
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.
Episodes
250 episodes
Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 36: Fans like spies
This week the lads are joined by a fan (yes we DO have them), Eric von Stackelburg, and we chat about all things hybrid warfare, government inaction on national security and public-private interactions. Oh and what Phil likes in a blonde ...
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32:28

Episode 274 - Does Israel understand Arabs and Islam enough?
Israel has faced an existential threat for decades from jihadis in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon, as well as further abroad. The country's security intelligence and military communities are amongst the best and one would assume that the...
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40:36

Quick Hits Episode 265 - The Trump wankers descend to using disinformation...against US citizens
Disinformation is a growing scourge around the world as states and sub-state actors try to get people to believe in certain things. Much coverage has been devoted to what Russia and others are doing to mislead citizens to further the form...
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10:13

Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 35: Here's the score: terrorist arrest 488, foreign agent registry 0
This week the guys bask in new-found attention by selfie-seeking fans and, on a more serious level, talk about a humungous increase in terrorism arrests and Israel warning Jews not to travel to Canada. Oh and Al ends up being the optimist...
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Season 2
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Episode 35
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37:51

Episode 264 - Everyone seems to want to be a terrorist, but are they really?
Terrorism has been dominated for ages by well-defined groups and ideas ranging from far right, far left and jihadi proponents. These days, it seems, we are seeing more acts carried out by people who seem to adhere very loosely to ideology...
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10:05

Episode 273 - Once an AQ jihadi always an AQ jihadi?
The world rightly celebrated the ouster of Bashar al Assad, the brutal Syrian dictator, in December 2024 when a motley crew, including jihadis, took the capital, Damascus. Syrians who had engaged their autocrats in a bid for freedom since...
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21:42

The podcast where everyone knows your name...but it is an alias
This week the guys talk cast off the covers on cover names, challenge CT success claims, and honour the best-known guy to hang out in a bar talking about life with his buddies.
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32:38

Episode 263 - If intelligence doesn't jive with your world view, maybe that view has to change
We are inundated with information at levels impossible to process. Much of this is dis- or misinformation and it is a full-time job just trying to distinguish fact from fiction (AI-generated garbage and deep fakes, both of which are becom...
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11:55

Episode 272 - What will the German government decision to label the AfD backfire?
That extremist/terrorist groups can form political parties - and in some cases actually govern - is not unknown. Hamas ran Gaza until the Israeli invasion in October 2023, Hizballah controlled much of southern Lebanon and even ISIS create...
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23:15

Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 33 - Is US 'transactional intelligence' just 'plane' stupid?
Back in the saddle after a short last week, the guys delve into the undermining of the US intelligence community by the Trump administration, the dangers of accepting airplanes as 'gifts' and why Latvia is helping its citizens identify Ru...
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31:20

Episode 271 - The journey from military practitioner to author
Yes I am biased - as a 32-year veteran of intelligence - but I do think (ex)-practitioners have a lot to say when it comes to national security and international affairs. Those who were 'at the coalface' have a lot to say and have the advantage...
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30:59

Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 32: The shrinkage episode
Unfortunately, Phil decided to swim in 10 degree Celsius water this week and as a consequence the episode is much shorter than usual. The guys weigh in on the vehicular attack in Vancouver
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14:36

Episode 270 - Is drone warfare changing how we see armed conflict?
If the war in Ukraine is teaching us anything it is that drones - both surveillance ones as well as those that fire missiles at the enemy - are changing the landscape. Their small size, cheapness (i.e. they are not expensive to build unli...
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38:43

Episode 269 - Just how bad is anti-Semitism getting in the West?
The Hamas incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023 was a horrendous blow to that nation and proportionately bigger than 9/11. And yet, unlike the attack on the US, it was celebrated by many in the West as a legitimate action. Col...
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23:49

Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 31: Canadian politicians SITEless on national security
In the guys' election episode they talk about where the debate on national security has been during the campaign (hint, hint: nowhere) and why you should not mark your ballot with the eraser end of the pencil. Also why Spies Like Us is 'i...
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28:31

Episode 268 - France appears to suffer from a much higher terrorist threat than other Western nations
Of all the nations normally associated with the 'West', France is the one which seems to dominate the headlines when it comes to terrorism. Bataclan/Stade de France (2015), Nice (2016), Charlie Hebdo, teacher beheadings...the list goes on...
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18:07

Episode 267 - How do prime ministers deal with national security crises?
Sir John A Macdonald was Canada's first Prime Minister and a 'Father' of Confederation. And yet a figure of that importance has suffered a great deal in recent years over his role in the residential schools system for First Nations childr...
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26:08

Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 30: Spies Move 'N Shake
The guys are joined for coffee by former Toronto 18 terrorist cell human source Mubin Shaikh to talk about what he did and why he did it. Al shares some stories about growing up in Winnipeg cutting weed with goat shit and for some reason ...
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39:11

Episode 266 - With all the advantages of online info there are serious drawbacks
Can you imagine a world without the Internet and social media platforms? Pretty hard, eh? And yet for all the good it has brought us - access to information from everywhere and helpful links to solve questions, not to mention keeping much...
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21:35

Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 29: The right to free-dumb
This week the guys look into two recent cases of 'right-wing' extremism in Canada with very different results. They also have a real beer rather than a virtual one! Oh, and Phil has a new nickname.
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37:13

Episode 265 - It is best to look a gift Russian mercenary in the mouth
Fighting terrorists is hard work. Many countries have sought alliances, both political and military, to pool resources to engage in this struggle. In some cases, allies have been kicked out, only to be replaced by brutal criminal gangs - ...
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24:27

Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 27: Why you might want to check how you share sensitive intel
The Al-less team digs into the recent shit show surrounding the Trump Administration's decision to use Signal to broadcast upcoming airstrikes in Yemen against the Houthis. And in poetry by Phil, yes, there is a rhyme for SCIF!
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25:38

Quick Hits Episode 262 - How the average Canadian can become educated about efforts to undermine our democracy
We are drowning in information at a rate unprecedented in human history. That is a good thing, to an extent. Unfortunately, we are also inundated with mis- and disinformation, including efforts by outside powers to influence populations. ...
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11:42

Episode 264 - Is Iran on the brink of collapse?
If there is one country that has been at the forefront of terrorism and international meddling it is Iran. Since the revolution of 1979, in which a Shia fundamentalist regime replaced the monarchy, it has been a prime sponsor of terrorist...
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20:30

Spies Like Us - Season 2 Episode 27: CIA tells SLU "NO foreign intel collection for Canada? No way!"
The guys are joined by ex-CIA analyst Dave Gioe to talk about why Canada needs a foreign intelligence (HUMINT) agency and how we would go about it (and the guys give a solid two thumbs up to that idea). And Nancy Drew gives Canada g...
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43:33
