Why do you have to go and make things so complicated? Canadian idol aspirant busted for jihad attempt.

Barely known for singing the Avril Lavigne song "Complicated" during the barely known Canadian Idol show, and now barely known for plotting with coreligionists, along with two other members of the Religion of Peace and High Explosives, Khurram Syed Sher was arrested for "knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity." Thanks to the good work of the RCMP and CSIS, no earth-shattering kaboom for him.

The Wall Street Journal: Canada Thwarts Bombing Attempt

"A vast quantity of terrorist literature and instructional material was seized, showing that the suspects had the intent to construct an explosive device for terrorist purposes,'' said Mr. Therriault. The arrests Wednesday and Thursday "prevented the assembly of any bombs or terrorist attacks from being carried out,'' he added.

The trio were working with an "ideologically inspired terrorist group'' with links in Iran, Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan, the RCMP said. While officials would not say whether the trio had links to al Qaeda, they were driven by "violent Islamist ideology,'' according to Raymond Boisvert, assistant director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the country's spy agency.

Mr. Alizadeh had been trained in bomb-making abroad, the RCMP said, although it wouldn't disclose the country.

Police didn't specify any target, but said the RCMP had been concerned for the safety of Ottawa residents.

. . .

The RCMP wouldn't disclose where the three suspects were born or when they immigrated to Canada, if they weren't born there. Mr. Sher said he was from Pakistan on a YouTube video of his "Canadian Idol'' audition. Mr. Alizadeh took English-as-a-second-language classes at River Red College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the college spokesperson says, adding that he doesn't know where he was from. The spokesperson at the hospital in Ottawa where Mr. Ahmed works said he couldn't disclose personal information due to Canadian privacy laws.

Perhaps they'll claim they were annoyed at the very effective Canadian participation in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Unlike the French, going to war with Canadian Forces by your side acts as a definite force multiplier, and the CF has been very good in Afghanistan indeed.

Maybe they'll claim its all a misunderstanding and they're being profiled because of their religious and immigrant status. After all, doesn't everyone have at least 50 circuit boards ready for remote detonation and bomb-making materials strewn around the house? (Now that you mention it, no can't say as I do).

Maybe its because he bombed on Canadian idol and just wanted to explode with happiness.

Or perhaps its just plain ol' jihad for the sake of jihad, especially with the standard Islamic profile of the attackers -

People who know the three men who were arrested say Messrs. Ahmed and Sher are educated professionals, a profile common to many radical members of groups like al Qaeda in Western countries, says Martin Rudner, a professor emeritus at Carleton University in Ottawa, who specializes in intelligence and national security.

In any case, the threat is certainly still there, and it looks like The RCMP and CSIS just narrowly averted Ottawa from being a target of an attack. Hopefully this will lead to further Canadian governmental watchfulness over exactly who they're letting immigrate into the country, not to mention determine where these men were radicalized if they were not in fact radicalized beforehand.