Major Terrorist Plot Thwarted In Canada

[Mantis]

Breaking news this afternoon. The RCMP along with CSIS, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Quebec Provincial Police, several local police forces in the Toronto and Montreal area along with the FBI and US Department of Homeland Security held a press conference this afternoon to announce the arrest of two foreign citizens (nationality no disclosed yet - but it was confirmed that they are not Canadian) with ties to Al Qaeda for plotting to bomb a VIA Rail passenger train (similar to Amtrack) from Toronto to New York City. The plan was to bomb the train over the Niagara river possibly taking out the bridge in the process. Apparently these individuals Had been plotting and preparing for the attack for more than a year and were receiving assistance from Al Qaeda operatives in Iran. So far there is no announcement of any suspected direct involvement of the Iranian government - which would of course constitute an act of war against Canada - a NATO member and there for under Article 5 - a act of war against all NATO members. The two suspects have been identified as Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto. It has not yet been revealed as to how/why these people were in the country.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2013/04/22/20760691.html

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/22/world/americas/canada-terror-plot-thwarted/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

 

[Urwumpe]

Doubtful that Iran would not deny everything implied. Unless there is solid evidence of Iran assisting there, it would be just the terror problem, that Iran has under control...as they claim.

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

Doubtful that Iran would not deny everything implied. Unless there is solid evidence of Iran assisting there, it would be just the terror problem, that Iran has under control...as they claim.

And if they were to accept responsibility, how do you think the resulting scenario would play out? The involvement of the US in any retaliatory action would carry a lot of weight, but the US armed forces have already been stretched a lot in recent years...

 

[Mantis]

Doubtful that Iran would not deny everything implied. Unless there is solid evidence of Iran assisting there, it would be just the terror problem, that Iran has under control...as they claim.

Yeah so far they have said there is no evidence of state sponsorship. It would be an incredibly dumb move on their part to sponsor such an attack - it would sour what little support they have left in the International community.

---------- Post added at 05:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:48 PM ----------

And if they were to accept responsibility, how do you think the resulting scenario would play out? The involvement of the US in any retaliatory action would carry a lot of weight, but the US armed forces have already been stretched a lot in recent years...

Hard to say. Since it was a failed plot, I don't think you would see military action. If I were Prime Minister Harper and we received irrefutable evidence that Iran had sponsored the attack, I would call for an immediate meeting of NATO and ask that Article 5 of the charter be invoked - at least as an initial show of force and then I would seek serious sanctions via the UN.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

Well there goes any chance of us railfans being able to take pictures of trains without getting harassed! :facepalm:

 

[Mantis]

Well there goes any chance of us railfans being able to take pictures of trains without getting harassed! :facepalm:

Apparently there were doing just that studying rail lines, schedules, trains, etc. Latest info is that they planned to target a VIA Rail train from New York to Toronto as soon as it crossed the border - to either blow it up over or derail it into the Niagara river. The loss of life could have been horrific. Those trains can carry hundreds of passengers and crew.

 

[Urwumpe]

Yeah so far they have said there is no evidence of state sponsorship. It would be an incredibly dumb move on their part to sponsor such an attack - it would sour what little support they have left in the International community.

Also, you can do better sabotage actions than this, if you are a state and have patience and time for slow and careful operations. You can organize henchmen with no link to you, and let others take responsibility without realizing it.

It would be more likely that Iran focusses on keeping the heat high in Iraq and shift things towards a second Iranian revolution there.