Here’s something to think about while standing in line at the airport. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police official described the 17 recently arrested members of an alleged terrorist cell as representing “the broad strata of our community.” The more we learn about these individuals, their recent activities and their alleged plans, the more the RCMP’s description looks like evidence of a dangerously common delusion among many Westerners, especially those in positions of authority where the demands of political correctness too often make it impossible to speak honestly about reality.
Canadian demographics clearly identify our northern neighbor’s population roots in Britain, France, Ireland and Germany. Canadians identifying themselves as immigrants from Middle Eastern and other nations with majority Muslim populations make up barely incidental percentages of the total. Canada is also a mostly secular nation, with Christianity being the dominant choice among those who identify with a religious faith. William, Jack (or Jacques) and Mary are typical and familiar names heard on the street.
The accused conspirators come mostly from places like the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Somalia. All have names common in Riyadh or Damascus like Saad, Abdul, Fahid and Mohammed. All are practicing Muslims. Most have been in Canada for only a few years. All sported traditional Muslim beards and requested Qurans when arrested. All but two are teens or in their early 20s.
They are accused of plotting to blow up public buildings using ingredients similar to those used to destroy the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City and kill 168 innocent people in 1995, as well as planning to invade the Canadian parliament, other government buildings and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s offices while demanding that Canada bring home its 2,300 troops helping fight the war on terror in Afghanistan. And one of the arrested men is accused of vowing to behead Canada’s prime minister.
Clearly, these men would never be mistaken for aspiring Stanley Cup winners, because their profiles simply don’t square with the Canada displayed by its demographics and dominant culture. Their profiles, however, closely match those of the Sept. 11 hijackers and the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, among others. So why not call them what they in fact are, which is Muslim immigrants accused of being jihadist terrorists? Because in the PC world — where no culture is any “better” or “worse” than any other — nobody is allowed to speak in any way that might ever be conceived as an ethnic or nationalistic slight. That is why the “they are just like us” meme is such a familiar part of the official and mainstream media descriptions of those accused of terrorist planning and crimes.
It is also why gray-haired grandmothers from Dubuque and even a World War II Medal of Honor winner are just as likely to be stopped and searched at the airport as the bearded 21-year-old Abdul from Cairo.
