Ooops. Mea Culpa or looking for Jihad in all the wrong places

Tuesday, I posted that the charges against 3 of so-called Toronto Jihadists were to be stayed. Turns out I was misinformed in the Ottawa Citizen story. It was not 3 alleged Toronto Jihadists but 4. And the fourth just happens to be the alleged Imam ringleader of the Toronto 18…I mean Toronto 11. The Toronto Star

Nearly two years ago, when police busted an alleged homegrown terror cell, Qayyum Abdul Jamal was portrayed as the firebrand ringleader seeking recruits for jihad.

Today, he says, he hopes to piece together a reputation left in tatters after being accused of belonging to the so-called Toronto 18, a group of men and teens who allegedly plotted to bomb sites around Toronto. And he hopes to repair a life changed forever when he spent 17 months in jail, 13 of them in solitary confinement.That's why the Crown's surprise move yesterday to stay terrorism-related charges against Jamal and three of his co-accused is somewhat bittersweet for the 45-year-old.

Actually, I suspect the Crown’s case, despite the much hyped rhetoric, is much worse than the public can possibly begin to imagine. Of course, how would any of us (in the public) realistically know? After all there is a general publication ban which the Crown demanded citing 'national security’ concerns (which sounds more like job security issues if you ask me). Although, little tidbits do seem to sip thorough the media now and then….like this one taken from a Thomas Walkom column in the Toronto Star:

Other elements of the government's case did not stand up well under scrutiny. The alleged terror training camp turned out to be a hapless adventure in the rain, one where participants spent much of their time in a local doughnut shop and where the ammunition for target practice was apparently provided by one of two paid RCMP informers.

Ah, perhaps we are to believe Tim Horton’s are now Canadian recruitment centres for Al Qaeda? And ammo provided courtesy of the RCMP paid informant…okay-dokey. An unintended consequence of this keystone cops adventure is; if an Al Qaeda or some other like-minded group like Hezbollah, ever does decide to blow up anything in Canada - it would now be damned near impossible to ever shut up a Canadian version of 9/11 Truthers and I suspect a great deal of the general public will just put it down to RCMP/CSIS hi-jinx or a work accident.

When this case is resolved, one way or another, I truly hope there is a huge public outcry demanding a public inquiry as to how & why the RCMP and CSIS got it all so, so, very wrong.