The Pendragon's Hall

The big news this past week has been the foiled terrorist plot in Toronto, Canada. Apparently the arrested suspects had ties to Al-Qaida (who else?) and more explosives than were used at the Oklahoma City bombing, which they planned on detonating on the Toronto subways. This break came as a reeling shock to those who contend that appeasement is the policy of choice with terrorists. They thought Canada was "safe." Look for the media to claim that terrorists now target Canada as a result of the conservative (and highly popular) government of Stephen Harper. This is as bogus as the claims that the particular misdeeds of the Bush administration are to blame for 9/11. An intriguing parallel to Harry Potter suggests itself to the Pendragon: At the end of the most recent book, with the Headmaster of Hogwarts murdered by a follower of the evil Lord Voldemort, the teachers discuss closing the school but the Potions professor notes, "Hogwarts is no more dangerous than anywhere else." By implication, the rural countryside is no safer. It is the same in the war on terror. We're in no less danger in Canada than in the United States, no less in the middle of Nowhere, New York, than in the heart of Toronto. Terrorists hate the West. They want to kill us all. If they can't hit us one place, they'll try another. This is not to counsel despair but courage. There is no negotiation with someone whose goal is your destruction, but a recognition of the true motivation of these terrorists can inspire the courage to stand against them. If one place is no safer than another, it is also no more dangerous. It is the reason I remain a steadfast supporter of the war in Iraq--if the terrorists are fighting our troops on the ground there, they can't be over here, blowing up buildings. It helps make us safer just by that recognition. But we must be vigilant. Our enemies do not rest; neither must we. Canada is only the most recent country to recognize this, and thankfully, they did so without sustaining a terror attack that killed thousands of civilians. I only hope France and Germany will be so lucky.