"Home-grown terrorism": Our new mission in Afstan not the cause

If anyone, including some of the usual suspects, says that a major cause creating the alleged terrorist group busted in Ontario June 2 is our combat mission at Kandahar (and our help thereby to President Bush's "Global War on Terrorism"), then that person is:

a) ill-informed, or
b) deliberately mendacious, or
c) both.

The investigation of the group began well over a year ago when our troops were in Kabul--under NATO--essentially doing peacekeeping and not combat. The new mission to Kandahar had not even been announced. The Kabul mission itself was almost without controversy, except for criticism of Canadian Forces' equipment such as the Iltis jeep.

To think that that mission could in any way be a major motivator for the alleged terrorists srikes me as simply nonsensical--and likely dishonest. I hope--but do not expect--our media to raise these facts when "experts", or "representatives" of the Muslim community, raise the supposed link.

Stewart Bell, fortuitously, has a major article on home-grown terrorism in the National Post today.