In what sense were these twenty Somali Muslims ever really “Canadians” at all? What did Canada gain by welcoming them or their parents into the country? “20 Canadians have joined Somalian terror group: official,” by Stewart Bell for the National Post, April 10:

TORONTO — About 20 Canadians have travelled to Somalia to join Al-Shabab, a federal official said two weeks after a Toronto man was arrested as he was allegedly leaving to enlist in the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group.As many as three of the Canadians may have been killed so far, the official added, although such deaths are hard to verify because of the armed conflict and the lack of a diplomatic corps in Somalia.

The figures suggest the scale of Canada’s problem with Al-Shabab recruitment is comparable to that experienced by the United States and Europe, which also have sizable populations of ethnic Somalis.

The Al-Shabab threat was underscored late last month when police arrested Mohamed Hersi at Toronto’s Pearson airport. The RCMP alleged he was on his way to Somalia “to join Al-Shabab and participate in their terrorist activities.”

The 25-year-old former Toronto security guard, who is scheduled to have a bail hearing on Wednesday, was the first Canadian to be charged with terrorism offences related to Al-Shabab, but the group has been actively recruiting members in Canada for at least two years.

In 2009, six Somali-Canadians left Toronto for Somalia, where federal authorities suspect they joined the group. One was later eulogized on an extremist Internet forum, which said he had died in battle….

“Islamist extremists are radicalizing and recruiting Somali-Canadian youths within Canada to travel to Somali [sic] for jihad training,” reads a de-classified 2010 Canadian intelligence report released under the Access to Information Act.

The RCMP is concerned about the potential for violence in Canada should the Al-Shabab recruits return home with the indoctrination and the weapons training necessary to carry out terrorist attacks. A Canadian Security Intelligence Service report recently obtained by the National Post under the Access to Information Act calls foreign travel an “important part in the radicalization process” of Islamist extremists.

“Those who have jihad experience are often transformed by it and return to their home countries enthused with a zeal to convince others to share their new-found desire to defend Islam,” reads the report, marked Secret. “This combination of enthusiasm, charisma and … tales of jihad can be a potent mix that can be used to draw the vulnerable into violence. The influence that these veterans can have in their communities is significant.”…

No kidding, really?