The Age of Terror !

The world was transfixed when images of airplanes being deliberately crashed into New York's World Trade centre flashed on television screens, killing over three thousand people.  It was clear that the Wahabist thinking followers of Islam were declaring war on the rest of the world.

That war took a new turn in Paris at the weekend.  In a carefully coordinated attack terrorists launched killing raids designed to create the maximum number of casualties at six event points in that city.  Four of those were launched at restaurants where diners were sprayed with bullets, one was at a soccer match attended by the French president, where France and Germany were in competition - and the other was the most deadly as it happened in a concert hall where fifteen hundred fans were enjoying a rock concert.

Four terrorists cooley and methodically fired AK47's into the crowd, reloading fresh magazines several times and shooting eighty patrons dead.   They took hostages and continued the executions and when armed resistence arrived they detonated the explosive vests they were wearing.  More than 120 people died in the city as a result of these deliberate attacks.

Here in Australia we have endured both the Lindt cafe siege and the public execution of a civilian worker at the Parramatta police headquarters, but the dark forces of al Qaeda or Islamic State have served notice that they will continue to wage their war on civilian targets.   We can expect more random attacks and it is clearly their intention to push Islamic propaganda by the very unexpected nature of where they will strike.

Religion is a very powerful motive to many people.   Over the centuries, countries have gone to war against each other to try and impose their religion by way of conquest.  There seems little doubt that the Paris attackers had no illusions that they would survive this weekends attacks.  They were willing to die and they had been conditioned to expect that they would be instantly welcomed into Paradise, with the pleasures and prestige accorded holy warriors.  No doubt the expectation that they would each be served by seventy-five dark eyed virgins on their arrival was a comforting thought to young men in their prime of life.

Like most religious dogma, the message is a matter of interpretation. The Wahabist creed is uncompromising and dictates that Islam must be imposed on the point of a sword.  It extols the heavenly rewards for those who offer up their lives in achieving that end.  This strikes a chord with both the ultra religious, and those who are deemed life's failures.   Those with no prospects for earthly success can be persuaded to seek after life glory - from martyrdom !

For a while, Paris will be a subdued city with many citizens reluctant to mix in crowded venues, but similar to New York after 9/11 life will eventually return to normal.  Unfortunately there is every prospect that the religious wars that are being enacted in the Middle East will continue indefinitely and the extremists will continue to recruit disillusioned young people from the west.  They have been very clever in using social media to spread their message and they now have an active core in most world countries.

It seems that random attacks are the price we have to pay to maintain our Australian lifestyle and not bend to Wahabist rule.  It is important that we keep a balance and not blame all Muslims with the sins of these extremists.  Every time one of these atrocities occur they cause moderate Islam to break the code of silence and it is noticeable that our security services have been keeping terror in check.   Our local terrorists are well aware that there is an unseen presence - watching and waiting !

In today's world, what used to be termed " the civilian population  " is now just as much in the war front as the troops in uniform.  Such is life in this twenty-first century !