In the real world, it's called a snafu.
That would be one order of magnitude below fubar.
It's today's headline in the shadow
world of the Canada Border Services Agency, which imprisoned a man
who's dedicated himself to fighting terrorism and the unholy forces
that dupe of Muslim youth into becoming terrorists.
The CBSA arrested Mourad Benchellali
Tuesday when his plane from France landed in Toronto — even though
he had been cleared to enter Canada by the RCMP and CSIS (who had a
closed-door appointment with him to learn about how groups like ISIS
recruit young Canadians.)
The CBSA put him in an orange suit in
maximum security prison and — until his story became public — refused to
allow him to voluntarily return to France.
This is the second time Benchellali
had attempted to enter Canada to further his own private crusade
against terrorism. In June, he was barred from getting on a plane in
France, because his flight to Canada would cross American airspace.
Benchellali is on the U.S. “no fly”
list. Organizers bringing him to Canada this time around had him fly
in via Iceland, which, they were assured by Canadian security
officials, would be OK.
Someone forgot to inform the CBSA.
Filmmaker Stormy Night Productions is
making a documentary for the CBC, centred around Calgary mother
Christianne Boudreau. Her son was sucked in to the thought of
becoming a jihadi, and he died as an ISIS fighter in Syria.
Benchellali was to meet her in Montreal.
Death as a deluded jihadi might well
have become Benchellali's fate as well. In 2001, at age 19, he was
contacted in France by his older brother Menad, and persuaded to take
a “dream vacation” in Afghanistan. Mourad made a very big
mistake.
He and four friends found themselves in
an al-Qaida training camp and were subjected to non-stop brutal
training. This is Mourad's own testimony, but he says when his 60
days was up, he tried to get the heck out of there.
He planed to escape to Pakistan, but
while he was in Afghanistan being programmed by al-Qaida, 9/11
happened and the border was closed. He tried entering the country
through an unguarded border crossing, was caught, handed over to U.S.
forces and sent to the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
His experiences are contained in a book
he wrote titled Voyage to Hell, an op-ed piece in the New
York Times titled Detainees in Despair, and numerous
interview accounts since.
At the time of his arrest and
detainment in Guantanamo, Benchellali says newspapers attempted to
paint him as an unhappy teenage loner, an outsider in European
society. But he says that was not true.
In an interview with McClatchy News
Service, Benchellali said: “I was happy. I was getting an
education. I had a job. I had a fiancee. I just thought I wanted a
bit of adventure.”
What he got was 60 days of forced
mind-control. “I was trapped by my own fear and stupidity.”
Benchellali has since dedicated himself
to being a warning against the propaganda sent to entice young people
to join groups like ISIS. He speaks throughout Europe to Muslim youth
warning them against thoughts of joining radical terrorist groups. He
was there, he paid the price, his words have a credibility no
government security agency could ever have.
And he would have shared his message
with Canadian youth, Canadian police and Canadian intelligence —
except for a snafu by the CBSA.
CBSA refuses to comment on their
mistake. Understandable, considering the world they live in.
But one hopes they will talk to their
new boss, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. Perhaps new
Immigration Minister John McCallum might have some time to sit in on
that.
One can only imagine what either of
them might have said as opposition members, if this had been done
under the former Conservative government.
No one expects CBSA to talk to us mere
Canadians. But they do have a lot of explaining to do.
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