Posted on 08/20/2006 3:57:51 AM PDT by Aussie Dasher
FEDERAL Treasurer Peter Costello has warned Australians to brace themselves for a war on terror that could exceed the previous 50 years of the cold war.
Mr Costello told a Liberal Party conference in Melbourne today that Australians must "steel ourselves" and be clear about their values as they prepare for a long war on terror.
"The cold war lasted over 50 years," he said.
"The war on terror could last a lot longer."
Mr Costello said a free society must be prepared to defend itself against the threat of terrorism.
"There are, unfortunately, terrorists who would rather see Australia as some kind of islamo-fascist state," he said.
"They are prepared to do us ill. These people do not always come from overseas.
"There are people that are born in Australia who, for whatever reason, have been infected with terrorist ideology; who have trained to give themselves the capacity to do us and our society ill."
People who came to Australia should show their loyalty by respecting the rights of others, showing tolerance to others and by respecting Australian law he said.
"We will defend our freedom against those threats that come from within or without."
Outside the conference, Mr Costello later said the war on terror would only finish with the defeat of terrorists and the kind of society they wanted to create.
"The defeat of them and their ideas will signal the end of the war on terrorism," he said.
The federal treasurer refused to comment directly on the case of Jack Thomas, whose convictions on terrorism charges were quashed on appeal yesterday.
Mr Costello said Australia's laws on terrorism were strong enough.
"We live in a system where you've got to prove an offence in the courts and sometimes the proof is difficult."
"All a government can do is collect evidence, bring it before a court, and try and secure a conviction and a penalty against people who would be a danger to our society and our fellow Australians," he said.
The US military has been calling this "The Long War" for a while, no delusions.....
Telling it like it is. We need to be told the same thing. This will go on for a VERY long time.
If our judges keep making sure that terrorist rights trump the rights of civilization, a "hanging judge" may get a new meaning this century.
Dumping the Political Correctness overboard, profiling and reducing the number of Trojan Horses referred to as "mosques" in the USA would speed things up a bit.
Not just in the US...
G-d bless them and Australia.
He said the "IF" words!!!!
Thank the Lord we have them and a few more besides.
Yeah - I reckon the "IF" words could really catch on!
"He [Mahomet] entered Medina in triumph.....he assumed a tone of command. He declared......his mission, and that of every true believer, was to extend the empire of his religion by the sword, to destroy the temples of the infidels, to overthrow the idols, and pursue unbelievers."
"The glories of heaven were not the only rewards offered to the valor of the Mussulmans. The riches of the earth were to be divided among them. The new religion thus attracted the wondering Bedouin less from the sublime dogma....than from the sanction which it gave to pillage, and the rights it conferred on the conquerors, not only over the wealth, but over the women and slaves of the conquered." [Goodrich, 1850]
The Holy War started in 623, when Mahomet sacked a Syrian caravan....an act of common piracy, successfully accomplished, though outnumbered 2 to 1.....which success he attributed to the favor of God.....His men fought like homocide bombers.
That was the start of the War of Terror.
I think the War on Terror started shortly after that, and has continued since.
Hey, the Islamo-fascists have been brain-washing the young in the madrasas now for what ---- like 2 generations? So it's not unreasonable that the WoT could last for decades as each new generation reaches adulthood (and childhood). The other major American political party is filled ignorant dimwits who think this will all go away when Hillary becomes president and/or Democrats takeover congress. That's why it's essential that we hold our noses and vote to keep GOP majorities in both houses this November. Islamo-fascism will make huge gains with Democrats in charge of national security. For that reason alone, it is essential that we send the GOP incumbents back for another term or more.
Winning the Long War: Lessons from the Cold War for Defeating Terrorism and Preserving Freedom
By James Jay Carafano and Paul Rosenzweig
(Published in 2005 by Heritage Books)
http://www.heritage.org/Research/HomelandDefense/the-long-war.cfm
The war on terrorism, like the Cold War, will be a protracted conflict. As such, also like the Cold War, it requires a long-term strategy for victory. This strategy matters not just for presidents and generals, but also for Congress, business leaders, the ACLU, the local PTA, auto mechanics, Internet geeks, and soccer moms. The strategy settled upon in the next few years will determine how we fight the global war on terrorism, and how we decide to fight the terrorists will determine how we live our lives. National strategies involve more than just the use of the armed forces. They must also take into account the economic, political, diplomatic, military, and informational instruments that might be used to promote a nation’s interest or secure a state from its enemies.
In Winning the Long War, experts on homeland security, civil liberties, and economics examine current U.S. policy and map out a long-term national strategy for the war on terrorism. Like the brilliant policy of containment articulated by the late George F. Kennan during the Cold War, this strategy balances prudent military and security measures with the need to protect civil liberties and maintain continued economic growth.
(snip)
Click on link for more
Alternatively Iran will get a little ahead of itself and go for a one shot knockout on Israel with some warning shots at Europe and American targets in Eurasia. That will precipitate Isael's Samson Option (assuming that Israel has sufficient cojones left to do that deed and doesn't just go whimpering into the grave. If that happens, unless we join in the backlash and truly wreak destruction on the Islamic world, our own Islamic problem will not have ended. The Center of the Jihad may shift a bit but it will continue because all the destruction that Israel can wreak teaches no effective lesson if Israel ceases to exist at the same time. The Destruction has to be truly apocalyptic to the Saracens and it has to come from us.The paynim must understand that Allah does not wish them to prevail at this time. Such destruction will knock the jihad back for a few generations and we will have quelled problem for our grandchildren or their children to deal with in the next century.
There is a brighter prospect than the one you paint, although I don't have a lot of confidence in it. That is, if the major democracies of the world actually work together instead of against each other, we could put iran and syria out of business in 30 days. If the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Japan, and Australia would agree to: 1) End all economic relations with both terrorist countries; 2) Close their embassies inside the terrorists countries and close terrorist embassies in their own (and refuse to have staff in friendly embassies); 3) Pull out all nationals currently working on any projects; 4) Seize all banking assets of the terrorist countries.
But like I say, I'm not confident the democracies can work together.
I'm thinking closer to 100, and before it's over it will be a war of extermination, rather than hearts-and-minds. It pretty much already is for one side; when the other side figures this out the carnage of the 20th century will look like a Quaker church picnic.
"The war on terror could last a lot longer."
Not very likely. The way things are going and the progress the Muslims are making all around the world, it won't take them 50 years to win.
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