Speeches and Presentations

Presentation by Jim Judd Director, Canadian Security Intelligence Service to the Subcommittee on Public Safety and National Security

Check against Delivery

February 22, 2005

Introduction:

I am pleased to be here to provide a security threat assessment to assist the Committee in its consideration of C-36.

Last year the government issued the first ever comprehensive statement on a National Security Policy for Canada – I note that particularly because of its definition of the three core national security interests which are especially relevant to these proceedings. They are:

1. protecting Canada and Canadians at home and abroad;



2. ensuring that Canada is not a base for threats to our allies; and



3. contributing to international security.

We need to remember that terrorism is not a new phenomenon in Canada:

• Prior to 9/11, the most catastrophic international terrorist attack was Air India; and
  
  
• historically, most terrorist organizations elsewhere in the world have operated or sought to operate in Canada on fundraising, propaganda, recruitment and other activities – and this certainly continues to be true today;

• The arrest of Ahmed Ressam, in December 1999, over a year prior to the attacks of 9/11, was also an indication that global terrorism was being brought to North America.

But for purposes of today and the Committee's work, I want to focus especially on the terrorist threat following 9/11 (and the adoption of the legislation that this Committee is now reviewing). I specifically want to:

• address what has changed globally and in Canada since that time – hopefully to help better explain the current environment; and
  
  
• provide an assessment of where we are now and into the foreseeable future – again both globally and specifically in Canada.

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What Has Changed:

In the three and a half years since the 9/11 attacks, a lot has changed:

• There have been both positive and negative developments which have affected the threat of terrorism both here and elsewhere in the world.

... for the better

On the positive side of the ledger, I would highlight:

• the overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan that provided a haven for the Al Qaeda network's leadership and its training infrastructure, as well as the associated death, capture or dispersal of many leaders of that network;
  
  
• the measures that many governments around the world, including our own, took to:

- increase resources for security and intelligence capacities,

- restructure organizations, mandates and responsibilities to develop better inter-operability and cooperation among various agencies in the security and intelligence field, and

- change legislative authorities to help facilitate the campaign against terrorism, including the support to implement various United Nations resolutions seeking to counter terrorism.

Thirdly, there has been a much greater degree of collaboration internationally between security and intelligence agencies of different countries that is an absolute prerequisite to dealing with a sophisticated and global threat.

Finally, significantly stepped- up efforts by intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies in individual countries – including Canada – have resulted in the imprisonment of terrorists, substantial disruption of networks, and the avoidance of new terrorist acts.

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... for the worse

That said, however, there have been a number of significant negative developments in the last several years, some of which have made and will make the work of security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies much more difficult.

First, there has been a continuing toll of deaths and injuries around the world as a result of terrorist attacks:

• Since 9/11, there have been terrorist attacks in more than 30 countries resulting in hundreds of deaths.
  
  
• Indeed, as you can see from the handout I gave you, both the number and frequency of terrorist attacks in the period since 9/11 have escalated dramatically.
  
  
• None of these attacks have been of the scale of 9/11 but they have been nonetheless horrifying.
  
  
• The bombings of the Bali nightclub and the Madrid trains, as well as the attack at the school in Beslan, were among the most spectacular, but by no means the only ones.
  
  
• Evidence of planning for other attacks around the world and in our own country continues to be uncovered.
  
  
• We have a good sense of what our current targets are doing; it's the ones we don't know about that are of greatest concern.

Second, the terrorist networks responsible for, or associated with, the 9/11 attacks have become more physically dispersed and, simultaneously, much more technologically sophisticated in many respects:

• The terrorist networks' use of the Internet, for example, as a communications, recruitment and propaganda tool has been truly impressive in bolstering their capacity around the world and, again, in our country.
  
  
• We assess as well that their long-standing quest to obtain more horrific weaponry – be it chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear – continues unabated. The head of the IAEA only recently set out his own concerns regarding the increasing ease of access to radiological and even nuclear weaponry.
  
  
• The organizational structure of Al Qaeda and its affiliates has also changed from more of a centralized command and control model to a much more decentralized and loosely tied system.
  
  
• In may respects, Al Qaeda has been transformed into more of a global movement formed of often autonomous and far-flung elements.

The bottom line here is that, as opponents, global terrorism, specifically Al Qaeda, has become more difficult for security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to track and apprehend. In particular, the greater autonomy and decentralization of these groups have provided more opportunity for local initiative as opposed to centrally directed attacks.

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Growing Number of Adherents to Terrorism

Third, the number of adherents to terrorism has continued to grow in the years since 9/11. Last week, the CIA Director, in his recent threat overview before the US Congress, cited Iraq as a possible new operating base for international terrorism.

• The ranks of trained terrorist fighters in Iraq have been, and continue to be, bolstered by individuals from around the world – including from Europe and Canada.

For example, Said RASOUL, a Canadian citizen, is believed to be a member of ANSAR AL-ISLAM, an AL QAEDA-affiliated group in Iraq.

Abdul JABER, a landed immigrant, is also believed to be a key commander and ideologue with ANSAR AL ISLAM.

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New Recruits

Fourth, the type of persons attracted to terrorist networks is changing in several worrisome ways:

• More are being found in the second generation of immigrant families – whether in Europe, Canada or elsewhere.
  
  
• Still others have had no discernible previous link of any kind with the terrorist networks – a phenomenon we have found here in our country as well.

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Common Characteristics

Some things have not changed about the contemporary terrorist threat – whether here or in other countries:

• Extremists remain committed adversaries ready to die for their cause(s).
• They are indiscriminate in their targets – not differentiating at all between military/security forces and civilians and, in fact, preferring to attack "soft targets" and to inflict maximum casualties – thereby increasing the public impact of their action.
• They continue to demonstrate outstanding operational security and highly effective planning skills, often taking years to put into effect a terrorist operation.
• They also maintain the capacity to operate effectively in much the same way as a multinational corporation with operations involving personnel in several countries simultaneously – geography does not impede them.
  
  
• Many of the tools of their trade are readily accessible, including recipes for chemical agents or commercially available components for explosives and other weaponry.
  

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Where Are We Now?

We are extremely fortunate in this country not to have had a terrorist attack take place on our soil since 9/11.

No Attacks on Canadian Soil, but Canadian Victims

But we have not been immune from the effects of terrorism, leaving aside the 24 Canadians who died in the 9/11 attacks:

• Another two Canadians died in the Bali bombing, and
  
  
• Canadian Forces personnel have been killed and wounded by terrorist attacks while serving in Afghanistan.
  
  
• The threat to our deployed Forces in Afghanistan remains high, and for this reason, the Service makes it a priority to support the Canadian Forces deployed there.

Given the international mobility of Canadian citizens and the continued deployment of Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan and potentially in other troubled regions of the world, our citizens can be at risk when outside our country.

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Canadian Links to Terrorist Activities:

We have not been immune from terrorism in other ways:

• There are several graduates (men and women) of terrorist training camps, many of whom are battle- hardened veterans of campaigns in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and elsewhere, who reside here, while others continue to seek access to our country.
  
  
• Often these individuals remain in contact with one another while in Canada and show signs of ongoing clandestine type activities (counter-surveillance, secretive meetings and communications, etc.).

Canadians have also been involved in the planning and execution of terrorist operations in other countries, either while residing here or outside Canada. These include:

• Abdel Rahman JABARAH who was sought for his involvement in the bombing of residential compounds in Riyadh in May 2003. He died in July 2003 in a gun battle with Saudi security forces.
  
  
• His brother, Mohammed JABARAH, was involved in a foiled terrorist plot to attack foreign embassies in Singapore. Since 2002, he has been detained by the United States.
  
  
• There has been considerable publicity around the family of the late Ahmed Said KHADR, a close associate of Bin Laden and who was a central figure in Canada's Islamic extremist network. Some of his children underwent weapons and explosives training at camps in Afghanistan.
  
  
• Fateh KAMEL, a Canadian citizen of Algerian origin, was sentenced to eight years in prison in France for directing a terrorist cell in that country. KAMEL recently returned to Canada.
  
  
• Kassem DAHER, a Canadian citizen and a member of USBAT AL ANSAR, was imprisoned in Lebanon for his role in a gun fight with Lebanese security forces.
  
  
• In addition, Abderraouf JDEY and Faker BOUSSOURA, Canadian citizens of Tunisian origin, are listed on the US State Department "Rewards for Justice" program. Both attended AL QAEDA training camps, and JDEY made a "suicide video" for AL QAEDA in which he pledged his life for the movement.

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Extremists Seeking Refuge or Status in Canada:

And Canada has also been an attractive refuge for extremists:

• Hani AL SAYEGH, a refugee claimant, was involved in the Al Khobar bombings in Saudi Arabia in 1996.
  
  
• Ahmed RESSAM, a failed refugee claimant, planned an attack at the Los Angeles airport from Montreal in the late 1990s and has been subsequently tried and convicted in a US court.

A number of these extremists, we believe, came to Canada to continue their activities and are being held under national security certificates. These include:

• Mohammed MAHJOUB, a member of Vanguards of Conquest (VOC), a radical wing of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad;
  
  
• Mahmud JABALLAH, senior operative of the Egyptian Islamic terrorist organization Al Jihad and Al Qaeda;
  
  
• Hassan AL MEREI and Mohammed HARKAT, both suspected members of the Bin Laden network; and,
  
  
• Adil CHARKAOUI, a suspected member of Al Qaeda.

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Reconnaissance Activities in Canada:

We also know that pre-operational planning reconnaissance has been undertaken in Canada on a variety of possible targets in some of our largest metropolitan centres. Successful terrorist actions against any one of these could potentially take a terrible toll on human life.

The publicized case of Samir AIT MOHAMED, a failed refugee claimant currently incarcerated in Vancouver, is believed to have been targeting a Jewish neighbourhood in Montreal, is but one publicly known example.

Finally, it is worth remembering that Canada was specifically mentioned by Osama Binladen as being among the "designated targets" for terrorist action because of our role in Afghanistan after 9/11.

Canada was twice named as a target for terrorist attack by AL QAEDA.

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Summary:

While circumstances have changed since 9/11 in terms of both the nature of the terrorist threat and the measures taken against it, the terrorist risk continues to be real in both in Canada and in many other countries.

There is little about the terrorist threat that distinguishes Canada from other nations, including those that have been or are likely to be directly targeted.

Put in other words, nothing exempts Canada from the threat of serious violence.

While our pre-eminent concern remains with security threats to Canada and Canadians, we also have critical obligations to our international partners to ensure that Canada is not used as a base to attack others or that Canadians are in any way participants in such attacks or their planning.

Attenuating the terrorist threat and reducing the vulnerability to attack here and elsewhere in the world will require us to creatively engage the complete ranges of techniques and legislative devices available to us.

The fact that we have not suffered an attack here should provide no rationale for complacency or comfort.

In many ways, we have made our own luck, by relentlessly pursuing our targets, using the legal means provided to us under our own legislation, the CSIS Act, but also, in concert with our partners, by using the new measures provided by the government to enhance its ability to fight terrorism at home and abroad.

In conclusion, I have to say that this assessment is as candid and current as possible, but should add that there may well be questions that you have that I may not be able to answer as fully or as well as you would want, because of the potential jeopardy to ongoing investigations or legal proceedings.

Date modified: 2005-11-14

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