Thought Experiment: Ever get pulled over for a traffic violation — perhaps even one that seemed absurd? Did it “radicalize” you so that you resolved to become a worse driver?
“Aggressive policing turns Muslims to terrorism: study,” from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:
A study from the Global Terrorism Research Centre at Monash University suggests that Australia’s approach to stopping terrorism might actually be encouraging it.
Waleed Aly from the centre says the aggressive police approach is alienating young Muslim men, who may be more likely to turn to radical groups as a result.
He says a community-based approach may be more effective than a hardline approach.
Any examples of this “hardline” bent?
“The problem is that as we repeat that [hardline] approach, what we actually end up doing is exacerbating the problem,” he told tonight’s Four Corners program.
“We set in motion drivers that move us towards greater radicalisation.”
He says currently the police are too willing to use aggressive tactics.
“[Police] feel ‘the more aggressive we can be, the harder we can be, the better’,” he said.
“That is, that it’s better to err on the side of being aggressive than to err on the side of being soft.”
In summary: Leave us alone, and/or we’ll kill you.