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Canada: The Cell Next Door
AIRED JANUARY 30, 2007 | CHECK LISTINGS arrow

Story Synopsis & Video Canada: The Cell Next Door

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and Police Patrols in Toronto

"Canadians call it `Toronto the good,'" says FRONTLINE/World and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Linden MacIntyre, as he begins his report from North America's fifth-largest city. Toronto is known for its many multicultural communities. But the famously safe city was rocked last summer by news of a homegrown terrorist plot.

The courts have only now begun to hear their cases. Whatever the verdicts reveal, MacIntyre reports, Canadian authorities believe they have disrupted the kind of homegrown terror cell that has already caused havoc in Europe.

We first see Mubin Shaikh walking along the Toronto streets. This is the man who infiltrated the suspected terror cell. He will be a key witness at the trials of some of the accused. Shaikh is a devout Muslim who shares much of the passion and piety of the young men now awaiting trial. But he was appalled by what he thought they planned to do.

"Storming Parliament, kidnapping, holding hostage the MPs, beheading them one by one unless Canadian troops are pulled out of Afghanistan and Muslim prisoners are released from prisons in Canada," Shaikh tells MacIntyre incredulously.

Shaikh, who is the father of four, volunteered to work with the authorities to help thwart a plot he saw as dangerous to his family, his Muslim community and his country.

"At the end of the day," he shrugs, "I can't have things blowing up in my backyard."

MacIntyre travels to the city of Mississauga, just west of Toronto. One of the conspirators was arrested here last June. Three of the accused attended Mississauga high school. Fellow students remember that the group practiced an austere version of Islam called Salafism. Their intensity set them apart even from most of their fellow Muslims.

Pictures in a school yearbook show a studious young man called Fahim Ahmad and the fun-loving Zakaria Amara -- both believed to have been the leaders of the suspect cell.

Canadian intelligence had been monitoring Fahim Ahmad for four years, after he began chatting on the Internet with people already marked as potential security risks. Fahim Ahmad was attracting a growing circle of "followers," and by 2005 the CSIS asked Shaikh to get close to the group.

Shaikh was a former cadet with martial arts training. He had also burned out on hard living in his youth and had become "born again" to the faith he grew up with. "I took it upon myself again in an observant manner," he tells MacIntyre.

In 2005, he was radical enough to openly campaign for Sharia law. But he was leading a strange double life, simultaneously working as an undercover agent.

There were others in the community who smelled trouble in Fahim Ahmad's group. A Toronto restaurant owner and Muslim convert tells the reporter how he berated one young man after Friday prayers for handing out jihadi videos glorifying the 9/11 hijackers.

Many young men, MacIntyre suggests, are becoming indoctrinated through the Internet, which is taking the place of religious scholarship. Shaikh agrees. He tells the reporter that it's common to invite friends over to eat barbequed chicken and watch jihadi videos.

Traveling to Washington, D.C., to get a broader sense of the threat posed by this homegrown jihad, the reporter talks to Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA bin Laden desk. Scheuer tells him that bin Laden has long been passing down instructions to the next generation on the fight and what the struggle is all about -- Western support for the oppressors, Western invaders defiling Muslim lands. These grievances, Scheuer says, are spread through the last will and testaments of 22-year-old suicide bombers, whose videos are watched over and over on the Internet.

"I'm afraid the American people, at least, don't have a good idea of just how dangerous the threat is that we face," Scheuer says.

This buildup of grievances exploded like a powder keg in Madrid in March 2004. It was people carrying local passports, MacIntyre says, who ignited the attacks in Spain. Next followed the Netherlands and the murder of controversial filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who was slain in broad daylight along a bike path in Amsterdam. He had confronted Islamists over their attitudes toward the West and, in particular, toward women. His murderer was Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch citizen and part of the Hoffstad Network. This group, like the one in Toronto, had talked of blowing up secret service offices and assassinating politicians.

MacIntyre meets with Ruud Peters, a leading Dutch Islamic scholar, who was an expert witness at Bouyeri's trial. From his offices overlooking Amsterdam's tranquil canals, he explains the larger issues influencing the minds of these young men. "One is the rejection of Dutch society, as they feel it, so they want to go back to Islam and they want to have their own Islam, a kind of universal, pure Islam." The other factor, Peters says, is a need to distance themselves from their parents, for whom they have affection but whom they also view as society's losers.

The trajectory, then, suggests MacIntyre, is that these homegrown jihadis start with general alienation, seek out a radical voice, and then go to the Internet to find each other. "That's right," says Peters.

MacIntyre next meets the parents of Jason Walters, a young Dutch American who was also attracted to the Hoffstad group. Walters' parents watched TV in horror as their son tried to throw a hand grenade at police during his arrest. Both struggle to describe what happened to their quiet young boy, who, they later discovered, had attended training camps in Pakistan. Jason Walters is now serving a 15-year prison sentence.

The list of impressionable young men drawn to extremism goes on. MacIntyre arrives in Atlanta, Georgia, at the home of a respected college professor whose son is also now in jail. Haris Ahmed is awaiting trial for conspiring to aid the Toronto terror cell.

His father, Syed Ahmed, rues the day he did not pay closer attention to his son's activities. "I thought he was just sending emails, or he was just reading some newspapers. So I think that was my mistake."

In March 2005, Haris Ahmed traveled to Toronto with a friend, unaware that they were under surveillance by the FBI and Canadian intelligence. Haris met with Fahim Ahmad, the suspected leader of the Toronto group. According to U.S. court documents, they discussed possible attacks on civilian and military targets. However, the indictment notes that there was no "imminent danger" to the American public.

Shaikh confirms that the Toronto group was planning to set up a safe house for those involved in the plot. There was also talk of Chechnya-style resistance in northern Ontario, where the group could fortify themselves in case anyone came looking for them. He also tells MacIntyre that he met with Zacaria Amara, who showed up at one meeting with a detonator.

"He said he could build a bomb right now, but he was still experimenting to make sure it didn't blow up in his face," Shaikh recalls.

Shaikh takes the reporter three hours outside of Toronto, to where he trained the young men in combat activities. The landscape looks benign enough now, blanketed with snow and pine trees. But 12 or so aspiring warriors spent a Christmas break there firing off live ammunition and praying five times a day to Allah.

It was from another informant that Canadian police learned of the group's attempt to purchase 3 tons of ammonium nitrate, a potential explosive material.

That's when the police moved in. Shaikh, who admits he was also angry at the world and wanting to lash out, realizes that one of those young men now in custody could so easily have been him. "I was lucky," he says, "that I was exposed to people who I could talk to who could correct my understanding."

Many young men, MacIntyre suggests, are becoming indoctrinated through the Internet, which is taking the place of religious scholarship. Shaikh agrees. He tells the reporter that it's common to invite friends over to eat barbequed chicken and watch jihadi videos.

share your reactions

thornhill, Ontario
It's a messup. A complete, utter, screw up. Even as I write, a 3rd member is being released. It appears that in our rush to chase after ghosts, we have put the lives of these men on hold for our satisfaction of some imaginary ideal. I'm beginning to feel sick living in my own country these days.

Rahmat-Ali Kazi
Mississauga, ON

I think this Salafi ideology (so popular in a mass-flavor through the Al-Maghrib Institute that a number of these Toronto terrorists were part of) needs to be opposed BY MUSLIMS as an innovation and aberration.

Robert Emerick
Rochester, NY

Thank you for your report about my neighbors accross Lake Ontario! You've substantiated what I've been thinking and worrying about for many years. Canada has had a liberal immigration policy for decades, and it's no secret that if you're from Yemen or Jordan and want into America, the easiest way is through Canada. And once they're in Canada, it's easy to dissappear into the wind along a soft border with the U.S. (Anybody with a decent size boat can cruise accross the lake in a couple of hours, unseen). If anybody wanted to smuggle a nuke into our country, Toronto would be an easy place to make the crossing. America needs to wake up to the fact that not everybody north of us is our friend, and the border is vast and wide open.

Bob Zuley
Chicago, IL

Frontline has done a commendable job in investigating & presenting informative segments explaining the Salafist movement & terrorist threat. I truly wish more Americans, including our elected national leaders and national journalists, would review these episodes. Thank you.

San Diego, CA
Canada's army forces are not in Iraq. So I don't buy what the terrorists sympatizers preesent here as a reason for extreme Moslem terror.

This cell's mere existance is a slap in the face of Canada with its liberal immigration policy and its efforts to integrate the immigrants into the Canadian society. Apparently some of the immigrants have no loyalty to the country while happily receiving assistance from the government.

Jeremy Fath
Ogden, UT

Dose any one truly believe that the world would be safer if we pulled ALL of our influences out of the Middle East? The "Holy Land" has been and always will be smoldering over something or another. Hope is the only thing that keeps the sand from bursting into flames. But that's just my opinion.

Anthony Sterrett
Allen, TX

I absolutely think that these conspirators should have received life in prison or execution, especially with the political agenda as volatile as it is today. This is a frightening prospect; my uninformed friends (most of whom hate Bush because it's the popular thing to do these days) think that all the terrorists are from Afghanistan and sneak through airport security somehow. It's much worse to realize that many of them may be homegrown.

Islam is such an unstable religion -- if there are so many shades of gray between holy war and killing civilians, then should the religion even be allowed in the US/Canda? One's rights end where another's rights begin. I would not be shocked to hear of legislation placing tabs on all people of Muslim faith, requiring them to be registered, etc. Although some may draw a correlation to the internment camps of WWII, I think this situation would be completely different. We have the technology and aptitude now to be able to watch these people without being too intrusive, and frankly, I think that it's a good idea.

(anonymous)
I can definitely feel like this showed a very big problem with the Western mindset regarding the reasoning behind terrorism and radical Islam. There has been talk since the aftermath of 9/11 concerning the root of terrorist anger. The line has become that the terrorists hate us because we have freedoms that they are either jealous of or disagree with. The other points of conflict include our cultural freedom such as the more inappropriate parts of our entertainment and the religious tension between Western Christianity and Islam. All of these completely overlook the fact that American policy regarding oil, Israel, and our methods of combating terror are seemingly creating these shadowy enemies that we continue to live in fear of. If we want to fight terror, a good start might be to stop making political moves that create terrorists themselves.

(anonymous)
This video is very eye-opening. These extremist groups, who are supposedly following what their religion dictates, are actually being brainwashed by twisted peers and false internet sources. At one point in the video it states that Islam does not condone killing anyone, but these men see that as the only way to assist their global brethren. Does this show the fragility/inconsistencies of their religion? I do not know enough about Islam to answer that question, but it seems as though the American view that religion is the root of the terrorism is incorrect. These people are killing because they have been incorrectly influenced by others, commonly through the internet, and not because their religion tells them to do so. All I can say is that I'm glad there are people like Mubin Shaikh and other moles who are breaking down these terrorist cells that lie in our own backyard.

Andrew Liu
Allen, TX

This made me think of all of the trivial issues that teenagers face today. I can't begin to imagine how terrorism even falls into that category. It made me realize that certain things such as religion play a huge role in some people's lives and may cause them to do irrational things. An even bigger issue, however, is the existence of conservative Muslims that do not support terrorism as a means of imposing their beliefs. This undermines the belief that all Muslims are crazy terrorists and allows for them to be better accepted into society.

Clevaland, GA
I was actually very surprised to hear about this whole thing, as I write this I'm actually sitting a few feet from Harris Ahmed's father in his computer science class (I know I should be paying attention lol). I think he said the right thing though, that Islam does not teach to kill anyone and that a lot of people seem to have an idea that all Muslim people are extremists like the ones that we hear about on the news all the time. While I do believe these deeds should not go unpunished I do feel bad for his son or any of these young men who may have been misled or influenced by some twisted form of peer pressure.

Carl Revine
St Petersburg, Florida

The point here seems to be missed by most Americans. The issue is not about a porous border but rather a refusal to understand the root cause of the problem. As pointed out in the video the issue is not about who we are but rather what we are doing. Building taller fences and more armed deterrents will only inflame the problem, widen our separation and understanding of one another. Truth, communication, and understanding is the only long term solution.

james mccorry
rochester, new york

By living so close to Canada I share some discomfort with other Americans, but having family who are Canadians I can assure you that the issue is taken very seriously. I traveled to Toronto in Sept. and can tell you border security at crossing is stricter,but as my follow Rochesterian before me said it is not hard to find an easy way into the U.S I myself vacation in the Thousand Island and travel back and forth between the countries several times a day.

toronto, ontario
Canada should change the policy for the Moslem immigrants . We can't take the risk of being bombed by their brainwashed fellows.

Alan Beckerman
Hamilton, Ontario

Terrorism is not necessarily a result of immigration all one needs to do its look at whitepower or survivalist groups in america to realize this. Currently islamic terrorism has taken center stage, but an attack on liberal immigration policies is not in order. There are many security issues in Canada and do not deny this, the current goverment is earnestly working to correct these issues. But one cannot fight terrorism by destroying the fundemental principles of our own societies. So long as WMD are contained terorism is more of nussaince like the murder rate in the United States. One of the objectives of terrorism is to cause the goverment to react excessively. Realist intelligence reactions should only be considered.

Ann Arbor, Michigan
This piece is disturbing because of Mubin Shaikh's inability to grasp the enormous contradiction staring him in the face. The film and Shaikh himself fail to acknowledge that Islam is the most important part of the problem!
I say this not as a bigot. I have studied Islam extensively at the University of Michigan and have many Muslim friends. Mubin Shaikh says himself that he was very susceptible to the fantasy of foreign jihad himself, and yet he continues to consider himself a fundamentalist, only the 'good' kind.
Give me a break! There are maladjusted, angry young men everywhere who suffer social and economic injustice. It is Islam that is the gateway that leads some of these young men into the hands of fanatics. This is just the plain truth, a truth which the film and society as a whole is unwilling to confront.
Religion as a whole, whether it is Islam or Christianity, is dangerous because it relies on blind faith in the completely ridiculous and irrational, and has no place in the modern world.

Adnan Aziz
Philadelphia, PA

I agree with Chris. This is a staunch conservative Muslim, who finds something repulsive about the violence of al Qaeda. This points to the fallacy of clash of cultures. He defends both Canada and his faith, which go hand in hand. What could be the bigger point? How do governments miss this? If you were looking to really attack terrorism, this would be in my mind, a chief tactic.

Adam Halim
San Diego, CA

As we hear more and more about terror & fear, it seems we dont want to address the question of why? What is all of this stemming from? Did 9/11 all of a sudden bring terrorists out of the closet? Until we begin having dialogue about some of the causes of terror, we cannot adequately address terrorism. We want to fight fire with gasoline and refuse to acknowledge the best way to stop terrorism is to stop terrorizing other nations.

James Harrison
Toronto, Ontario

I guess it just goes to show that we need to invest in our young people (the time, resources, and energy). Those who live in Toronto know the recent gun violence that rocked the City was carried out by youth.

Canada has done a great job, relative to Europe and elsewhere of integrating our citizens into society (new and old) but there is always room for improvement.


Provo, Utah
Thank you Frontline! As far as I am concerned the last station with true journalistic integrity is PBS. Thank you for doing what you do.

Amigo Cabal
Palm Beach, Fl

The fact remains that the real cause of radicalization is injustice, torture, murder and expulsion of people from their ancestral lands. Thus far 3.5 million Iraqis have been expelled out of their homes, slaughtered, or simply excluded from the society.

Once thriving country is now just a shadow of itself, unable to provide even the bare necessities for its people. It is obvious that radicalization of Muslims has just begun, and will not end until the foreigners leave their lands.

Eve Mailhiot
Calgary, Alberta

Terrorism in CANADA?

Why does this surprise any of us. Extremists hate democracy/freedom! Yes we to are the Crusaders in this Country. And we have to thank only the Past Liberal Government for the lack of intense background checks for any new refugees.

So as long as you can pay taxes..you too can live in this country!

(anonymous)
Quote from one of the Saudi Salafi scholars: "From that which is known to everyone who has the slightest bit of common sense is that hijacking airplanes and kidnapping children and the like are extremely great crimes, the world over. Their evil effects are far and wide, as is the great harm and inconvenience caused to the innocent; the total effect of which none can comprehend except Allah.

Likewise, from that which is known is that these crimes are not specific to any particular country over and above another country, nor any specific group over and above another group, rather it encompasses the whole world.

There is no doubt about the effect of these crimes; so it is obligatory upon the governments and those responsible from amongst the scholars and other than them to afford these issues great concern, and to exert themselves as much as possible in ending this evil."

Shaykh Ibn Baaz in Kayfa Nu'aalij Waaqi'unaa al-Aleem - Page 108-109

So you were saying Salafis preach hate? They preach the fundamentals of Islam and to follow the way of the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'aan with the understanding of his Companions.

(anonymous)
Two things concern me. The first is the fact that they blame all these terror actions on Salafis,"Salafism," or something similar. It is a concern because the leading scholars who follow the path of the prophet and his companions, the real Salafis, detest all actions of terrorism openly in speech and in writing. It is an unfair accusation that puts a stain on the name of the path that is the true path of the Muslims -- following the Salaf, the pious predecessors.
The second is why didn't anyone try to help change the minds of these young men? It seemed like they were just trying to push them more and more into doing wrong. What if these young men were taught the correct understanding of Islam and they decided not to pursue this path, as has happened with many Muslims? Wouldn't that have made it easier to reduce the threat of extremism? They could have been advocates teaching the correct way to understand Islam. It is clear that there is no respect for Islam. Rather the authorities are just trying to create young terrorists and then arrest them. They should have been taught correctly, and been used to spread the correct understanding of Islam later for the greater, long-lived benefit.

Washington, DC
This misunderstanding of Islamic faith initially appears to be so different but there are parallels to Christians who bomb abortion clinics and the KKK. These people are all misguided alike in not understanding the principles of their faiths. Also, while I empathize with the anger felt about the Western presence in the Muslim homelands, I'm reminded as an African-American how much more effective a mostly peaceful, civil rights movement in the US went further to demonstrate the plight of the oppressed to the world. Blacks still have a long way to go but I believe this movement paved the way for opportunities for immigrants of color. At least in the US, most immigrants have far more economic opportunity than African Americans who have been here for centuries and so I do not quite empathize with a first or second generation Muslim youth being angry enough to destroy their parents' or grandparents' adopted country. Despite the frustration that I have felt and the fact any traces to my own homeland have been erased, I have never been quite that angry. I can still have pride, maintain my own cultural identity and address my concerns by voting, running for office, etc. America allows many of these youths to have these same privileges.

(anonymous)
This is a statement that reeks ignorance, bias and racism: "Fellow students remember that the group practiced an austere version of Islam called Salafism." Anyone who adheres to the Salafi way, in other words, adheres to Islam as it was practiced by the Prophet, his companions, and their pious followers; would never advocate, propagate, nor sympathize with this mentality of killing innocent people. Saying that because these youth practiced "salafism" they were extreme in their views and stood apart is alienating the entire group of people who actually practice Islam the correct way and do not harbor these deviant mentalities. Islam is about spreading truth and justice as per the just Law of Allah (God) through the Qur'an and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Salafi is a term that means "to follow the pious predecessors," whose understanding of the religion traces directly back to the Prophet Muhammad himself who received revelation from Allah Almighty. And there is no doubt that Allah would not command anything except perfect justice.

I will close with a statement from one of the salafi scholars of recent times regarding the topic of this report: "From that which is known to everyone who has the slightest bit of common sense is that hijacking airplanes and kidnapping children and the like are extremely great crimes, the world over. Their evil effects are far and wide, as is the great harm and inconvenience caused to the innocent; the total effect of which none can comprehend except Allaah. Likewise, from that which is known is that these crimes are not specific to any particular country over and above another country, nor any specific group over and above another group, rather it encompasses the whole world. There is no doubt about the effect of these crimes; so it is obligatory upon the governments and those responsible from amongst the scholars and other than them to afford these issues great concern, and to exert themselves as much as possible in ending this evil."
--Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baaz

Wheaton, IL
Thank you Frontline, for including Hamza Yusuf's piece. It's heartening for me to find that a moderate and thoughtful voice such as his has been given your microphone.

Nazim H.
Wilkes-Barre, PA

Fear is the most destabilizing force that we are being inundated with. It cripples the rational mind and is the most basic human need as the classic psychologist Abraham Maslow said. Therefore whenever you hear about "Islamic terrorism," put it in context and see how the citizenry is being preyed on for fools to justify the half TRILLION military-industrial budget. You have a greater chance of being hit by lightning than being killed by terrorism. Remember that is also something called "state terrorism."

Ali Shah
Newark, NJ

I would urge everyone who hasn't had a chance to read Shaykh (translation: teacher) Yusuf's full interview do so. It clarifies so many things. As a Muslim, I can see the poisonous diet that all of us are served every day on TV highlighting only the plots here, terrorism there without offering the insightful context of "why" is terrorism by random, angry young Muslim men happening? I think Yusuf gives a good response towards that end in the final two responses of his interview.

Our nation, indeed the world, faces massive natural problems such as tornadoes, global warming, and hurricanes which are much more pressing to humanity (as the tsunami highlights: 300,000 dead in 3 hours whereas in perspective ALL "Muslim" terrorism combined in the past 50 years has killed 6,000 people).

Not to diminish the impact, but as a Muslim college student who sees our nation falling short and indeed circumventing the democratic aspirations and ideals of itself and others in the world (particularly towards Islamic countries, as Lebanon last year can testify) it becomes hard not to get alienated, hopeless, and disheartened with the neocon-hijacked foreign policy. As the Shaykh put it well, it's better to sweat for peace than bleed blood for war. We do need an educated citizenry, where only 16% of youth can identify where Canada is on a map!

James Smith
NY, New York

What Mubin Shaikh did was completely wrong. He is a hypocrite because he penetrated the so called "terror cell" by offering to give them weapons training. He set up a trip deep in the woods which was heavily monitored by a "small army" of police officers. Perhaps if Mubin Shaikh had dissuaded the young men from jihad in the first place, if he had been the person in their life to tell them "Stop!," like he said an Imam did for him before he boarded a plane for Chechnya or Afghanistan, then several of his "Muslim brothers" would not be on trial today. Instead, Mr. Shaikh is enjoying a huge government payment for his efforts to put these young Muslims in jail.

Ian Boch
Windsor, ON

As an immigrant myself (first to the US and later to Canada), I am appalled to hear stories of immigrants or their decedents plotting such crimes against the countries that received them with open arms. In the case of the bombings in London, the terrorists had all immigrated from troublesome regions of the globe and had been accepted by the UK. Some of them had even received British citizenship. Some of them were even receiving financial aid from the British government. How could they stab the British people in the back like this? If they weren't happy in Britain, they could have just returned to their countries of origin. It really makes me upset when I hear such stories. They should be grateful that some other country provided them the opportunity to pursue a better life.
On a side note, I do agree with Bluff's comment above. I love the USA and consider it my home country. I do wish the American government were paying more attention to the human aspect of the countries we are dealing with. Take Equatorial Guinea as an example: a small Christian country in Africa where oil has been recently found. We are there drilling their oil and we are quite happy to be friends with the brutal military dictatorship in power there. Eq. Guinea has the second largest PPP in the world (US$30k/person) and yet it is an extremely poor country. Where is the cash going to? I wonder how the future generations in Eq. Guinea will regard us.

Howard Prince
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Outstanding programming! Frontline has always been cutting edge in getting the to the gritty story and this one hit very hard. Hard to believe what is festering in peace-loving Toronto, CANADA of all places. This should be required viewing for everyone in the Muslim and Christian communities. Keep it up!

Zaid Alhinai
Chestnut Hill, MA

I agree with Mr. Guzauskas. If you trace the roots of terrorism carefully, you will find that the trail leads straight to Saudi Arabian oil. While the US cared only about stable oil supplies and the Saudi ruling family cared only for power, the Salafi (funded by oil money) movement was busy spreading its message of hate and intolerance around the world.

Red Bluff, CA
I've noticed that the safest countries are those with strong, stable and structured governments. By safe, I mean the safest. No one is totally safe from terrorism.
Shaikh said it best: he was exposed to people who could correct his understanding - and way of thinking. We in the West should pay much more attention to the citizens of countries we desire to do business with. Do we really understand how they feel about us? It's going to take several generations to correct this so the sooner we begin to open our hearts, ears and minds the better. I am a westerner but I want to respect those from the other corners. I don't want anything blowing up in my backyard either. If others want to come to my country (USA) they need to follow the rules or go back and change their own system. We can help them and the help should come without too many strings attached.

Mohammad Nouman
Lahore, Pakistan

The most terrorist country in the world is America. Proof: You can see what they did and are doing in Afghanistan, Iraq etc. America is the most alarming danger for the peace of the whole world.

Chris Gieseke
San Antonio, TX

It amazes me how many viewers missed the main point of this video. It was showing that there are conservative Muslims who know that traditional Islam does not support terrorism and that they are willing to help us stop terrorists. However more importantly, the video showed very clearly that terrorists are not driven by hatred for our "Christian values" or way of life. It is driven by a reaction against our foreign policy in the Middle East. I am, by the way, a cultural anthropologist who studies Islamic extremism and Islamic theology. I have developed some non-violent but realistic alternative methods of counter-terrorism, but sadly the State Department and Department of Defense are not interested in a time when fresh ideas are needed.

bob barker
indianeapolis, indianne

This is stupid. they gave the guy who tried to kill people only 15 years. They need to execute them or give them life in prison.

Daniel Curtis
Saint Joseph, MI

Anyone who still wants to hide their head in the sand and deny the threat toward Christian values and security in the Western world today should pay close attention to this video!

jim fitzmaurice
honeymoon bay, bc

Well, if anyone had any doubts before; there should be none now that radicalism is a global concern and not just specifically aimed at the richest country on earth.

Honeymoon Bay, BC
If anyone had any doubt before, there should now be no doubt now that radicalism is a world-wide concern and not just regulated to the richest country on earth.

Robert Guzauskas
West Palm Beach, Florida

The "mole" alluded to the real causes of Muslim anger. But neither Frontline nor any other program I watch has mined that lode. The closest was a multipart series years ago that told the story of oil in the Mideast. The oil companies bought up the video. They are no longer available from PBS archives. Most of the world sees our media. We see none of theirs. Who is free?


 

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