Muslim extremists dominate Canada’s rogues gallery of terrorist entities; radical Buddhists get a mention
Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, Peter Van Loan, announced on Friday the release of the updated Criminal Code list of terrorist entities following a two-year review.
It’s been said and often repeated that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter,” but you won’t find much mention of freedom from the groups listed below. If there is a Popular Islamic Front for Civil Liberties, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad for Free Trade or a Vanguards of the Non-Aggression Principle, I missed it. It’s mostly a collection of religious extremists, leftists and violent nationalists looking to overthrow their oppressive rulers so they can meed out the oppression themselves.
The list reads like a who’s-who of Muslim extremists, who make up 70% of the list, with a smattering of other radicals to complete the rogues gallery.
But it’s within the smattering…among the exceptions, that the most interesting rogues are found. The Aum Shinrikyo, for instance, are Buddhist extremists in Japan bent on bringing about Armageddon. It’s like a weird mix of Charles Manson, Sylvia Plath and those nihilists from the Big Lebowski – a kama-kozi cocktail for mass murder.
And then there’s the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a right-wing terrorist answer to FARC in Colombia. You can almost see these guys in their wrinkle-resistant khakis, button-down shirts and MEC accessories tramping through the jungle, fuelled by cocaine, complaining about the market distorting effect of labour unions and Columbian tariffs on sugar.