# Terrorists Target Toronto **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 3, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325 "2006-06-03T23:10:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/1 "2006-06-03T23:10:50Z")
[Thankfully, they were caught before they were able to kill anyone.](http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/06/03/canada.terror/index.html) > [@](#): > > Twelve men and five youths said to have been inspired by al Qaeda were arrested in the operation involving hundreds of officers, authorities said. > > The group was “planning to commit a series of terrorist attacks against solely Canadian targets in southern Ontario,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell said at a news conference. > > “This group took steps to acquire three tons of ammonium nitrate and other components necessary to create explosive devices,” he said. That’s three times the OKC bomb. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/2 "2006-06-03T23:15:24Z")
Kudos to the RCMP; great work on their part. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/3 "2006-06-03T23:37:23Z")
[QUOTE=jackelope] Kudos to the RCMP; great work on their part. [/QUOTE] I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to hear that the mounties got their men. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/4 "2006-06-04T00:18:43Z")
A successful police operation, the way it should be. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/5 "2006-06-04T00:18:52Z")
I heard CNN report this about 10:15am EDT. At the time they had on some expert or consultant based in Leesburg, VA, and had filled the screen with a computer map of Virginia. I about choked on my coffee - terrorist bust _15 miles from Washington?!_ ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/6 "2006-06-04T03:07:07Z")
Oh, God, I’m so relieved. My hands are still shaky. ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/7 "2006-06-04T03:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Oh, God, I’m so relieved. My hands are still shaky. [/QUOTE] ? Why? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/8 "2006-06-04T03:17:35Z")
Good Og… I am _so_ glad they busted this quasi-cell. If those bastards had succeeded in pulling off even one of their attacks I’d have gone nuts. This is definitely as close to home as I’ve ever been to a potential terrorist threat. Good on the RCMP, and I hope the vigil continues. Just goes to show there can’t be a moment’s sleep when it comes to this sort of crap. We are not immune. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/9 "2006-06-04T03:28:16Z")
[QUOTE=cabdude] ? Why? [/QUOTE] Oh, I don’t know. The major bomb threat certainly wasn’t part of it. ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/10 "2006-06-04T05:27:40Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Oh, I don’t know. The major bomb threat certainly wasn’t part of it. [/QUOTE] I mean - surely you found out about this after the event, right? ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/11 "2006-06-04T10:39:56Z")
[QUOTE=cabdude] I mean - surely you found out about this after the event, right? [/QUOTE] Still… are you saying that you wouldn’t have any nervous symptoms after finding out that terrorists had been planning to bomb a dozen targets in _your_ home city?? [sub]notice Kythereia’s location line[/sub] {{Kythereia}} ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/12 "2006-06-04T10:49:14Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Oh, God, I’m so relieved. My hands are still shaky. [/QUOTE] :: hugs :: I didn’t get twitchy until I started reading the Toronto Star’s list of suspects’ names, ages, and location of residence. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/13 "2006-06-04T11:30:37Z")
Our friends in Canad have had very good luck, snatching victory from the jaws of disaster. May we all be this lucky. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/14 "2006-06-04T12:46:44Z")
Congrats, guys. Did they say how they caught them? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/15 "2006-06-04T12:52:18Z")
Well done the RCMP. We had a bust in London the other day, with rumours of a [chemical bomb vest](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5042724.stm) for a suicide attack. Nasty shit. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/16 "2006-06-04T16:41:49Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] Congrats, guys. Did they say how they caught them? [/QUOTE] Undercover RCMP officers staged a sting by being the ones to deliver the three tons of ammonium nitrate. This particular terror cell had apparently been under investigation for quite some time, so the RCMP acted quickly when they got wind that they wanted a shitload (sorry) of fertilizer. I’m tremendously relieved to know that they’re on top of the terrorist activity, and this latest bust will hopefully motivate them to redouble their efforts to keep shit like this out of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/17 "2006-06-04T16:48:22Z")
I felt pretty queasy too. I’ve only been to Toronto once. I really like the city. I plan on making another trip there this fall. I have dear, dear friends who go to school there. I really like riding the subway around town; I’d never ridden a subway before and I thought it was wicked cool (yeah, I guess I’m a bit of a country girl). I’ve been looking forward to sitting on the subway with my friends singing showtunes and laughing our butts off. And I still plan to do it. I just can’t say I won’t feel a bit of a chill when I step off the platform. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/18 "2006-06-04T17:32:42Z")
While I’m glad to hear that the RCMP and CSIS were on top of this incident, I’m a little puzzled by the fact that so many people seem to have forgotten, or were simply unaware, that Toronto has faced at least one terrorist threat before: in about April 1985 (if I recall correctly), police received a tip that Armenian terrorists were planning to explode one or more bombs in the subway system. I took the subway to work that day, as I did every day. Security all over the place in the subway. Trash bins sealed shut. Ridership way down (I actually got a seat on the subway!). And thankfully, nothing happening in the end. So perhaps you can understand my puzzlement at the reaction I see in today’s papers–that of, “We thought it couldn’t happen here.” Because I remember that it has before. Still, it seems that I’m the only one who remembers. Does anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![eveanyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@eveanyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eveanyn)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/19 "2006-06-04T18:23:39Z")
No, I don’t remember that **Spoons**. I was only 12 in 1985. I’m glad you brought it up. Hats off to the RCMP for catching this. 3 tonnes is a whole helluva lot of potential damage. For some reason, it greatly bothers me that most of the accused are so young. I wonder how far the web of the plot extends. Did they nip it in the bud? Surely there are many details that the authorities will not disclose to the general public. Continued well wishes to the immediate residents of TO from someone who lives about an hour away and visits often. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325/20 "2006-06-04T18:50:26Z")
[QUOTE=Little Plastic Ninja] I felt pretty queasy too. I’ve only been to Toronto once. I really like the city. I plan on making another trip there this fall. I have dear, dear friends who go to school there. I really like riding the subway around town; I’d never ridden a subway before and I thought it was wicked cool (yeah, I guess I’m a bit of a country girl). I’ve been looking forward to sitting on the subway with my friends singing showtunes and laughing our butts off. And I still plan to do it. I just can’t say I won’t feel a bit of a chill when I step off the platform. [/QUOTE] Fortunately the transit system wasn’t on the cell’s list of targets. The RCMP haven’t divulged that list, but did mention that CSIS HQ across from the CN Tower was on it. That doesn’t mean that the subways won’t be on any future list so it can’t be ruled out, and with security undoubtedly tightened around the targets that _were_ on the list any future cells might decide to go after different ones should another cell pop up. I was a little too young to be aware of (or care about) the Armenian threat of '85, being about 13 at the time. I probably wouldn’t have understood it if I was told. I had a friend from Armenia in the early 80s though, when I lived in North York, and he was a great guy, so I probably would have been confused about the whole ordeal. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorists-target-toronto/359325.md?page=2)