The Patriot Post® · What the Toronto-Chattanooga Terror Attacks Have in Common

Yesterday, Ayanle Hassan Ali, a knife-wielding 27-year-old Canadian citizen, stabbed two troops inside a Toronto military recruitment facility. CBC News reports that Ali “walked past a master corporal stationed at the door of the centre on Monday afternoon and then stabbed him when he tried to stop him. Authorities say he then stabbed a second military member who tried to apprehend him.” The biggest difference between this and other recent, more high profile terrorist attacks is that the instrument of choice was a knife, not the conventional gun. But the case nevertheless has several eery similarities to what took place right here in Chattanooga.

First, make no mistake: Yesterday’s incident was clearly an Islamic terrorist attack. Ali faces three charges of attempted murder, two charges of aggravated assault, three charges of assault with a weapon, and one count of carrying a weapon dangerous to the public. But notice the word “terrorism” doesn’t appear in any of those charges. That’s interesting because during the event Ali claimed that “Allah told me to do this. Allah told me to come here and kill people.”

According to CBC, “[T]he incident could have been far more serious if a group of six to eight trained soldiers had not stepped in to take down the attacker.” And for that, they should be commended. Yet we have to wonder how things could have turned out differently if the troops weren’t unarmed — just like our own recruiters were during last summer’s terrorist attack in Chattanooga. Recall that during the assault our troops (except for one) were forced to retreat because, just like in Canada, they were banned from carrying firearms in recruitment centers. Had Ali been carrying a gun, a similar problem could have unfolded.

Alarmingly — even maddeningly — the responses of both nations are also similar. Via CBC: “John Boileau, a retired colonel with 37 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, said he would be opposed to adding armed security at recruitment centres because they’re supposed to be welcoming and accessible in order to encourage would-be recruits. ‘I certainly would not recommend we start putting armed guards at recruiting centres.’” After the terrorist attack in Chattanooga, military leadership remained adamant against changing anything. But perhaps even more astonishing was how Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders responded to yesterday’s carnage: “One of the things that I want to be very, very careful of when it comes to the national security piece that we don’t go through that Islamophobia nonsense.” Sound familiar?

Canadian military spokesman Capt. Rony Khalil says of the Toronto attack, “They are very rare, very exceptional.” But what can’t be denied is that the number of attacks is growing. As Hot Air reports, “There were two ‘lone wolf’ terror attacks in Canada in October 2014. In the first, Martin Couture-Rouleau rammed a car into two Canadian Forces soldiers, one of whom died from injuries. Just two days later Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed a Canadian Forces soldier and then entered the Centre Block parliament building where he died in a shootout.” Both Canada and America need to get serious about the growing threat posed by Islamic extremists. It’s ridiculous that we have to say this, but a good place to start is by arming our troops. Secondly, we need to stop putting a greater emphasis on feel-good remarks toward the only group whose ideals are fundamentally at odds with Western culture.