[Clips] Great praise for elite team

[R.A. Hettinga]

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  Delivered-To: rah at shipwright.com
  Delivered-To: clips at philodox.com
  Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2006 21:34:11 -0400
  To: Philodox Clips List <clips at philodox.com>
  From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
  Subject: [Clips] Great praise for elite team
  Reply-To: rah at philodox.com
  Sender: clips-bounces at philodox.com

  <http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/06/03/pf-1613288.html>

  Calgary Sun

  June 3, 2006

  Great praise for elite team

  The elite team of police and intelligence experts whose months-long probe
  of a terrorist plot were praised for their courageous and dedicated job

  By CP

  The elite team of police and intelligence experts whose months-long probe
  of a terrorist plot against southern Ontario led to 17 arrests involved
  thousands of hours of work by some of the most dedicated investigators in
  the world, observers said Saturday.

  "These people are absolutely top-shelf investigators. You will not find
  better investigators on the planet," Chris Mathers, a former RCMP officer
  who now works as a security consultant in Toronto, said of the crack squad
  whose diligence led to the shocking detainment of suspected homegrown
  terrorists.

  "The Canadian people don't understand, perhaps, how committed these people
  are. As ideological as these terrorists are, the people pursuing them are
  equally as ideological."

  The RCMP led the investigation that resulted in Friday night arrests of
  suspects from Toronto, nearby Mississauga and the city of Kingston in
  eastern Ontario. But the investigation included significant co-operation
  with partners through an Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, or
  INSET, made up of RCMP, the CSIS spy organization, federal agencies and
  provincial and municipal police.

  INSET teams were created in April 2002 under a five-year, $64-million
  investment by the federal government.

  Their performance in the ongoing investigation announced Saturday could
  strengthen the reputation of Canada's ability to combat terrorist cells to
  the rest of the world, said Doug McArthur, a political science professor at
  B.C.'s Simon Fraser University.

  "What we're seeing is that our various security forces are getting their
  act together to deal with what we have to recognize is an increased
  potential for terrorist type activities," McArthur said of the
  investigative team created alongside other anti-terrorism legislation
  introduced months after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

  "This particular case 
 is a good sign of the ability of our forces to
  chase down these types of situations."

  Officials were tight-lipped on details about an investigation they say is
  still active.

  "Over 400 highly skilled resources have dedicated thousands of hours to
  diligently conduct this investigation using legislative and investigative
  tools available to the law enforcement and intelligence community," RCMP
  assistant commissioner Mike McDonell told a news conference.

  Observers say that uncovering a terrorist plot would have revealed multiple
  layers of involvement.

  At the bottom, there's those who buy cars and cellphones or rent apartments
  for those who might commit the acts. Above them are the middle men
  providing expertise and training on how to prepare explosive devices, or
  counter-surveillance techniques.

  At the top are those who organize the acts and secure followers to carry
  out the deeds.

  "They're just pawns - zealots that they've trained, usually young people,"
  Mathers said of those who essentially risk suicide in the name of a violent
  ideology.

  Mathers said an investigation of this magnitude by INSET would been an
  "accumulative effort" involving informants, electronic intercepts of
  communication, and "hours and hours and hours of surveillance - very boring
  surveillance too."

  But he said it's most likely human sources - acquaintances of those
  planning a terrorist attack, or people somehow linked to the plans
  themselves - who would have provided the most vital information that would
  provide enough evidence for arrests.

  "Electronic sources don't always provide you with enough timely
  information. You need human beings," he said.

  Mathers said that people involved in terrorist plots are also almost always
  involved in other criminal activity, making it quite possible that
  information was received from people arrested for unrelated crimes who were
  looking for reduced charges or sentences.

  "From time to time, they do get arrested for other crimes to support
  themselves or to support their terrorist group. Sometimes law enforcement
  are able to put a bit of pressure on someone who gets pinched 
 and in
  exchange for some consideration he agrees to co-operate on something more
  serious like a terrorist act."


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  -----------------
  R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
  The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
  44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
  "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
  [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
  experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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--- end forwarded text


-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'