ISIL

Thursday April 26, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 26, 2018 

‘Raw hatred’: why the ‘incel’ movement targets and terrorises women

October 22, 2014

When a van was driven on to a Toronto pavement on Tuesday, killing 10 people and injuring 15, police chief Mark Saunders said that, while the incident appeared to be a deliberate act, there was no evidence of terrorism. The public safety minister Ralph Goodale backed this up, deeming the event “not part of an organised terror plot”. Canada has rules about these things: to count as terrorism, the attacker must have a political, religious or social motivation, something beyond “wanting to terrorise”.

Why have the authorities been so fast to reject the idea of terrorism (taking as read that this may change; the tragedy is very fresh)? Shortly before the attack, a post appeared on the suspect’s Facebook profile, hailing the commencement of the “Incel Rebellion”, including the line “Private (Recruit) … Infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt 4chan please. C23249161.” (“4chan is the main organising platform for the ‘alt-right’,” explains Mike Wendling, the author of Alt-Right: from 4Chan to the White House.)

June 6, 2006

There is a reluctance to ascribe to the “incel” movement anything so lofty as an “ideology” or credit it with any developed, connected thinking, partly because it is so bizarre in conception.

Standing for “involuntarily celibate”, the term was originally invented 20 years ago by a woman known only as Alana, who coined the term as a name for an online support forum for singles, basically a lonely hearts club. “It feels like being the scientist who figured out nuclear fission and then discovers it’s being used as a weapon for war,” she says, describing the feeling of watching it mutate into a Reddit muster point for violent misogyny.

Who are the ‘incels’ and how do they relate to Toronto van attack?

It is part of the “manosphere”, but is distinguished from men’s rights activism by what Wendling – who is also the editor of BBC Trending, the broadcaster’s social media investigation unit – calls its “raw hatred. It is vile. It is just incredibly unhinged and separate from reality and completely raw.” It has some crossover with white supremacism, in the sense that its adherents hang out in the same online spaces and share some of the same terminology, but it is quite distinctive in its hate figures: Stacys (attractive women); Chads (attractive men); and Normies (people who aren’t incels, ie can find partners but aren’t necessarily attractive). Basically, incels cannot get laid and they violently loathe anyone who can. (Continued: Guardian) 

 

Monday November 16, 2015

 

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Monday November 16, 2015 Paris attacks: World must avoid revenge and cosmetic measures While we are in shock and grief about the carnage in Paris, Islamic State terrorists and their sympathisers are celebrating the death of innocent people. It is a terrorist act not only on France but on humanity, and those who are behind it have no right to exist in the civilised world. The horrific attacks on different locations in Paris must have been meticulously planned for some time to cause maximum death and terror among innocent civilians. It was a highly sophisticated operation and needed lots of coordination and intelligence inputs by a strong organisation that could get its sleeper cells active whenever it ordered. It is a condemnable terrorist act carried out by terrorists who have no respect for human life. It came after the US announced the targeting of ÒJihadi JohnÓ in Raqqa, the IS headquarters in Syria. It also comes after suicide bomb attacks in Beirut that left more than 300 people of different faith and nationalities dead and injured. It also brought back memories of the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai when terrorists came to kill and die. It is chillingly similar to the Beslan school siege of 2004 in Russia and the London underground and Madrid train murders to name a few. It is a replica of the attack and counter-attack pattern which leads to more provocative measures while these terrorists and perpetrators get off scot-free. We are aware terrorists know no boundary, religion or nationality. They are merely criminals driven by their own ideology, which was taught to them in the caves of Tora Bora and other terrorist safe havens. The Syrian refugees in Europe draw attention to the magnitude of the humanitarian catastrophe faced by Syrians for the past four-and-a-half years. Homes uprooted, people decapitated, kids taken into training camps, girls enslaved and raped. They did not even spare our heritage. When Europe open

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday November 16, 2015

Paris attacks: World must avoid revenge and cosmetic measures

While we are in shock and grief about the carnage in Paris, Islamic State terrorists and their sympathisers are celebrating the death of innocent people. It is a terrorist act not only on France but on humanity, and those who are behind it have no right to exist in the civilised world.

The horrific attacks on different locations in Paris must have been meticulously planned for some time to cause maximum death and terror among innocent civilians. It was a highly sophisticated operation and needed lots of coordination and intelligence inputs by a strong organisation that could get its sleeper cells active whenever it ordered.

It is a condemnable terrorist act carried out by terrorists who have no respect for human life. It came after the US announced the targeting of “Jihadi John” in Raqqa, the IS headquarters in Syria. It also comes after suicide bomb attacks in Beirut that left more than 300 people of different faith and nationalities dead and injured.
It also brought back memories of the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai when terrorists came to kill and die.

It is chillingly similar to the Beslan school siege of 2004 in Russia and the London underground and Madrid train murders to name a few. It is a replica of the attack and counter-attack pattern which leads to more provocative measures while these terrorists and perpetrators get off scot-free.

We are aware terrorists know no boundary, religion or nationality. They are merely criminals driven by their own ideology, which was taught to them in the caves of Tora Bora and other terrorist safe havens.

The Syrian refugees in Europe draw attention to the magnitude of the humanitarian catastrophe faced by Syrians for the past four-and-a-half years. Homes uprooted, people decapitated, kids taken into training camps, girls enslaved and raped. They did not even spare our heritage.

When Europe opened its doors to other nationalities, the terrorists took advantage and sneaked into Europe along with the refugees to create havoc and terror across national capitals. Many mercenaries from Europe too returned, well trained and ready to kill and act independently in a new trend of mobile terrorism.

IS or Daesh has threatened to attack many Western capitals and it has proved again that it is capable of striking anytime, anywhere.

Mercenaries were allowed to travel freely into Turkey and then into Syria, to join terrorist groups, and they are now using the same route to return home, fleeing the conflict in Syria and Iraq.

According to reports, 500 French terrorists returned from Syria and Iraq. Many other European nationalities also went home. The authorities are trying to rehabilitate some, while others are waiting to act once their “masters” issue orders.

How long will we wait before we address this crisis seriously? How many innocent people must be sacrificed before we jointly act to defeat these evil forces and eliminate the infrastructure of terrorism?

But we must avoid provocation, revenge and cosmetic measures. We need surgical operations.

There is no good and bad terrorism. No country can defeat it alone and hence we need to act together now. (Source: Hindustan Times)

 

Wednesday March 25, 2015

Wednesday March 25, 2015Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 25, 2015

Harper seeks Parliament’s approval to extend Iraq mission into Syria

Stephen Harper is asking Parliament to endorse his plan to extend Canada’s involvement in the fight against Islamic State militants by 12 months and to expand the scope of Canadian air strikes against extremists to include Syria.

The Conservatives are putting the motion for expanding the mission on the order paper today and debate will begin Thursday. Both the NDP and Liberals said they opposed the motion, though the vote is expected to easily pass given the Conservative majority in the Commons.

Saturday September 27, 2014Canadian warplanes have been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since last October and Mr. Harper had previously said he believed he needed the consent of the Syrian government before striking Islamic State forces in Syria.

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Harper told the House of Commons that the Canadian government has changed its mind and decided it doesn’t need the approval of the Assad regime, which is a pariah today because of its murderous war against its civilians.

“The government recognizes that ISIL’s [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s] power base, indeed the so-called caliphate’s capital, is in Syria,” the Prime Minister said. (Read Mr. Harper’s speech.)

“ISIL’s fighters and much of its heavier equipment are moving freely across the Iraqi border into Syria, in part for better protection against our air strikes. In our view, ISIL must cease to have any safe haven in Syria.”

He said Canada’s intentions in staying in this fight have not changed. (Source: Globe & Mail)

Reposted to Yahoo Canada News.

 

Wednesday February 18, 2015

Wednesday February 18, 2015Wednesday February 18, 2015

Canada’s Iraq mission has cost $122 million, military says

Canada’s air and ground mission battling Islamic State extremists in Iraq has cost $122 million so far, new figures show.

Defence Minister Jason Kenney on Monday overturned weeks of silence by the Defence Department on the issue and revealed the price tag of the mission to date.

“We think these costs are entirely reasonable given the importance of this mission,” Kenney said in a statement.

Kenney, who took over as defence minister a week ago, said the final cost will be higher but the final tally depends on when the mission, now due to end in April, wraps up.

“Costs will ultimately be higher than that, but how much higher will depend on whether we wrap up the operation at the end of March, or extend it, so total final costs are still difficult to calculate,” he said.

He said Canadian special operations forces soldiers — working as advisers on the ground — and Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft are having a “meaningful impact against this genocidal terrorist organization.”

Kenney cited the latest atrocities — the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya by an Islamic State-affiliated group and the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot — as further justification of the Conservatives’ decision to launch the military mission over the objections of Liberals and New Democrats.

“This is a vicious death cult that is a threat to regional and international security, they have declared war on Canada and our allies, and that’s why Canada has a responsibility to be there,” Kenney said. (Source: Toronto Star)

Saturday September 13, 2014

Saturday September 13, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 13, 2014

Syrian National Coalition eager for Obama’s help to topple ISIS, Assad

Syria’s main Western-backed opposition group on Thursday welcomed President Barack Obama’s authorization of U.S. airstrikes targeting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), saying it stands “ready and willing” to partner with the international community to defeat the extremists.

But the Syrian National Coalition said that equally important was the realization that fighting ISIS alone is not enough and should be coupled with degrading and ultimately removing President Bashar Assad’s regime.

“The Syrian Coalition … stands ready and willing to partner with the international community not only to defeat ISIS but also rid the Syrian people of the tyranny of the Assad regime,” said the Coalition’s chief Hadi Bahra.

In a prime-time address to the nation from the White House, Obama announced he was authorizing U.S. airstrikes inside Syria for the first time, along with expanded strikes in Iraq as part of “a steady, relentless effort” to root out Islamic State extremists and their spreading reign of terror.

He also urged Congress anew to authorize a program to train and arm Syrian rebels who are fighting both the Islamic State militants and Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“We will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are,” Obama declared. “That means I will not hesitate to take action against [ISIS] in Syria, as well as Iraq.” (Source: CBC News)