redneck westerner would be so stupid as to come in via the refugee system?!
Go on ... tell me.
There are too many security, criminal and health checks and WAY too much control and supervision. It is considerably easier to show up in Canada as a TOURIST. Much less hassle and nowhere near the detailed examination of one's past to which every refugee must submit.
So, the right-wing fear monkeys cannot present the refugee-terrorist-infiltrator as an argument. They'll have to come up with something else. And with every uninformed position that gets cut away from their argument, we come closer to the real reason. And it's ugly.
A tail dragging romp through the swamps of the world
Succinctly put. Now if only our MSM would print those facts.
ReplyDelete.. Mainstream Media having to gulp real hard & many times before considering even trying to spell out unmistakeable truth like you are.. but giving up on the flat earth fall off the edge of the world dogma was a big gulp & a long time coming ...
ReplyDeleteI thought this guy put the situation rather well.
ReplyDeleteWell written. Well reasoned. Well said.
ReplyDeleteI've been more than a little disturbed by this crap as I, like you Dave, well understand and appreciate that the potential security holes for exploitation exist far more in the tourist visa area than on the refugee side. In point of fact, I cannot recall any Canadian refugee claimant ever even being charged with terrorism related offences, let alone convicted/proved carrying out such a thing, well at least no Arab/Muslim one, I'd have to go back and check on those involved with Air India and their status. I would though expect that if such evidence was out there those same right wing voices would be trumpeting it from the highest mountains, so I think I am probably safe in that assumption of a negative proof. There is simply no sane way to believe that there are serious terrorist embeds within the refugee camps awaiting their chance to come to Canada and hurt us, because until the Libs came to power the idea that we were going to take in any (or any significant amount, a literal few handfuls in this context I submit is functionally equivalent to none) was clearly ludicrous and not happening.
These voices are acting like these are the same as deep trained KGB agents from the Cold War whose sole purpose was to become long term fifth columnists and terrorists after becoming well regarded members of our society, which when you think it through makes no sense at all, especially since that was a very long term minded program to begin with. The KGB had a very ruthless winnowing process, was very careful in those it selected for such programs and the training it gave them reinforced that conditioning, and even then many of those they sent into the West ended up leaving their service because of the freer nature of the societies despite all the indoctrination and programming they received. ISIS/ISIL/whatever-the-fuck lacks the resources to come close to that sort of thing, and their aims are much more short range and therefore they want the faster ways to embed and infiltrate as well as trying to create homegrown terrorists (as most have been including in Paris) in Western nations because THAT is the effective approach for them, not sitting for years in refugee camps hoping that they might win the refugee lotto jackpot! This is "Better Dead Than Red!" hysteria with even less to support it IMHO!
Seriously, the only real truth to what we are seeing here is xenophobia being given a license to run free by these voices, something the last election campaign cycle really stirred back up again. One of the reasons I am happy to see Trudeau not listening on the deadline business is that I think he needs to keep it to show he is trying his best, and if at the end of the year they haven't fully managed it they can show it was because they tried their best and that it was logistical reasons, and not this false security fear mongering and pandering, that was the real reason, and I believe that appearance is important. For someone that his critics claimed was someone that went where the wind blew and an empty-headed sock puppet with no will of his own Trudeau certainly seems to be giving the appearance of a leader that knows his own mind and has the force of will to back it up with when it matters, as it does here.
Good post Dave, glad to see both it and you as its author!
1956-1957 The crushing of the Hungarian uprising led to over 200,000 Hungarians fleeing to Austria. In response to public pressure, the Canadian government implemented a special program, offering the Hungarian refugees free transport, instead of loans. Thousands of Hungarians arrived in the early months of 1957 on over 200 chartered flights. More than 37,000 Hungarians were admitted in less than a year.
ReplyDeleteCanadian Council for Refugees
http://ccrweb.ca/sites/ccrweb.ca/files/static-files/canadarefugeeshistory4.htm
There were reports suggesting that one of the Paris attackers was able to transit between Paris or Brussels and Syria via Greece without record. I caught something else the other day stating the borders in Greece and Balkans lost effective control/document checks because the Hungarians had shut theirs.
ReplyDeletePut two and two together and you have the right-wing fear-mongering government in Hungary actually facilitating the unrecorded movement of refugees because their policies increase the burden on other countries and overwhelm their borders. IF there are or could be IS terrorists entering Europe at least via refugee migration routes, they are potentially aided in this way by right wing policies that transfer the burden of initial refugee processing to the under-resourced states that are the first ports of entry to the EU after Turkey.
What an uneducated bit of horse crap. I will concede however that you are absolutely correct in your opening statement,
ReplyDelete"No one is so confident in their opinion as an ignorant person."
Care to guess who I think the ignorant one is? Proof of that ignorance lies in your higher than thou Left Wing rhetoric.
As a self proclaimed Leftie myself, I'm ashamed and disgusted by you and your hyper opinionated and accusatory cronies that cling so desperately to your sense of self righteousness.
What's worse is your red letter tagging of any concerned citizen as a bigot. What a weak pathetic attack from an equally ignorant aggressor.
What prey tell do YOU know about national security? Terrorist frontline or organizational tactics? What do you know about our collective intelligence limitations? What do you know about our local emergency response limitations? NOTHING. It is so evident that I won't even grace you with the benefit of doubt.
Whether any of the recent events have be perpetrated by refugees has absolutely no relevance to legitimate concerns. While you are quick to acknowledge that from YOUR point of view you conveniently forget to see how it applies in reverse. Clearly put, even if none of the recent aggressors are found to be refugees, the security risk of accepting an influx of refugees is NOT diminished.
If indeed all recent aggressors are shown to be as you put, "home-grown radicalized thugs" what does that say about the ongoing risk of accepting these refugees? Are you proposing that there is some sort of statute of limitation? At what point will YOU be comfortable with 'new Canadians' becoming terrorists, six months, a year, 2nd generation?
I wonder, these "home-grown radicalized thugs", what socio/political demographic do you suppose managed to influence them to commit such heinous crimes? This doesn't seem to me to be endemic to Western culture as I've experienced it. Might it be more likely the influence was from within their indigenous culture that came with them to their new homes? I think we can agree that the answer is quite obvious.
Your second point is so utterly foolish I don't think I'll waste my time addressing it but to say that it you or the global security agencies identify terrorists as,
"hard drinkers, smokers and party animals",
my group of friends are likely on the top of the Most Wanted list. Additionally I can't help but wonder what the USA plans to do with their obviously terrorist stronghold known as Colorado.
Cont'
You seem so very confident of your third point, but again to reiterate your OWN words,
ReplyDelete"No one is so confident in their opinion as an ignorant person."
So you truly believe we have the intelligence capabilities to vet 25 000 individuals. Really? HONESTLY, honestly do you believe that?
Do you even know all your OWN cousins? Nope, not likely. End of discussion.
You want ONE reason why a tourist wouldn't simply come into Canada as a tourist? How about time?
A terrorist coming into Canada as a tourist has limited time before they are expected to leave. Spur of the moment 'lone gunmen' scenarios are not the real concern. The REAL concern is the development of an organized, co-ordinated, infrastructure. An infrastructure capable of developing underground financial communities, inter-trade relationships, information and communication conduits, etc.
All this requires time, safe locations of operation, secure social connections (community) and infrastructure. A terrorist can't bring infrastructure along in their carry-on.
There are a huge number of men and women on the streets every day, Metro, and Provincial Police, RCMP, Military, Fire, and EMS, that are aware of our true limitations to keeping the public safe. Efforts currently rely entirely on intelligence. Experts acknowledge that it is only a matter of time before we in Canada suffer a significant terrorist incident. That intelligence has become openly strained in recent years and relies heavily on international cooperation. Those international resources are now equally strained and will be increasingly so, as we adapt to the new dispersal of refugees and the resources of ISIL(S).
While I'm tempted to scare you by sharing some of the realistic risks, and solidifying those fears by graphically describing sights, sounds, smells associated with incendiary, chemical, biological or radiological threats, I'll refrain.
While the ignorant and opinionated Lefties can wax all humanitarian, I ask, what risk is acceptable to you? How many Canadian lives constitute a fair or ethical trade off? Most Canadians can confidently feel that they personally won't be touched by terrorism, but what about those Canadians living in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, or Vancouver, all likely targets. As a first responder and given my role within my organization, there is a 1 in 4 chance that I'll be responding to any such incident. So forgive me if I take the threat with a TRUE grain of salt.
Cont'
Finally, and thanks for enduring...
ReplyDeleteYou share in your closing paragraph those Canadians concerned for our security that you have generalized as,
"right-wing fear monkeys"
have a weak (or perhaps no) legitimate argument, and that,
"They'll have to come up with something else. And with every uninformed position that gets cut away from their argument, we come closer to the real reason. And it's ugly."
Of course it's clear that you are labelling those people as bigots. RACISTS.
I'd argue that those of us pensive, or pragmatic, and that want to take time to investigate the options and the possible threats thoroughly and with deep consideration are simply being responsible citizens.
You, who have drawn such a clear line, are the bigot here.
I can't help but continually fall to questioning your true intentions. What is it that people like you are so passionate about? It's easy to say lives, but which lives do you care about? Clearly not all lives are equal to you
Yet if it's lives you want to save, there are countless lives that can be saved around that world with NO risk. OVER 5 000 children die in Africa every day. There are lives you can enrich, lives right here in Canada that suffer human rights violations. Children living in poverty, an epidemic of Indigenous women suffering sexual, and physical abuse and murder. None of those lives are a security risk.
What is it about those lives that don't elicit a impassioned response? Is it simply that those lives just aren't hip enough this blogging season?
You certainly filled that diaper.
ReplyDeleteLet's not feed this troll. The "self-proclaimed Leftie" remark gave him away.
ReplyDeleteHe has a short lifespan around here.
Unfed :)
ReplyDeleteBueler...Bueler....?
ReplyDelete