Security Trumps Trade with Canada for President Bush -- & -- Mohamed Majoub

Wake up on terror, Cellucci warns Canada -- North America targeted: Consequences of another attack would be 'tragic,' U.S. ambassador says -- "security trumps trade" for George W. Bush -- security a priority

Wake up on terror, Cellucci warns Canada Anne Dawson and Robert Fife, CanWest, Feb. 7, 05

[. . . . ] In a final interview before he leaves Canada next month, Mr. Cellucci said terrorism remains the biggest challenge facing Canada and the United States, and expressed misgivings many Canadians have lost their fear of a new terrorist assault in North America.

"It is inevitable that terrorists would look to Canada as a potential launching pad to get into the U.S.," Mr. Cellucci told CanWest News Service. "It is also quite possible if the terrorists think that the United States is too hard a target, that they'll stage an attack on Canada from the United States, so it is really in each of our security interests to work together to protect the people."

Mr. Cellucci said "security trumps trade" for George W. Bush, the U.S. President, and any terrorist attack in the United States or Canada would have serious economic repercussions for the $365-billion in annual bilateral trade. [. . . . ]

Canada is short about 3500 RCMP and CSIS officers -- Cellucci: Spend more on spies, JTF2 special forces, strategic airlift for a rapid-reaction force -- "U.S. Envoy's Parting Advice: Beef Up the Military"

"Canada also needs to purchase strategic airlift for a rapid-reaction force so it does not have to hitch rides with the U.S. air force, or rent Ukraine-built Antonov cargo planes from Russia as the military had to do during the recent tsunami crisis."

Spend more on spies, soldiers, Cellucci urges Robert Fife and Anne Dawson, Ottawa Citizen, Feb. 4, 05

Canada can "punch above its weight" on the global stage, but it must pour money into intelligence gathering, create a rapid-reaction strike force and buy heavy-lift aircraft to transport elite soldiers to world trouble spots, says outgoing U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci.

With a boost in defence spending expected in the federal budget, Mr. Cellucci said Canada's 55,000-member military needs to be reshaped to battle terrorist threats, confront ethic cleansing and help out in national disasters.

The U.S. would like Canada to beef up its elite JTF2 special forces and establish a Canadian strike force that could deploy anywhere in the world on short notice.

[. . . . ] Mr. Cellucci did not say how many soldiers the U.S. would like to see in a strike force.

But experts have said Canada should be able to commit a self-contained brigade-size unit of about 4,000 soldiers to any rapid-reaction force.

In fact, the Liberal government has committed to recruiting an additional 5,000 full-time troops, and the Defence Department is in the process of doubling the size of the Joint Task Force 2 ranks to an estimated 600 troops from 300 counter-terrorism commandos. [. . . . ]

I have heard there are problems with this recruitment. Look into it. Talk to those in the military -- lower ranks, since the upper ranks may have to support the government's position -- a politicized military. How else would one get ahead in Ottawa?




Justice Eleanor Dawson -- Toronto man with alleged links to al-Qaeda to stay in Canada over fears he'll be tortured in Egypt

Whose rights are paramount in Canada? Mohamed Mahjoub's or Canadians'? No contest. His!

Judge refuses to deport terror suspect -- Toronto man with alleged links to al-Qaeda to stay in Canada over fears he'll be tortured in Egypt Andrew Duffy, with files from Shannon Kari and James Gordon, Ottawa Citizen

Justice Eleanor Dawson said that since a federal immigration official was not allowed to see the secret dossier against Mohamed Mahjoub, he did not have the information on which to base a decision that could result in his mistreatment or torture.

The official had to decide whether Mr. Mahjoub's threat to national security outweighed his risk of being tortured in Egypt. But in making that assessment, the official was not allowed to review the complete dossier prepared by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, only a summary of it.

[. . . . ] CSIS contends that Mr. Mahjoub was a high-ranking member of Vanguards of the Conquest, a radical wing of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. That group merged with al-Qaeda in 1998.

Islamic Jihad, which is dedicated to the violent overthrow of the Egyptian government, has supplied al-Qaeda with some of its senior members, including Osama bin Laden's top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, and the man who orchestrated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mohammed Atta.

CSIS claims Mr. Mahjoub took part in decision-making on terrorist operations organized by the Vanguards.

Mr. Mahjoub has been convicted in absentia in Egypt for his involvement with the group and sentenced to 15 years in prison. [. . . . ]

Mr. Mahjoub, who married a Canadian citizen and has two Canadian-born sons, admits he met Mr. bin Laden several times. Mr. Mahjoub worked in a senior capacity at Mr. bin Laden's agricultural firm in Sudan in the early 1990s, but maintains that he left the job over a wage dispute and has never had contact with him since.

When he arrived in Canada in 1995, Mr. Mahjoub lived for three weeks with Ahmed Said Khadr, the highest-ranking Canadian in al-Qaeda. He initially denied knowing Mr. Khadr in an interview with CSIS. [. . . . ]