Over the years, Islamic jihadist terrorists claiming to act in the name of Islam have targeted mass transit systems around the world.
This occurred in 1995 in the Paris Metro rail system when the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) detonated a series of bombs which killed 8 innocent victims and wounded 122:
Then, on 6 February 2004, Chechen Jihadist terrorists set off an Islamikaze attack in the Moscow Metro rail system which killed 41 innocent victims:
On 11 March 2004, Islamic jihadist terrorists thought to be affiliated with, or inspired by, Al Qaeda set off a series of bombs in the Madrid rail system, killing 191 and wounding over 1,800 innocent victims:
On 7 July 2005, Islamic jihadist terrorists affiliated with, or inspired by, Al Qaeda, bombed transit targets in London, killing 56 and wounding 700 innocent victims.
No doubt because of this history, security authorities in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada are taking appropriate measures to guard against such an attack, especially during the upcoming Olympic Games to be held there.
The transit police in Vancouver are planning on using specially-trained bomb-sniffing dogs to detect explosive devices in the Vancouver transit system. Dogs are extremely effective at this type of duty because they have a keen sense of smell and seem never to tire or suffer from lapses which severely effect their job performance. Dogs have successfully detected explosive devices in security situations for decades around the world.
So what does a local Muslim leader in Vancouver, Shawket Hassan, have to say about all this?
He is “worried” about bomb sniffing dogs because dogs are considered unclean in Islam and Muslims might get touched by such dogs while on their way to pray.
Note that Mr. Hassan has expressed no “worry” about the threat of terrorism to the transit system. He has only express worry about the possibility of getting dog saliva on his person.
It’s difficult not to think of the victims in Paris, Moscow, Madrid and London when you read Mr. Hassan’s comments. Those people were killed by terrorists who openly stated that they believed that they were acting in the name of Islam. Someone might want to remind Mr. Hassan that dogs don’t discriminate according to religion. The bomb-sniffing dogs will be protecting innocent Muslims who ride the Vancouver transit system as well as everyone else.
Mr. Hassan should be thanking Allah that such animals exist on earth to protect us all from evil.