The following is excerpted from today’s edition of “Canada.com”.
It is clear that Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano was tricked in her interview with a television reporter to repeat the myth that terrorists who carried out attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, came from Canada.
But she should have known better. Unfortunately, other senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have similarly misspoke.
It is an urban legend that Canadian diplomats have tried for years to dispel. The 9/11 terrorists held valid visas issued by the U.S. government and trained for their horrific mission within U.S. borders.
But Napolitano was partly right about the threat of terrorists coming from Canada. Recall that Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, who grew up in St. Catharines, Ont., after his family immigrated from Kuwait, pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill U.S. nationals, to destroy U.S. property abroad with weapons of mass destruction, to kill U.S. employees while on duty and to use U.S. weapons of mass destruction against American property.
Then there’s Abderraouf bin Habib bin Yousef Jdey, who was granted asylum in Canada and citizenship thereafter, whose video recording vowing attacks on U.S. targets and to die as a martyr was found in the rubble of a house in Afghanistan. The U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.
Not to mention Mohammed Momin Khawaja, born in Canada to Pakistani immigrants, and charged with plotting terrorist bombings in Britain, as well as financing and facilitating terrorism; or Jamal Akkal, a Canadian citizen and Hamas operative convicted of planning attacks on Jewish targets in North America, or Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian living in Montreal, who planned to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, captured by U.S. customs officials after crossing to Washington state from Victoria.
The main thrust of Napolitano’s remarks is regrettably true. Canada does harbour active terrorist cells that the U.S. needs to worry about. However, the U.S. has many more home-grown terrorist threats that will be unaffected by increased border security.
It’s a sad fact that the longest undefended border is no more. Canada has promised to raise an army of 4,400 armed border guards to meet U.S. demands for greater security. And passports for all travellers between the two countries will be required as of June 1.
But thickening the border carries a high cost. More than 300,000 people cross the shared border every day. More than two million crossings a year occur at the Peace Arch entry alone. On Good Friday, there was a four-hour wait there to get into the U.S. from Canada.
Leaving aside the environmental impact of idling vehicles for that length of time, tourism is a major industry for both countries, providing jobs and ancillary benefits as well as government revenue from taxes and fees. A delay of half a day is an incentive to stay home.
Perhaps even more significant is the impact on bilateral trade between the U.S. and Canada, which amounts to $1.5 billion a day — of which 70 per cent moves by truck. Some steps have been taken to speed commercial traffic through border crossings, such as the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism.
Impeding the flow of trade between the two countries does neither one any good.
The way to combat terrorism is through information and intelligence, which must be shared among all countries willing to join the fight. Even if an attack should emanate from Canada, it would be stopped long before it reached the 49th parallel if security agencies cooperated as fully as they could.
Napolitano said Canada allows people into the country that the U.S. would not. The U.S. has an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, many of whom arrived by fording the Rio Grande. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
In its fight against terrorism and illegal immigration, the U.S. should recognize who its friends are and work with them for their mutual benefit…
