Canadian Intelligence Eh
Everywhere you look these days terrorism and violent extremism dominate the headlines. Whether you follow what is happening in Afghanistan or Iraq, or in the West writ large, we are inundated with news of attacks by groups and individuals fighting for a 'cause'.In a world of multiple voices and opinions it can be very hard to know where to turn. One choice is to look to those who actually worked in counterterrorism in the national security world. In these half-hour podcasts 30-year Canadian intelligence veteran Phil Gurski is joined by a fascinating array of individuals with something meaningful to say about these issues as they provide insight into what they mean and what we need to do about them.
Canadian Intelligence Eh
Episode 186 - Why governments cannot politicise intelligence
•
Phil Gurski
Intelligence agencies exist to serve governments: that much is a given. Spies gather raw data (be it signals intelligence, the human variety or pictures), assess it for accuracy and present it to officials at various levels in response to requirements levied by those governments. Outside the stated needs, however, how much influence should senior mandarins, especially not elected ones, exert on intelligence? Borealis looks at the 1970 FLQ crisis in Canada with Brunel University's Philip Davies.