A world of revulsion !

We have been constantly warned that returning terrorists from the Islamic State ( IS ) battle zone in the Middle East will bring religious war to the cities of the west and this weeks attack on Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine in Paris brought just that reality.

There have been a number of terrorist incidents world wide carried out by civilian supporters of IS.   The brutal murder of a British soldier. An attack on the Canadian parliament and the shooting of an honour guard at the Canadian war memorial.  Our own hostage drama in Martin Place.  In each of these radicals have armed themselves with a variety of weapons and seem to have been motivated by their religious beliefs rather than being directed by some outside source.

This Paris attack is completely different.  It was carried out with military precision on a building with a history of previous attacks and which was being guarded by armed police.  The two police within were killed - and one of them was a fellow Muslim.  The killers called the names of those they sought and killed with precision the twelve people named - and then unhurriedly drove away when their mission was accomplished.

It is a fact of life that a dedicated attack by those with military training will usually penetrate a target building despite it being under guard.  The attack will contain the element of surprise and in the Paris case one of the victims was forced at gunpoint to key in an access code.  The killers were armed with automatic weapons and may have been wearing bullet proof vests.  Twelve people died in that armed raid.

This was probably the first time radicals returning from the Syrian war zone have been directed by IS to extend it's war to western cities - and it is unlikely to be an isolated incident.  The jihadists use a compelling message of Muslim suffering to recruit impressionable young men and they are brutalised by the methods used on the battlefield against surrendering prisoners and the indifference to the fate of the civilians they over run.

It seems that the command structure of IS is missing a very important point.  They think that bringing death and destruction to the cities of the west will make the people afraid and have them cave in to their demands.  What they are achieving is the exact opposite.

The sea of flowers that filled Martin Place and the seemingly unending tide of people paying respect to our two dead was a new phenomenon.   Crowds not only gathered in Paris after the Charlie Hebdo attack, but similar scenes were enacted in cities across the world and it brought in a mood of sheer defiance - and many in those crowds were Muslims.   IS inspired terrorism is forcing both Sunni and Shia Muslims to make a choice - and clearly they are rejecting the radical cause in droves.

It all boils down to personal freedom.    In a secular western country each person is free to follow a religion of their choice - in the way they decide suits their outlook.   The aim of IS is to force all those under their control to follow precisely the edicts they issue - and to punish to the point of death any deviation.   The rank and file of the Muslims of the Muslim world are turning their backs on this dogma.

Regretfully, we seem destined to take further casualties from time to time.  IS will use it's brainwashed young men to sow death and destruction and this will only serve to alienate the Muslim masses who see this as a perversion of their religion.