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Australian PM: High terror alert “not about religion”

Sep 14, 2014 5:10 pm By Robert Spencer

Tony-Abbott_729-620x349Of course, it does have to do with a religion: members of a particular religious group are plotting violence against those who are not members of the group, and pointing to the religion’s teachings as their motivation and justification for that violence. Instead of confronting that, Abbott, like Barack Obama and David Cameron, has preferred to pretend that it is not the case, and that the religion’s teachings don’t really incite any violence. Their approach, while comforting, does nothing to stop jihad recruitment and incitement to violence from quarters where leaders assume that it is not and could not be happening.

“BREAKING: Tony Abbott increases Australia’s terrorism threat level from medium to high and warns Australians to expect increased security,” by Frank Coletta, Daily Mail Australia, September 12, 2014 (thanks to Kenneth):

The Prime Minister has today announced an increase to Australia’s terror threat alert from medium to high, the first time it has been at that level.

From today, he said, Australians will notice more security at airports, ports, military bases, government buildings, public landmarks and major sporting events.

It’s the highest alert level in more than a decade and means the chances of a terror strike is now considered ‘much more likely’.

‘Normal life in Australia can and must go on but there are people who wish to do us harm,’ Mr Abbot said.

60 known Australians are believed to be fighting with the so-called Islamic State in parts of northern Iraq and Syria and officials believe several have already returned to Australia.

Among those identified by Australian agencies as leaving to fight with the Islamic State militants are the likes of Mohammad Ali Baryalei and Mohamed Elomar.

‘We have no specific intelligence of particular plots,’ Mr Abbott said.

‘What we do have is intelligence is that there are people with the intent and the capability to mount attacks, here in Australia.

‘We do know of people coming back from the Middle East, brutalised and accustomed to kill and do pose a direct threat to our community,’ added the PM.

Mr Abbott briefed Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and all state and territory leaders ahead of making the announcement.

‘The only people who should feel in anyway impacted by this are terrorists,’ the PM said. ‘For the vast majority of Australians this will not change their daily life’

It was a move flagged overnight by the ASIO Director-General of Security, David Irvine, who advised the Federal Government to raise the terror threat to high.

‘For some considerable years, indeed since the Bali attacks, Australia and Australian institutions and people have been regarded by al-Qaeda and its offshoots as, they would say, legitimate targets for attack,’ Mr Irvine said.

‘Here in Australia a number of plots have been thwarted. The threat, therefore has always been with us.

‘What has happened in recent months, has been that the events in the Middle East have increased the level of activity among people who support some pretty distorted views, extremist violent views,’ Mr Irvine said.

He said there are now up to 10,000 foreign fighters in the Middle East conflict and between 60 and 70 of those are Australians.

‘There are people who have come home, and I use the figure tens, who have come home.’

The ASIO boss said itt was a decision based on a range of factors; including the number of Australians currently fighting with and supporting terror groups overseas, those who have been identified as having returned from working with militant organisations in the Middle East, people in Australia who have been identified as having shown support for extremists and those have urged supporters to prepare to launch attack against Australia.

‘This does not mean that a terror attack is imminent,’ stressed the Prime Minister.

The PM insists that normal life in Australia ‘can and must go on but there are people who wish to do us harm’.

‘The only people who should feel in anyway impacted by this are terrorists,’ the PM said.

‘This is about crime and combating crime. This is not about religion, this is about ensuring that this marvellous country of ours, this beacon of hope and optimism, continues to be just that.’…

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Filed Under: Australia, willful ignorance Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. John C. Barile says

    Sep 14, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    Given that Australia is committing 600 servicemen, 6 jets, and an AWACS plane to the fight against the IS, it isn’t surprising that al-Baghdadi is activating his fifth column to strike back. All for the religion of Allah and his prophet, of course.

  2. Brian French says

    Sep 14, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    ISLAM is a religion, period. The Islamic state in Libya (ISIL) or Syria (ISIS) or Iraq (ISII) or any of the northern African nations like Boku Harum- western education is forbidden, are being led by a specific brand Islamic teachers that have come together to spread a message of hate and intolerance for all who are not members of their way of life. They are all most definitely Muslim, but the radicals that demand the following and observance of Sharia Law by everyone on earth, are most affectionately known as ISLAMIC JIHADIS, or more basically understood as the group of assholes that want us all to be illiterate sheep that blindly follow as we are told. They come rolling into town wearing manjamies dressed in black from head to toe, they will kidnap and murder your family to achieve whatever means they desire. Their rules are Convert, Subjugate, or Die.

    • Bettina says

      Sep 15, 2014 at 8:29 pm

      Respectfully, Brian — ISIL is the acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. But Libya, as we know, is sliding that way, too, all on its own.

  3. jewdog says

    Sep 14, 2014 at 6:21 pm

    No, it’s about a religion that encourages criminal behavior.

    • Bettina says

      Sep 15, 2014 at 8:34 pm

      No, a religion that FOSTERS and INCUBATES the most gruesome of criminal behaviors. You’re too kind, Bro 🙂

      • Bettina says

        Sep 15, 2014 at 8:35 pm

        To which we’d all add, COMMANDS those behaviors.

  4. Gail Griffin says

    Sep 14, 2014 at 6:32 pm

    These mates need some education and a good questioning as to how they do not tie Islam to global jihad. A debrief by Douglas Murray, Robert, Pamila and perhaps members of Q. Throw in Geert too. Invite Kerry.

  5. Jerry says

    Sep 14, 2014 at 7:05 pm

    No, it is not about religion. Only about what Islam was preaching and practising for the last 1400 years.

    After all, Islam is a religion of peaceful genocides and beheadings.

    It is all very sweet, like the sweets Muslims all over the world were distributing to celebrate the peaceful destruction of the twin towers at 9/11.

    There must have been a lot of peace that was naturally rising from below the belts to the brains of the Australian PM, the British PM, the US President and the Pope whenever they were making such well informed statements.

    • RickMT says

      Sep 15, 2014 at 1:34 pm

      The silence of all the “good” muslims is deafening, but you are right, they hooped, hollered, and danced on 9/11.

  6. mortimer says

    Sep 14, 2014 at 7:08 pm

    PM Tony Abbott is negligently naïve and gullible.

    His ignorance can be CURED by READING Robert Spencers books and articles.

    Heck, Tony, why not just give Robert Spencer a phone call and ask for his advice!

    Other politicians should do the same!

  7. PJG says

    Sep 14, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    Abbott is being deliberately deceptive. He knows bloody well it’s about a religion. We in Australia have told him time and time again about the danger of Islam and he brushes our concerns aside. I don’t know what game these politicians are playing but I don’t like it. Have they been told by the UN that our countries will be Islamic whether they like it or not and their job is to make the transition smooth? Sometimes I think there could be no other reason. Even the proverbial Blind Freddy can see that Islamic State is about religion, about Islam.

    • Wtf? says

      Sep 14, 2014 at 10:01 pm

      Very True but there must be some consensus amongst these leaders to try to keep the rag heads on side. At lease Abbott has confronted these loonies head on and is beefing up security and legislation. He has stopped the boats where a lot of these vermin have gotten in. There is movement from the moderate muslims because they know how good they have it here . I agree that we shodnolonger call them the Islamic State but something like the Death Cult of Iraq and Levant. Or an even better acrynom like the Cult Unders Nefarious Turds State or CUN%T# 🙂

  8. Jax Tolmen says

    Sep 15, 2014 at 12:56 am

    What Tony Abbott believes, and what he says are two different things. Similarly, what the MSM spouts and what the overwhelming majority of Australians believe are two different things.

    I can assure all of you that apart from the elitist snobs in the inner suburbs of Sydney, Australia hates Muslims. I very firmly believe that we will never bow down and capitulate to the supremacists in the way that the UK and other countries have.

    Tony Abbott strikes me as someone who will say anything to avoid committing political suicide, which is what he would do if he states openly that Islam is the problem. The MSM would seize on this and paint him as some kind of “racist” bigot, and return to accusing him of also being a misogynist and buffoon.

    Of all the politicians we have here in Australia, Abbott is our best hope when it comes to taking a tough stance on Islam. He takes a hard position on illegal (mostly Muslim) immigration and the deviant religious groups growing in our cities.

    • Bettina says

      Sep 15, 2014 at 8:57 pm

      I believe that politicians and the media keep avoiding the issue of islam because:
      1- they fear being seen as hating every single muslim (universal reprobation),
      or
      2- they fear going overboard and winding up hating every single muslim (internal values-based censorship).
      No one has yet stated that comparing an ideology with its individual adherents is an absolute fallacy! This is what ties the tongues of our public figures. THERE IS NO LOGICAL EQUIVALENCE!
      It’s like saying:
      I hate the ideas in this book,
      so let’s burn all books!

  9. sidney penny says

    Sep 15, 2014 at 1:41 am

    “‘This is about crime and combating crime. This is not about religion, this is about ensuring that this marvellous country of ours, this beacon of hope and optimism, continues to be just that.’…”

    Question for the Australian Prime Minister.

    If it is not about religion why are you meeting and briefing members of the Muslim community.

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/09/australia-in-wake-of-jihad-beheadings-of-foley-and-sotloff-muslim-leaders-condemn-tony-abbott

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/08/australia-muslim-group-outraged-at-anti-terrorism-laws
    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/08/australia-muslim-groups-reject-new-terror-laws-there-is-no-solid-evidence-to-substantiate-this-threat

  10. Jovial Joe says

    Sep 15, 2014 at 2:20 am

    Abbott should realise that the concepts are not mutually exclusive, i.e., Islam is a criminal religion.

  11. Bronson says

    Sep 15, 2014 at 3:57 am

    @Wellington
    “… Trying to deal with Islam by stating, at the outset, it is not a religion, is a NON-STARTER. It’s an unnecessary detour. It’s a route to Nowheresville.

    I do wish most everyone would learn this, because asserrting that Islam is not a religion is a diversion which hinders the truth coming out about the most terrible religion mankind has ever constructed.”

    Indeed. Islam in dualistic, and in two ways at least, and this is where lots of confusion and room for Muslim dissimulation and obfuscation comes from. It is BOTH a religion AND a facist/racist political and social system, simultaneously. It is BOTH a religion of peace (within the Ummah) AND a religion of terror (towards those outside the Ummah), simultaneously.

    • Bettina says

      Sep 15, 2014 at 9:08 pm

      Bronson, you’re correct up to a point. Jihadis have shown us how they absolutely enjoy spilling all blood — Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Muslim. Makes no difference, let their supremacist greed and paranoia guide their hand. Shia and Sunnis are always at it, trying to do us all a favor but falling short, etc.
      So in the long run, there IS no cohesive ummah. If there were, jihadis would kill only infidels. And all arab states would have vanquished Israel if they’d been capable of moving as one, as an ummah.

  12. David says

    Sep 15, 2014 at 5:33 am

    Abbott has gone one better now: Prime Minister Tony Abbott has warned Australian Muslims they will be acting “against God” if they join Islamic State and said they would find themselves in more danger as a result of the Australian military being deployed to help destroy the militant group.
    Muslims joining the Islamic State may be against your Christian God Tony, but it is not against the Muslim god, Allah. Another person who doesn’t realise the Muslim god Allah is NOT the god of the bible. Could someone please hand him a Quran. I think Abbott just topped Cameron in the “useful idiot” category by his claim Muslims joining ISIS is against God.
    http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.smh.com.au%2Ffederal-politics%2Fpolitical-news%2Fthere-are-clear-and-achievable-objectives-in-iraq-says-tony-abbott-20140915-10gykz.html&ei=j64WVOyGEJLt8AXu8ICYCw&usg=AFQjCNHUeiYhSTTqxBqmzAwOSPt9-c4rkQ&sig2=9-7xdV22HtMJdby9SMuSxw

  13. fair_dinkum says

    Sep 15, 2014 at 6:49 am

    join the bandwagon of myopia, tony

  14. Noreen Jackson says

    Sep 15, 2014 at 9:35 am

    Are Aussie leaders really as stupid as USA politicians? He would be the first to bebeheaded by those crazies!

    • voegelinian says

      Sep 15, 2014 at 5:03 pm

      Australian Counter-Jihadists routinely tout Abbot as better than other Western leaders. I always found that suspect; and now I have verification of my suspicion that Abbot is more or less infected with the PC MC virus like everyone else in the Western mainstream, from sea to shining sea.

  15. ralph says

    Sep 15, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    How about letting God answer the religion question…
    Genesis 16: 7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

    “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

    9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

    11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:

    “You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.
    You shall name him Ishmael,[a]
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.
    12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
    and he will live in hostility
    toward[b] all his brothers.”

    So; you can see that these Idiots, Wild Donkey’s are a Stupid Cult… Their false prophet and their moon god are their leaders.

  16. Salome says

    Sep 15, 2014 at 4:40 pm

    What’s the bet that the next terrorist or (please God) would-be terrorist they arrest will be Presbyterian?

  17. Wolfgang says

    Sep 17, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    NEWS FLASH.

    Here is a link this morning the NSW Police CTU ( counter terrosism unit ) found that ISIS cell was going to behead a person at random on a Sydney street and film the beheading, of course Mr Abbott where would they get this idea from ? ( not Islam oh no ! )

    http://www.9news.com.au/national/2014/09/18/10/06/family-of-man-arrested-in-terror-raids-claims-he-was-targeted-because-he-is-muslim

  18. Wolfgang says

    Sep 17, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    @voegelinian

    I wrote to his office this morning saying the threat is Islam itself and put several refs to the relevant verses from the Quo’ran in it, he is a Rhodes scholar so he is not stupid,but he like most of his ilk are smooth talkers , I doubt I will get a honest reply.

    I need to say my piece though.

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