The destruction of the Islamic State has led to an intractable problem: what to do with captured ISIS fighters who are western nationals? Despite President Trump’s pleas for enemy combatants to be repatriated and prosecuted in their country of origin, Europeans have thus far turned a blind eye. Writing for the Gatestone Institute, Soeren Kern looks at the Hobson’s choice faced by western nations. On the one hand, repatriating foreign fighters is deeply unpopular and carries political risks. On the other hand, barring their repatriation virtually guarantees the clandestine return of battle-hardened fighters. There are clear security threats attached to either scenario. It is a problem Canadians will soon face.
Toppling a Communist Empire for $2.7 Million
Though widely thought of as focused on waterboarding terrorists or poisoning foreign potentates, it was by smuggling paper that the CIA achieved its most monumental triumph. R.M. Gerecht in a book review for The Washington Free Beacon charts how the late Cold War-era operation to flood Poland with Western books, magazines, printing supplies and audio recordings fatally weakened the country’s Communist dictatorship, setting the stage for the downfall of the entire Soviet empire. Total cost: US$2.7 million.
