The recently released Government White Paper on Counter Terrorism is supposed to have identified the potential risks to Australia and also has defined the appropriate counter measures to protect Australians from terrorist attacks. No doubt this Australian government has, like it s USA counterpart, involved peak Islamic bodies in the intelligence gathering process to help in identifying where terrorist attacks may come from. This approach is fundamentally flawed as we will show. The Executive Summary identifies global jihadist movements as extremists who follow a distorted and militant interpretation of Islam. It also recognises that there is an increased threat from people born and raised in Australia who have become influenced by the violent extremist message. The Defence Strategy thus defined has four key elements being Analysis, Protection, Response and Resilience. In this article we will show that Defence analysts have not listened to what Islam is saying and hence the Risk Assessment is fundamentally flawed, and must be reconsidered if it is to meet the objectives as outlined by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Prime Minister s Foreword Terrorism continues to pose a serious security challenge to Australia. The Australian Government remains resolute in its commitment to protect Australia, its people and interests from this threat. The Government is committed to concrete action to combat terrorism. We will continue to ensure that agencies are appropriately resourced, that responses are agile and can meet changing threats, and that all necessary and practical action is taken to protect Australia and Australians. The policy outlined in this White Paper delivers an effective and balanced approach that further strengthens our domestic counter-terrorism efforts and makes a strong contribution to international counter-terrorism efforts. The Government has made a number of important changes to the way Australia responds to terrorism. This White Paper sets out our strengthened approach to aviation security, and improves the coordination of our counter-terrorism efforts. It also sets out for the first time a strategy to counter violent extremism in Australia. 1 / 7
Flaws in the White Paper Risk Assessment The first flaw is in the identification of what beliefs the jihadist movement follow. They are defined as following a distorted and militant interpretation of Islam. The Quran is central to every Muslim and the Hadith collection of Al-Bukhari is the principal collection to compliment Islamic belief. The dictates of Islam are drawn from these two mainstream sources and do not represent a distorted view, but rather a mainstream one. 1. A good Muslim must follow the example of prophet Mohammed [Sura 33:21] 2. The first duty is to fight Jihad in Allah s cause [Bukhari 2.26.594] 3. Fight and slay the infidel using every strategy of war [Sura 9:5] 4. Using terror will make you victorious [Bukhari 4.52.220] So from the central tenets of Islam a good Muslim who follows his or her faith must fight Jihad as a priority using every means at their disposal and use terror to be victorious. That is not a distorted view of Islam, but it is the mainstream view. Any Muslim can become a terrorist overnight. Dr Majid Al-Balushi said recently in an interview in Gaza that the truth is that the difference between the moderate Muslim and the extremist Muslim is quantitative and not qualitative. In other words, a moderate Muslim can change into an extremist Muslim or terrorist in a single night, provided he delve deeper into Qur'anic verses, especially the verse of the sword, and the prophetic ahadith (sayings) calling for fighting and jihad in the path of "establishing the word of truth. The verse of the sword is Sura 9:5 and is the third part of the Dictates of Islam. So all a Muslim needs to do to become a terrorist is to reflect deeply on Sura 9:5. 2 / 7
Muslim Brotherhood Mission Statement Written in May 1991 by Mohamed Akram, a.k.a. Mohamed Adlouni, for the Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood, was this "long-term plan approved and adopted" by the Shura Council in 1987. The process of settlement is a "Civilization-Jihadist Process" and their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions. Now it is clear from this mission statement that the intention of Muslim settlement is to destroy our miserable house from within. This is sedition, pure and simple. And the Muslim Brotherhood is behind the peak Islamic bodies in the USA that are advising the President, Barack Obama. This strategy is fundamentally flawed. Any sane government would not invite the Mafia bosses in to advise them on how to fight the Mafia. Any sane government would not invite Hitler s generals in to advise them on how to fight Hitler. But President Obama is taking advice from the very organisations whose mission statement is to destroy America s miserable house. Our Plea to the Defence Department 3 / 7
We urge you to revise the Risk Strategy based on the following points: 1. The Government should not take advice from peak Islamic bodies as their objectives are to destroy our miserable house. It is like asking the wolf to look after our sheep. 2. The Jihadi groups are following mainstream Islam and not some distorted variant of Islam. The dictates of Islam are from mainstream theology. 3. Any Muslim is capable of becoming a terrorist simply by reflecting on the verse of the sword Sura 9:5, according to Dr Al-Balushi of Gaza. Considering the information above, it is obvious that there is a linear relationship of the number of Muslims in this country to the risk of terror. The more Muslims, the greater the risk. Also, mosques are where Muslims are radicalised, and so not only should the number of mosques be restricted, but the Government should monitor the mosques for hate speech. The current White Paper does not recognise that Islamic immigration should be curtailed or that mosques should be monitored for hate speech. This needs to be rectified. Our letter to the Federal Parliament We have sent the letter below to both the Federal Cabinet and the Opposition counterparts, including specifically the Defence Minister John Faulkner, the Minister for Defence Personnel Greg Combet and the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support, Dr Mike Kelly. The Hon. John Faulkner Minister for Defence 4 / 7
Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Dear Senator Faulkner, We have serious concerns over your recently released Counter Terrorism White Paper in respect to the Risk Assessment undertaken by the Defence Analysts. Firstly we dispute your analyst s claim that the jihadist movement follow a distorted and militant interpretation of Islam. We put to you that these jihadists are following mainstream dictates of Islam which are taken from the Quran and the premier Hadith collection of Bukhari, and may be stated as: 1. A good Muslim must follow the example of prophet Mohammed [Sura 33:21] 2. The first duty is to fight Jihad in Allah s cause [Bukhari 2.26.594] 3. Fight and slay the infidel using every strategy of war [Sura 9:5] 4. Using terror will make you victorious [Bukhari 4.52.220] Secondly we suggest that your analysts should understand what Muslims are saying about themselves, and to quote the words of Dr Al-Balushi of Gaza who recently claimed that any Muslim can become a terrorist overnight. Quote: the truth is that the difference between the moderate Muslim and the extremist Muslim is quantitative and not qualitative. In other words, a moderate Muslim can change into an extremist Muslim or terrorist in a single night, provided he delve deeper into Qur'anic verses, especially the verse of the sword, and the prophetic ahadith (sayings) calling for fighting and jihad in the path of "establishing the word of truth. The verse of the sword is Sura 9:5 and is the third part of the Dictates of Islam. And thirdly we caution you against taking advice from peak Islamic bodies in Australia because similar bodies in America have been proven to have links to terrorist organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Consider now the Mission Statement of the Muslim Brotherhood in America. Written in May 1991 by Mohamed Akram, a.k.a. Mohamed Adlouni, for the Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood, was this "long-term plan approved and adopted" by the Shura Council in 1987. The process of settlement is a "Civilization-Jihadist Process" and their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions. Now it is clear from this mission statement that the intention of Muslim settlement is to destroy our miserable house from within. This is sedition, pure and simple. And the Muslim Brotherhood is behind the peak Islamic bodies in the USA that are advising the President, Barack Obama. This strategy is fundamentally flawed and dangerous. Any sane government would not invite the Mafia bosses in to advise them on how to fight the Mafia. Any sane government would not invite Hitler s generals in to advise them on how to fight Hitler. But President Obama is taking advice from the very organisations whose mission statement is to destroy America s miserable house like CAIR, ISNA and MPAC. 5 / 7
We ask you why would the peak Islamic bodies in Australia be any different to those in the USA? The ICV or Islamic Council of Victoria has a link to CAIR on its website! And lastly, if as Dr Balushi states, that any Muslim can become a terrorist overnight simply by studying the verse of the sword in the Quran (Sura 9:5), then there must be a linear relationship between the number of Muslims in Australia and the risk of terrorism. Understanding this principle, the Government should 1) act to restrict Muslim immigration into this country, and 2) monitor hate speech in existing mosques, and 3) act to restrict the building of new mosques. We put it to you that these measures are vital to reduce the Risk of terrorist attacks. We urge you to reconsider your Risk Strategy and to incorporate the new evidence we have provided in our submission. Yours Sincerely, CONCLUSION We would urge all concerned readers to write to the Federal Ministers by either using our letter as a template or constructing your own, and let them understand the flaws in their Defence Strategy White Paper. You can write to these Ministers care of the address below: Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 6 / 7
References Australian Government Counter Terrorism White Paper A Muslim can become a terrorist overnight Dr Balushi 7 / 7