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Canada Under Attack
On Monday a known-radical ISIS-wannabe killed a Canadian soldier (and wounded another) near Montreal. Today, shots have been fired on the National Parliament building in Ottawa.
Two attacks in three days. It’s not a coincidence.
Updates to come.
In the CTV livestream above, moments ago, a barrage of gunshots. (Update, It was film from earlier. I don’t think there is an active shooter any more.)
A Globe and Mail reporter said he saw “a body.” The Sargent-at-Arms of the Parliament killed “an assailant.” A Canadian soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial was shot.
Update: Ottawa police report three different shooting incidents: at the Parliament, and the National War Memorial, and at the Rideau Center.
Update: Reports that at least one gunman was “dressed in black with long black hair.”
Update: I just heard Shep Smith report that the soldier who was shot at the National Memorial has died.
Update: There was not, in fact, a shooting at the Rideau Center. There were 911 calls about shoots fired there, though, so that is why it was being reported in the media.
UPDATE 7:38PM
Bill Curry of The Globe and Mail just report live on On The Record that the police/authorities in Ottawa have just increased security within the past 20 minutes (since 7PM EST.
Published in General
Collectivizing a localized crime based on the mental thought process of the assailant comes off as hyperbolic.
We’ll see.
So let’s assume it is ISIS/al-Qaeda (a distinction without a difference, IMHO).
What idiots. Really? Attack Canada? Attack America and most of the rest of the world will nod, “We understand”.
Attack Canada, the most inoffensive, innocuous country, and you really do declare that you are at war with everyone.
Not too bright from a PR or strategic perspective.
Other than using the thought process of the assailant(s) as a guide, how would you suggest that we analyze crimes, local, or not?
Global News, http://globalnews.ca/news/1626941/canadas-domestic-terrorism-threat-quietly-elevated-for-first-time-in-4-years/ *, is reporting that Canada raised its terrorism level on Friday, 10/17/14.
In September, the National Post reported that ISIS is urging attacks on Canada. http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09/21/isis-urges-jihadists-to-attack-canadians-you-will-not-feel-secure-in-your-bedrooms/?__federated=1 *
While it’s too early to know who is behind these attacks, thinking about terrorism isn’t unreasonable.
*Insert/edit link tool doesn’t seem to be working properly for me. Apologies.
A local attack by one crazy individual who has sympathies to some terrorist organization on the other side of the world is not an attack on the whole country.
A Canadian soldier was shot at the NATIONAL War Memorial. The gunman then enter the NATIONAL parliament building. Parliament was in session. I think this is an attack on Canada.
You could just as easily replace that with the word magical, because that’s the effect it has.
Wait do we actually know the motivations of the shooter or even who they are. I just read about this but the piece was very light on details. It could just be a regular crazy person (not that that makes it any better for the poor victim). But, again what do we actually know. News reporters always love to speculate. It also mentioned there was another shooting in a mall not too far from the War Memorial. Is that true? Any indication they are connected?
Canada is treating this as terrorism. The shooters were reported as wearing black with bandannas covering their faces.
Malala Yousafzai was due to get Canadian citizenship today from PM Harper. She is the 17-year-old Pakistani woman speaking out on female education in Pakistan.
It could be a coincidence, and first reports are notoriously inaccurate. Safe to say, Canada does not believe this is an example of “workplace violence.”
Seawriter
Canada raised their threat level last Friday.
http://globalnews.ca/news/1626941/canadas-domestic-terrorism-threat-quietly-elevated-for-first-time-in-4-years/
I bet Stephan Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, won’t call this work place violence. He’ll call it for what it is: Islamic terrorism. My prayers for the soldier and his family.
I’m still stuck in lockdown at work. No clue when the RCMP are going to let us go home.
Hang in there.
If you feel up to writing something about it, let us know.
Yes, it’s a sad fact that, as the country marches leftward, precision of language has gone the way of the dodo bird, and many words or phrases no longer have the meaning or effect that you might expect.
At the moment, the phrase “recent convert to Islam” seems to be one of those. Like the ‘recent convert to Islam’ who beheaded that poor woman in Oklahoma. Or the ‘recent convert to Islam’ who drove his car into two Canadian soldiers yesterday, in Montreal, killing one, before he himself was shot by police.
Just another of life’s little co-inky-dinks, I guess. Nothing to see here. Move along.
I like the idea of a Magical Anthem, though.
Ottawa is a far softer target than Washington DC. Attacking the Ottawa War Memorial is like shooting to death the honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown in Arlington and, no doubt, somewhat easier for a coward to pull off.
Given that Canada declared war on ISIS this month I doubt radical Islam sees the nation as inoffensive. In any event, attacking Canada has a knock-on effect in the US at less risk. See the stock exchange reaction today in NYC.
“U.S. Stocks Decline, Dollar Gains Amid Inflation Data”
“…The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.7 percent at 4 p.m. in New York after its biggest rally in a year yesterday….”
“…Canadian (SPTSX) stocks tumbled 1.6 percent, the most since June 2013, for the first retreat in five days, as the downtown core in Ottawa remained in lockdown as police investigate “multiple suspects” and the central bank said the economy won’t reach full output until the second half of 2016. Energy and materials producers led declines as oil and metals prices tumbled….”
Well, the good news is the terrorist missed his target! You can’t take a Ricochetti down that easily.
I don’t know anything more than what’s on the news. Sorry.
Not so crazy to go after allied countries. Al Qaeda was able to knock Spain out of the Iraq coalition with a coordinated series of train bombings three days before a national election.
Concerning the vehicular assault which killed the solider the motivation does seem fairly clear.
Special Report with Bret Baier just reported that the gunman, Michael Abdul Zehaf-Bibeau, born Michael Joseph Hall, had recently had his passport seized by Canadian authorities because he was considered a “high-risk traveler.”
But, you know, let’s not jump to any conclusions. He might have been upset about Obamacare.
I’m in Vermont, all of about an hour away from St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu. Driven through there many times.
I’ll be happy to drive over any jihadis next time I’m north of the border, though, as a sign of solidarity.
Fox News has video footage of someone jumping the White House fence this evening. The Secret Service apprehended him quickly, and it appears dogs were used because Kimberly Guilfoyle just said that the jumper kicked a dog before being taken down. The video is dark, but the person is clearly wearing a white robe-like garment over pants.
People on twitter are saying he was wearing baggy gym shorts, so you shouldn’t trust my eyes.
So. Apparently this “Michael Joseph Hall” is a ‘recent convert to Islam.”
But for clarity’s sake, every time you see the phrase, “recent convert to Islam,” please remember that what it actually means is “a person of no particular religious affiliation.”
Otherwise, you’re just a hysterical nutball.
OK?
Unfortunately they don’t wear a uniform. They prefer to hide in plain sight amongst other soft targets.
And while we all jokingly say things like that, the religions that most of us practice in America don’t give us a commandment to murder those of other faiths. That is often confused with cowardice. It’s actually a sign of confidence of our spiritual dispositions. It indicates that we recognize the sanctity of another human’s life because we know where it came from and who created it. We do not murder. We will kill in self defense. Most people do not get the distinction between killing and murder in Exodus 20:13.
Agreed. Of course more is now known about today’s attack, too.
My empathy to our North American allies and thanks that you have the great good fortune for Stephen Harper to see you through this. He and George W were quite close. I no longer care one whit for protocol; I hope those two are communicating closely right now.
deleted comment. decided to post a new article instead.