1. 21/03/2016 3:01 pmOnly way forward is standing together on terror | HeraldSun
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Only way forward is standing together on terror
Police at the Endeavour Hills shooting scene. Picture: Mike Keating
THIS has been the season for rude surprises. The past four months have seen a
series of shocking developments relating to the rise of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq,
and its connection with Australia through foreign fighters.
The surge of IS forces surrounding the unexpected fall of Mosul on June 10 and the
rapid conquest of cities and towns all along the Tigris and Euphrates across both
Syria and Iraq, culminating in the June 29 declaration of a caliphate, caught us
completely off-guard.
That is shocking enough, but to what extent does Islamic State represent a direct
threat to us in Australia? Until recently it was a matter of intense debate. Some have
argued IS — just called Islamic State now — and its network of 10,000-plus foreign
fighters was almost wholly occupied with the building of a state across northern
Syria and Iraq. Others, however, saw IS as a powerful rival to al-Qaeda, one that
would inevitably follow al-Qaeda in a series of campaigns against “the far enemy”
while fighting to maintain control of the territory gained against “the near enemies” of
the Assad regime in Damascus and the Government in Baghdad.
On Monday we had another rude awakening. In a long, rambling but strangely
eloquent speech, Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani urged

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supporters around the globe to rise up and fight the enemy wherever they might be,
near or far, uniformed or civilian, attacking them in the Middle East or in Western
capitals.
That came as shock but we should not have been surprised. Since the beginning of
June, the IS media unit has published the Islamic State Report, a weekly e-magazine
in English modelled on al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine, the brainchild of American
Yemeni Anwar al-Awlaki. Like Inspire, the Islamic State Report targeted young men in
the West, urging them to support “the glorious mission” of IS in the Middle East,
while also striking out at targets close at hand.
It was that sort of concern, outgoing ASIO head David Irvine said, that prompted him
to recommend raising the terror alert level. In his mind, there was a clear connection
between what was happening with IS and its al-Qaeda rival, Jabhat al-Nusra, in Syria
and Iraq and the spate of intercepted communications intelligence agencies picked
up in Australia.
In other words there was a coming together of the homegrown extremist threat, often
taking the form of “lone wolf” single actors or very small groups, together with the
foreign fighter phenomenon that had developed so rapidly over the past three years
of civil war in Syria.
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The argument was that the 4000 or so foreign fighters coming from Europe, the UK,
North America and Australia were not just a threat within Iraq and Syria, but were
bringing together a network that would threaten their home countries as well.
That was the reason raids associated with Operation Appleby were brought forward
by weeks, possibly months, last Thursday: specifically, an intercepted phone call on
Tuesday morning between a key IS recruiter in Syria, former Sydney nightclub
bouncer Mohammad Ali Baryalei, and his young protégé, Omarjan Azari, asking him
to proceed immediately with the previously discussed “Woolwich-style” attack.
Al-Adnani’s statement this week reinforced the same message, saying: “If you are not
able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman,
or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run

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him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison
him.” Perhaps it was that specifically that inspired Numan Haider on Tuesday night to
attempt to stab to death the federal agent he had just shaken hands with. Instead,
the 18-year-old lost his life in the inevitable police response. Clearly, the police had
been hoping to build a rapport with him and have a constructive conversation. He’d
been invited to meet at the police station after they had concerns about his
behaviour following the seizure of his passport.
No doubt in future such meetings will have to be better managed. But equally clearly,
more work needs to be done with the more than 70 young Australians who have
been stopped from travelling to Syria and Iraq, with their families and community
groups, and with the more than 20 former fighters who have returned from Syria and
Iraq.
So what can we make of the current situation? It appears clear IS welcomed military
operations against it in Iraq and Syria, believing God will enable it to triumph in the
end. Indeed, Islamic State is channelling traditional literature popular among Salafi
jihadist extremists that speaks of an Armageddon confrontation in greater Syria at
the end of time.
For them this is the final war but one they will fight not just in Iraq and Syria but
around the world.
Fight them we must, but military and police alone cannot hope to win this war. We
have to rise to a greater challenge and a more complex struggle, one that begins at
home and can only be won by working together.
PROFESSOR GREG BARTON IS DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL, OF MONASH
UNIVERSITY’S GLOBAL TERRORISM RESEARCH CENTRE