Good blog, by the way.

/sarcasm

There that ought to do it for you.

Sydney Islamic clerics ‘preaching jihad’

Monday Sep 18 06:32 AEST

Islamic clerics in Sydney and Melbourne are preaching martyrdom and jihad to young followers, terrorism analysts say.

Singapore-based terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna says religious leaders in the two capitals are preaching violence to impressionable followers.

Dr Gunaratna says the teachings are increasing the risk of a terrorist attack, most likely a suicide bombing, in Australia.

“We have seen a number of Australian clerics preaching jihad and martyrdom,” Dr Gunaratna told The Australian without naming names.

“The most likely form of attack in Australia is a suicide attack for jihad. You will need to make arrests in time.”

OK, the onus is on us to make arrests when needed. (And I do hope when the time comes we make those arrests in time, as the British did in breaking up the Bojinka II plot of 2006.)

Australian terrorism expert Clive Williams, who runs a course at the Australian Defence Force Academy, said young Muslims were being recruited for jihad through “Koran classes”.

“They are doing it differently now,” Mr Williams told The Australian without identifying any of the recruiters.

“They are advertising for Koran classes and then selecting a few people for (their) inner circle.”

So this “they” - these would be the same people the government says must be responsible for opposing jihad.

(It would appear the working definition of a “moderate” Muslim is one who is watched closely and who is not bold enough to promote jihad despite being watched.)

But wait…

Sydney’s Sheikh Taj Aldin Alhilali has rejected the claims.

“There is no evidence to substantiate these claims,” he told the newspaper.

Melbourne’s Sheikh Mohammed Omran said he was unaware any such preaching was going on.

“If it was true, the authorities will take care of it,” he said.

So the finger points back at the government. They will take care of it.

Sooner or later, if things go on like this, there’s going to be a jihad operation the authorities won’t stop in time, maybe a Bali blast at Bondi or something like that.

It looks like the blame game, the finger-pointing, has already started, in anticipation so to speak.

Which way should the finger point? I think the government, from John Howard down, is doing the best it can. I don’t think Muslim preachers - or the members of their flock who seem to be so ready to be influenced in certain directions - are doing the best they can to keep Australia safe.

So, the government does have to get involved in Muslim preaching, and if every preacher has to give every sermon in English for the benefit of a policeman standing next to him and taking notes, so be it. (We can only hope the police are as sensitive as possible about doing what it seems to be up to them to do.)

Better yet, expel as many of these people as can legally be expelled, and don’t allow any more in. Because people who will only refrain from facilitating suicide murder as long as strong external pressure is maintained on them are a menace. And no, even if they agreed to stop raving on about jihad for a while, till they had increased the supply of susceptible listeners and the coast was clear, that would not be good enough in my opinion.

And internationally, keep backing the Americans all the way. Because jihad is global, and the threat won’t be over till it’s crushed globally, and Australia sure isn’t going to achieve that on its own.