Senior Officer and Remembrance Day

Paris: A telltale clue on the jittery thinking among U.S. officials came even before Friday attacks in Paris, when a senior officer with the U.S. embassy in Ottawa was overheard at a public gathering on Remembrance Day bluntly discussing Washington anxieties that some among the 25,000 refugees may come intending to travel south and wreak American havoc, ISIS-style. "The message was very clear and not couched in diplomatic language — I heard, 'My government is highly concerned' about the potential threat at the border," a witness to the U.S. official remarks told the Star on condition of anonymity, according to Hamilton Spectator. The official in question, Peter Malecha, a first secretary at the embassy, did not respond to the Star request for comment. Fear of the Canadian border as a gateway for terror — a recurring theme in U.S. politics since the attacks of 9/11, despite all evidence to the contrary — appears to be stirring anew as the sheer heft of the Canadian plan takes shape, with expectations of as many as 1,000 refugees a day arriving in Canada starting Dec. 1. It is unclear whether it the speed or size of Ottawa refugee mobilization — or perhaps both — that rankles most. The Canadian pledge to absorb 25,000 people by year end vastly overshadows anything contemplated in Washington, where officials are looking at opening the door to an additional 10,000 refugees by the end of 2016. Either way, the fact that Canada is about to punch far above America weight on Syrian refugees is not going unnoticed. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.