Given my schedule this week, there is no way that I could gain the depth of understanding I would need to provide good analysis for you, but the terrorist attack on our Canadian friends is far too import a happening to let it pass without more than mere acknowledgement. I’ll start with that.
The heart of the Canadian capital was thrown into panic and placed in lockdown on Wednesday after a gunman armed with a rifle or shotgun fatally wounded a corporal guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier at the National War Memorial, entered the nearby Parliament building and fired multiple times before he was shot and killed.
It was the second deadly assault on a uniformed member of Canada’s armed forces in three days. The Ottawa attack heightened fears that Canada, a strong ally of the United States in its campaign against the Islamic State militant group convulsing the Middle East, had been targeted in a reprisal, either as part of an organized plot or a lone-wolf assault by a radicalized Canadian.
Law enforcement authorities in Washington said their Canadian counterparts had identified the assailant as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who had changed his name from Michael Joseph Hall, and said he had been a convert to Islam. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said he had a criminal history of offenses that included robbery and drug possession…
Inserted from <NY Times>
First, allow me to express my condolences for the victims of both attacks, their families, and all who loved them.
Second, I have already seen a tendency on our side of the border from Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians to paint Zehaf-Bibeau as a lefty and to call fore vengeance against Muslims. Reactionary religious fanatics. who would impose their religious dogma on others by force are not lefties. They are extreme right wingers, just like Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians. Vengeance is never the answer, especially when directed at innocent Muslims who have nothing to do with ISIL. Authentic Muslims and Christians must coexist in peace.
14 Responses to “Condolences to Our Neighbors to the North”
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I agree that true Christians and Muslims can coexist in Peace. It's only the extremists who are not truly spiritual who espouse violence.
My deepest sympathies to our Northern neighbors.
A number of us are contrasting Canadian reactions to this with US reactions, and there's a lot of truth in that. By and large Canadians are indeed doing a better job of coping. In reading the earliest news, though, Prime Minister Harper is said to have stated only that the killer was "a terrorist." This seemed to me a typical wing nut response, calculated both to dehumanize the attacker and politicize the attack. Of course I may have missed something – I may have missed a lot actually – and I trust others here, especially Canadians, to correct me if I am wrong.
I do send my condolences for this tragedy. I also send continuing condolences for having to put up with Harper.
Hi Joanne D. You can only imagine what it's like having Mr. never a hair out of place as our 'leader?' his reactions & responses embarass all of us.
Take care Coreen K.
Welcome Coreen! 🙂
Condolences over Harper and his harlots too.
This is what I put in yesterday's Open Thread. I'll be back later to read the NY Times article and comment further.
Ottawa Shooting — Here is a link for the Ottawa shooting of yesterday. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-shooting-mps-honour-nathan-cirillo-with-moment-of-silence-1.2809953
Today of course it was all over the news, but of particular interest to me was "why?". This incident, while an act of terrorism, is not the usual jihadist act that seems to be expected. Authorities are still investigating any connections to radicalised Islam, but it seems right now that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was angry that he was recently turned down for a Canadian passport because of his criminal record. According to the news, he was homeless, living in a shelter where he displayed anger and made threats, and he was a drug addict. Having said he was not a jihadist as such, apparently he may have wanted the passport to travel to Libya to "join up" as it were. My understanding is his father is/was Libyan while his mother is French Canadian and works for the government. The RCMP looked into a possible link with the gunman that was a jihadist and killed a soldier in Montréal earlier in the week. There was reportedly no link. I hope that people will remember all this and not label all Muslims as terrorists because they are not.
I wanted to see if this incident was on Faux Noise's radar but I cannot get Faux Noise on-line because our cable carriers are not listed with Faux Noise, or perhaps better put, our carriers do not carry the Faux Noise signal, even on-line. God bless the Canada Radio Act!
So sorry. Terrible events that as Canadians you, thankfully have not had to experience until yesterday.
Stay strong! We got your back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome Julia. 🙂
I want to send condolences to our Canadian neighbors too. I am glad this was not actually an act of terrorism, but rather one done by a disgruntled citizen. Canada has managed to stay free of the hysteria that we have here in the US. I hope they can remain so.
Edie, regardless of who did it, it5 was still a terrorist act. However it seems like an ant of individual, home-grown terrorism, as opposed to an act planned overseas.
I suppose you are right, people were terrorized, but my meaning was that it was not an organized attack by a group.
There is so much that is yet unknown . . . either because it is not being disclosed to the press as a result of the on-going investigation, or because it has not been uncovered at all since Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was killed and can no longer fill in the blanks. What is eminently clear is that Zehaf-Bibeau was a troubled man . . . in trouble with the law in BC and Québec, homeless, apparently involved with drugs, and possibly radicalised. Some accounts have him being asked to leave a local Mosque back in 2011 — Masjid Al-Salaam Mosque, Burnaby (part of Metro Vancouver) — because he tried to sleep there on numerous occassions and because he disagreed with the Mosque being welcoming to non Muslims. I listened to an interview with Aasim Rashid of the BC Muslim Association. The Association is in the process of preparing on-line information for anyone to view which will educate all on Islam and the Qu'ran. http://www.news1130.com/2014/10/24/local-mosque-taking-steps-to-prevent-extremism/ Masjid Al-Salaam Mosque and others across the country have been receiving threats. In Cold Lake, Alberta, site of a Canadian Forces base, the town is rallying to support the local Mosque which was vandalised http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/town-rallies-around-vandalized-cold-lake-mosque-1.2811968
This is extremely important to me because it is a general indication of the Canadian response to the Ottawa shooting. Yes there are some ding-dongs that will threaten and vandalise, but in general our response is in keeping with that of Justin Trudeau's comments as I received by e-mail:
Kudos for reporting that his local Mosque kicked him out for refusiong to coexist.
My condolences too to Canada on this sad occasion; my thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected and hurt by this man's actions.
I found Lynn's comments (as always) very informative and thought provoking, and I liked Justin Trudeau's piece very much. I happened to be watching BBC News 24 at the time that this happened, and it seemed to me at the time that it was not the normal terrorist attack, as he was reported as walking into the Parliament buildings openly brandishing a gun – which did not seem covert or planned, it seemed that he actually wanted to be shot dead.
I also heard on the BBC (interviewing Canadian journalists) that the shooter's family had contacted the police as they were worried about his behaviour the week before this happened.
Thanks all. Just woke up less than an hour ago, so way late.