Australia has been forced to rapidly recalibrate its response to the threat of Islamist terrorism over the past few months. International intelligence failed to predict the speed with which the extremist Islamic State has swept through parts of Syria and Iraq.
Forces from the US, the UK, France, Australia, Kurds and some Iraqis are racing to prevent the Islamist psychopaths slaughtering the remnant 30,000-member Yazidi community on Mt Sinjar in northern Iraq in an act of genocide.
It is estimated as many as 150 young Australians have joined the ranks of the Islamic State murderers. They thrive on publicity and will certainly not be named here, despite their notoriety.
US President Barack Obama’s decision to withdraw all troops from Iraq was undoubtedly the major contributing factor to this humanitarian catastrophe.
With a lacklustre Iraqi leadership, the Iraqi army collapsed in the face of the IS forces, leaving tanks and other armed vehicles and huge stocks of heavy weapons behind to be captured.
Little wonder extremist Islamists from around the world have been flocking to Syria to take obscene selfies.
While some of the Australian terrorists boast they will never return here, deluding themselves they are actually founding a viable Islamic state, it is inevitable some will come home.
During the Afghan conflict there were about 30 Australian wannabe terrorists like David Hicks.
All had to be investigated on their return and about two-thirds remained supportive of violence. Eight of them, caught up in the successful anti-terrorist Operation Pendennis, are in jail.
The awful reality confronting security forces is five times as many Australians have gone to Syria. If the same ratio applies, 100 or so will present a constant terrorist threat on their return.
In a bid to prevent likely terrorist recruits joining IS, 50 or so Australian passports have been withdrawn. However, as has been seen, that has not prevented some from going overseas and joining the terrorist army.
Tens (no one wishes to provide a precise number) have returned. They are under surveillance. A few will have been sickened by what they have seen but they will all be of concern until authorities are convinced they are no longer risks to national security.
From past experience we know these psychopaths are seeking to draw attention to themselves, make delusional demands and attract equally feeble-minded adherents.
That is a fairly simple task. As one such idiot who appeared on an SBS program this week explained, he obtained his information and education about IS from Twitter and Facebook.
Twisted souls who depend upon such social media for guidance may be impressed with pictures of children holding severed heads but it is a reality social media has created a new element in terrorist recruitment.
Under the existing data access regime, four major terror attacks in Australia have been thwarted in the past dozen years. But changes in collection and storage methods by internet operators must be met by new requirements.
That’s why an updating of the law to give security agencies access to stored metadata is vital to the ongoing struggle against the homegrown terrorism.
Labor has indicated bipartisan support for this but it is still pandering to Muslim constituents in electorates where their numbers count, as is federal Liberal MP Craig Laundry.
They should be making it clear to Australian Muslims that they expect their leaders to speak out more vehemently against those who groom terrorists from the among the young and stupidly impressionable in their communities.
It is a win-win for the terrorists if we succumb to paranoia and start jumping at every shadow.
To prevent this we must allow the government to give the security agencies the tools they need to meet the rapidly changing challenges of internet grooming, internet radicalism and internet fundraising of terrorist operations.
Muslims are divided on ethnic, racial and religious lines. They are not a homogeneous group.
Therefore the Muslim community cannot and must not be blamed for the sins of the few — and the few cannot be permitted to drive a wedge between Muslims and other Australians.
But the few are costing the majority of Australians millions in security and those who enjoy leadership titles must accept that some responsibility attaches to their position or they should abdicate in favour of individuals who are prepared to consent to the obligations inherent in their station.
The Grand Mufti, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, is almost a phantom. He makes occasional statements which demand explanation but then goes into hiding. He has a staff but they don’t return calls or respond to emails.
He injects himself into Australian politics but refuses to engage with the public voices of the electorate.
He is by no means a Pope. He has no temporal power, but also does himself few favours with selective interviews and refusal to engage with the broader media.
His leadership is hollow if he doesn’t inspire confidence across the broader community as well as within the confines of the clearly agitated Islamic community.
Terrorism globally is currently an almost uniquely Muslim phenomenon.
In an article in The Australian yesterday psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed explained the willingness of some young Australian Muslims to engage in terrorism: “There remains a marked difference in the way males are raised within some Lebanese groups which predisposes them to greater acts of anti-social behaviour. It is a fairly specific segment of the Lebanese community and a result of the migration of poorer farmers and lower-class Lebanese Muslims after the civil war in 1975. Their numbers and concentration are greatest in south-western Sydney.
“There is a rampant anti-social character to some youths from this segment which stems in part from unsuccessful child-rearing. The horrific moves towards terror acts can be seen as an ideological extension of a propensity towards bad behaviour, combined with an unshakable victim mentality.”
His view presents an insight into societal failure among a group of migrants unlike any other before.
We, as a society, have absorbed greater numbers of migrants per capita than any other nation except the US.
The Muslim leadership and the Muslim community must not retreat. They must strive to embrace the values Australia stands for.
The way we individually behave shapes our society.