Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism Around the World

by Stewart Bell

"We believe Al Qaeda continues to have a terrorist infrastructure in Canada, one with documented links to the U.S. While many border security measures have been implemented since 9/11, the vast expanse of the 4,000-mile-long U.S. northern border, with eighty-six points of entry and various unofficial crossings, may still provide opportunities for operatives to penetrate U.S. national security, particularly if Western passports are used."
--The FBI, in a classified bulletin  " Cold Terror will shock the conscience of a nation. In terrifying detail, it shows how the world’s terrorists have made themselves at home in Canada—and how they have been made welcome by cowardly politicians."
--David Frum, Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of, with Richard Perle, An End to What’s Next in the War on Terror "Stewart Bell’s clarion call for action needs to be heeded before the ticking Canadian terrorist time bomb blows up closer to home. If Canadian terrorists aren’t stopped before they use weapons of mass destruction in the United States, we’ll have far bigger problems than keeping the border open for trade."
--Patrick Grady, The Globe and Mail

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2004

Reviews

[Dark Passport · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cold Terror was written and published in the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. It was a time when many countries were in shock, especially close allies of the American government. Anyone willing to attack the most powerful country in the world on its own soil would just as quickly go after other Western nations. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies throughout the world kicked into the highest gear. Everyone was on edge, including Canada. Reading this book, now more than 20 years since its original date of publication, one can feel the fear and anxiety that gripped the globe. People had been killed, a war had begun, and everyone was wondering if their own neighbors were plotting the next 9/11.

We now know there hasn’t been another attack on the same scale as September 11th in the United States or Canada. Thus the question, debated to this day among counterterrorism experts: Why? The investigative journalism work by Stewart Bell provides some answers while at other times it sets up more questions. Did law enforcement do its job? Are we finally sharing information across agency and country boundaries to the point of effectively thwarting such attacks? Or do we simply continue to get lucky?

To those who study 9/11 and its ongoing ripple effects that still shake us to this day, Cold Terror sheds light on the often-overlooked response by the Canadian government. It may be difficult for some to look past the author’s obvious political bias. But to those who can, this is truly an eye-opening account of how Canada arguably became a breeding ground and safe haven for terrorists. The reader will almost certainly close the back cover wondering what, if anything, has changed in the counterterrorism world over the past two decades.

[Toni Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I encourage every citizen of Western countries, especially Canadians to read "Cold Terror". Mr Bell one of Canada's leading reporters on national security and terrorism has courageously presented evidence in this acclaimed book, exposing events taken from classified intelligence documents, front line accounts and interviews to inform Canadians about terrorists living in their country.

In his book he recounts many incidents that happened around the world involving Canadian terrorists: the most talked about are: the 1985 Air India bombing, the 1991 assassination of Indian prime Minister Gandhi, the 1993 World trade Centre bombing, the 1993 assassination of Sri Lankan President Premadasa, the 1995 attack at the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad and the killing of tourists in Egypt in 1997and the truck explosion that killed 100 in Sri Lanka the same year, the Bali night club bombing in 2002 and the 2003 attack in Riyadh.

The book doesn't stop there it also provides examples of terrorists taking advantage of the liberal immigration and refugee policies to enter Canada, most of us will remember the better known: such as the Canadian leader of the Tamil Tiger Mr Suresh, Issa Mohammed who took part in the assault of an El Al airliner in Athens in 1998, Essam Marzouk responsible for the training of the bombers of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and Ahmed Ressam who was caught at the Port of Angeles border trying to get into the US with a carload of explosives determined to blow up the L.A. airport

In one chapter, the author went to great length recalling multiple incidents credited to the Khadr clan. Describing how Ahmed Khadr exploited to its maximum his Canadian citizenship and the CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) to support the Al-Qaeda jihad.

Another chapter was dedicated to the Jabarah brothers, two young men that were brought up and educated in St.Catharine's Ont and responsible for the Bali bombing and other exploits. All this helps to confirm Mr Bell's opinion that Canada is a safe heaven for terrorists, not only by phony refugees but also by landed immigrants and worse by citizens.

According to Mr Bell, CSIS and the RCMP were reasonably effective at monitoring the activities of the terrorists groups but lacked support from Canadian politicians who refused to acknowledge the magnitude and the seriousness of their threat to the world.

After reading this book, if you are not mad and frustrated by the complacency of the government representatives I would be very surprised. Hopefully the views of the Canadian Leaders have changed since the publication of this book in 2005...

This is one impressive and chilling account that reads like a high octane thriller.

[chandra sekhar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives a detailed account of how Canada is helping the international terrorist organizations like LTTE, Babbar Khalsa, Hezbollah, in setting up their bases for planning and organizing terrorist plots all around the world and also how inadequate the Policies and politicians of Canada are lacking the credible laws and regulations to constrict them and eliminate them in the first place.It shows how Canada has become a safe haven for some of the most wanted men in the criminal/terrorist world. Very informative book, and gives you an bird's eye account of how the far-west is responsible for some of the heinous crimes in the human history.