O Canada

The True North strong and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee
--Canadian National Anthem

Well, our allies to the North have settled down from the hype and fear-mongering following 9-11 and realized that prolonging extraordinary security measures are a violation of civil rights ("Canada's Parliament scraps 2 anti-terror measures.")

All three opposition parties argued that "the controversial anti-terrorism tools (which) had never been used by police and were a blatant violation of civil rights...should be allowed to expire on March 1, as prescribed by the act."

The measures in contention were preventive arrests and compelling testimony from witnesses about possible "future attacks." Reading between the lines, Ranger surmises the Canadian's opposition lie in the implications of the wording "future attack" scenario, which might have sanctioned the authorities to use torture. Terrrorists would not divulge that info over tea and crumpets, it would seem.

Significantly, Canada has had success in police and legal actions against terror threats, a correct approach that Ranger has commented upon previously. In effect, a nation must remain true to its core values or it will never prevail in ideological struggles, and this is an ideological struggle.