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July 02, 2007
I heard on World Today the beginnings of a playing politics with the terrorist threat in Australia in the light of the events in Britain--- ie., an al-Qaida linked terrorist cell is suspected of attempting to commit mass murder using car bombs in London and Glasgow. A Howard government-funded research report reveals that 3,000 young Muslims in Sydney alone could be at risk of radicalisation by extremist elements both here and abroad, which could push them to commit terrorist attacks. 3,000 huh. That's pretty precise isn't it?
Note the revelations are about "could be" and "could push" not what is.
The report referred to a Mr Kara-Ali who was given a $200,000 grant by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in June last year to investigate the radicalisation of young Muslims in Sydney's southwest. Kara-Ali says:
We're finding out that per capita we've got a huge number of young Muslims (vulnerable to radicalisation) compared to other countries where there's a bigger community but yet relatively the same number of extremist youth.I believe in Sydney alone there's about 2000 and 3000 young Muslims vulnerable to being radicalised. There are ideological sleeper cells waiting to be completely radicalised. Because radicalisation ... is to act upon your extremist teachings."
Note the "vulnerable" to and "waiting to be" in addition to the "could be" and "could push." It's all about possibilities and what might be's. There is no evidence that this "might be" is actually happening. " Extremist " in this case refers to the Wahabi movement whilst "young Muslims" refers to Sunnis.
The impression given by the media report was that Australia has become a "prime country" for hardliners pushing extremist Islamic ideologies. I notice that the PM was quick off the mark---what is happening in Great Britain is a reminder to all of us about the threat of terrorism and that we must remain vigilant. No suprises there, but note the slipped in equation: ---pushing ideology equals car bombing terrorists. Pretty swift.The supporting argument for the equation of pushing ideology and car bombing terrorists is lacking.
Of course, this has nothing to do Iraq does it? Things are going according to plan in Iraq. These home-grown Islamic extremists just hate us and our values don't they?
Now it's only a matter of time before some Coalition politician stirs the fear pot by remarking that Australia is in danger of losing the battle against terrorists unless mainstream Australian society forcefully confronts the Islamist threat and the loopy civil liberty and multicultural appeasers are pushed into the background. Why so? Well at its core, Islamist fundamentalism---nay Islam--- is irreconcilable with western values and our Christian Judaic heritage. Islam must be confronted.
As usual Murdoch's Australian leads the way to a threat free Australia:
Islamists in Sydney and London, Glasgow and Gaza, Baghdad, Beirut and Bali are not all working together, but they are all driven by one goal -- to destroy the West and impose a global Islamist government. Australia cannot afford to be complacent about the threat it faces.....the war against terror is not a territorial battle. It is a battle against an anger-ridden ideology, a threat not only to Islam and Muslims but to the entire world.... vigilance alone will not defeat the threat we face. Governments, Muslim leaders and the wider community each have a part to play in breaking the link between religion and extremist ideology. Radical sheiks who have hijacked a noble faith and turned it into a violent rallying cry must be silenced. There is no place for their teachings in this country.
Free speech is a luxury that cannot afforded in a liberal democracy. Does that mean censorship is the linchpin of any fully functioning democracy?
Tim Dunlop at Blogocracy has some interesting comments
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Here are two Muslim responses to the Kara-Ali report:
http://austrolabe.com/2007/07/02/predicting-radicalisation/
and http://austrolabe.com/2007/07/02/quantifying-the-risks/