Toronto 18 member shows no remorse: DiManno
Though he shows no signs of being rehabilitated, Fahim Ahmad will walk out of prison free and clear and un-monitored in eight months, writes Rosie DiManno.
How very easy it was to scoff at them, as many did, as some still do.
The Toronto 18: hapless wannabe terrorists. Couldn’t even organize a one-car tailgate party much less take Parliament hostage and behead the prime minister.
Those were but boastful aspirations, bravado stories they told each other whilst training in the woods, like weekend paintball warriors.
Nonsensical plans they revealed to an RCMP informant who — defence lawyers argued — may have nudged them towards grandiose plotting.
“Amateur does not equal not being dangerous,” that undercover operative, Mubin Shaikh, stresses, more than a decade on. “We’ve seen more than enough in the past 10 years to show what kind of damage a perceived bumbling idiot can actually do.
“So, people can remain in their denial. They were in denial 10 years ago. But seeing what’s happening with ISIS and everything else, I would hope that people would have a few more wits about themselves.’’
It doesn’t take an explosive or a suicide bomber or bristling weaponry to wreck havoc, as we were reminded once again over the weekend, with terrorist attacks in London, hardly a fortnight removed from the horror of Manchester — 22 killed, dozens more injured. And all they were doing was attending an Ariana Grande concert. Sometimes a vehicle aimed at strolling pedestrians is enough. An eight-inch knife wielded by a purposeful assailant, like the blade that stabbed an officer to death, among five killed, at Westminster in March. Go forth and rampage, ISIS — also known as Daesh and Islamic State — has urged. And too many delusional miscreants have obeyed.
The Toronto 18 long pre-dated ISIS, spawned by an earlier generation of ideological mass-murderers.
How very easy it was to scoff at them, as many did, as some still do.
The Toronto 18: hapless wannabe terrorists. Couldn’t even organize a one-car tailgate party much less take Parliament hostage and behead the prime minister.
Those were but boastful aspirations, bravado stories they told each other whilst training in the woods, like weekend paintball warriors.
Nonsensical plans they revealed to an RCMP informant who — defence lawyers argued — may have nudged them towards grandiose plotting.
“Amateur does not equal not being dangerous,” that undercover operative, Mubin Shaikh, stresses, more than a decade on. “We’ve seen more than enough in the past 10 years to show what kind of damage a perceived bumbling idiot can actually do.
“So, people can remain in their denial. They were in denial 10 years ago. But seeing what’s happening with ISIS and everything else, I would hope that people would have a few more wits about themselves.’’
It doesn’t take an explosive or a suicide bomber or bristling weaponry to wreck havoc, as we were reminded once again over the weekend, with terrorist attacks in London, hardly a fortnight removed from the horror of Manchester — 22 killed, dozens more injured. And all they were doing was attending an Ariana Grande concert. Sometimes a vehicle aimed at strolling pedestrians is enough. An eight-inch knife wielded by a purposeful assailant, like the blade that stabbed an officer to death, among five killed, at Westminster in March. Go forth and rampage, ISIS — also known as Daesh and Islamic State — has urged. And too many delusional miscreants have obeyed.
The Toronto 18 long pre-dated ISIS, spawned by an earlier generation of ideological mass-murderers.
