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May 27, 2007
The imported conservatives from the UK talk in terms of Australia being part of the streets of Londistan. They say that Australia like Britain stand shoulder to shoulder with our American friends in this hour of tragedy, and that we, like them, will not rest until this evil is driven from our world. As a special friend of the US we need to be on our toes about the Islamic enemies within. A multicultural Australia provides a safe-haven for extremists just like 'Londonistan'. Hundreds of Muslims around the country need to be kept under surveillance and arrested if need be, as AL Qaeda is attempting to destroy the state from within.
A black cloud of Islamist terror is said to be hanging over the Western world; and specific causes of violence and discontent have disappeared into it. Instead, we promote the idea that all acts of political violence involving Arabs or Muslims, if seen from the correct (that is to say US- inspired) angle, will fit together like a jigsaw to form an image of Osama bin Laden.
John Upton in the London Review of Books says:
We are told that we face a complex, overwhelming threat, yet we are given the crudest means of deciphering our predicament: caricatures of Saddam, of bin Laden, of suicide bombers and evil imams. These are the cartoon ogres in whose shadows we are encouraged to unite. But the spirit of the Blitz engenders acquiescence in the machinations of a manipulative state as well as the courage to stand up to ogres.
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