Canadian Intelligence Eh
Everywhere you look these days terrorism and violent extremism dominate the headlines. Whether you follow what is happening in Afghanistan or Iraq, or in the West writ large, we are inundated with news of attacks by groups and individuals fighting for a 'cause'.In a world of multiple voices and opinions it can be very hard to know where to turn. One choice is to look to those who actually worked in counterterrorism in the national security world. In these half-hour podcasts 30-year Canadian intelligence veteran Phil Gurski is joined by a fascinating array of individuals with something meaningful to say about these issues as they provide insight into what they mean and what we need to do about them.
Canadian Intelligence Eh
Episode 225 - Burn the Quran vs. terrorism: what is the connection?
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Phil Gurski
Many value freedom of expression and speech as one of the pillars of liberal, democratic societies. These are hard-won rights that many will defend to the nth degree (Voltaire wrote something along these lines: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"). So, what do we do when what is sold as freedom of expression includes burning a copy of the Quran? Incidents along these lines have led to massive protests throughout the Muslim world, and the Swedish security service SAEPO now says its nation is a 'prioritised' terrorism target because of these actions. Borealis looks into what this all means.