Résumé
“Canadians responded to the horrific Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 129 people from 17 countries and wounded hundreds more with an outpouring of grief and condolences. The full meaning of what happened will doubtless take time to assess, and the ramifications for Canada in this brazen attack on a close ally are many. But two stand out. First, the Paris attacks corroborate, once again, that Islamist terrorism is on the march, not on the retreat. French President François Holland has been exceptionally firm on this, calling the current state of affairs a “war” with “a jihadist army, Daesh [ISIS, ISIL].” That jihadists, once part of al Qaeda’s global franchise and 14 years after 9/11, have succeeded in carving out a substantial territory that spans Iraq and Syria, is – to be perfectly blunt – dramatic. It’s a blow to our collective security, and puts our counter-terrorism, counter-radicalization, and intelligence strategies under renewed scrutiny. Canada, as a vocal, ambitious, and dedicated partner of global counterterrorism initiatives since 2001, is in the crosshair. Second, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) recruitment of westerners continues. Thousands have travelled to ISIS territory to fight, train, and die. The Paris attacks seem to have involved at least half a dozen European radicals. Some had travelled to Syria, and appear to have been purposefully dispatched back to Europe to co-ordinate attacks. While exact figures are hard to come by, recent estimates suggest that up to 30,000 foreign fighters from 100 countries, have travelled to Syria and Iraq over the past five years. Many have joined ISIS. These figures, if accurate, far surpass the number of foreign recruits al Qaeda was able to attract to Afghanistan during the 1980s.”--Page 1.