Mental Illness by Another Name
Photo (Web) Whether Chiheb Esseghaier suffered from the onset of mental illness or not, makes little difference. With great fanfare, he was arrested, charged, convicted, and awaits sentence. The massive publicity generated served the greater good of helping to prove a war on domestic terror was not only necessary, but it was also essential. This created the conditions that allowed dozens of new anti-terror laws to be passed with barely a whisper of complaint.
UPDATE: August 27, 2019, Two men jailed on terror charges given a new trial by the Ontario’s Highest Court
Original Comments on this case: (August 31, 2015)
As the trial after a trial of Victoria’s infamous Canada Day Bombers case awaits its fall continuation, the sentencing hearings in that earlier terror scare, the VIA Train guys, is slowly being derailed by controversy.
The court-appointed psychiatrist leaves little doubt the main protagonist was rapidly slipping off the rails well before he actually did any planning to derail that train. Early-stage schizophrenia? Probably and, as many have observed, just the sort person to be targeted in:
“… an FBI sting that has been used dozens of times in the U.S. to nab prospective terrorists … It’s a method adopted from the war on drugs and the FBI’s battle against the Mafia, and one that critics charge has routinely and deliberately served to ensnare the mentally vulnerable or the insane.” (Globe and Mail).
You may not recall, but it was The FBI who ran the VIA Rail sting and who agreed to pull the pin hours after the Boston Bombing (see Terrorism, Another Perspective). (also, Link Toronto Today article)
It appears our own Government and Security Service Agencies have learned their lessons well, but at this late stage in both cases, it makes little difference if the three men and one woman are sentenced to life in prison or if they are released to a mental hospital. The three have dutifully served their purpose in helping the government to pass several pieces of terror-related legislation that would never have seen the light of day without those cases. In addition, it has gifted our security service organizations with truckloads of money to enhance the largely illusionary war on domestic terrorism.
Harold
Footnotes
Globe and Mail Editorial Cartoon, August 31, 2015:
Choices: If you ask me to pick only one of following five as being the one person who has done the most harm to our democracy over the past several years, and they were named Nuttall, Korody, Esseghaier, Jaser or Harper, I would pick Harper without giving it a second thought. The other four were just bit players in the terror game.
Conspiracy to Bomb the B.C. Legislature: The Grand Illusion The Nuttall/Korody Case.
Terrorism, Another Perspective Some background on the Esseghaier and outlines the precision of the back to back arrests, then the tabling of new terror legislation in the House of Commons. A short section in Part 2 discusses the VIA rail case. If you haven’t read Shock Doctrine, you should.
Living in the Shadow of Mental Illness: As many families have learned, the nature of the illness makes it difficult to reach out for assistance as the attached stigma casts an ugly net. This story continues to track those who have been caught at the margins of our society where failure to provide timely and ongoing assistance can have tragic consequences in the mainstream.
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