EDITORIAL: Attacks show what’s at stake in terror fight

If ever we in the West needed reminding what the battles playing out in the Middle East are about, here it is.

Fifteen dead, dozens more injured. One of the United States’ most recognisable streets — a monument itself to freedom and fun — in chaos, shattered bodies crumpled on footpaths.

The killer, former US Army veteran turned real estate agent Shamsud-Din Jabbar had chosen New Year’s Eve for his rampage through New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, in order to achieve maximum carnage.

He knew the streets would be packed with revellers, who would make easy targets. He was right.

Authorities believe Jabbar, a 42-year-old father from Texas, was inspired by radical Islamist ideology to carry out his brutal assault. Firearms and a number of pipe bombs were found in Jabbar’s rented Ford pick-up, but he didn’t need them.

Instead, it was the vehicle itself — legally rented through a legitimate car-sharing company — that he used as a weapon to murder 15 people and injure scores more, demonstrating the immense challenge of stopping these people determined to kill and maim as many as possible.

Authorities believe that attack could be linked to one which occurred a few hours later in Las Vegas, another of the US’s biggest party destinations.

One person was killed and seven injured when a Tesla Cybertruck idling outside a hotel owned by president-elect Donald Trump exploded. Police said the vehicle had been packed with “gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars”.

These assaults reinforce that the West is perennially at war against radical Islamist ideology which is brainless and brutal in its bloody campaign against our values.

For many of us, September 11 was the first time our eyes were opened to this fact.

It showed that there are individuals and groups out there dedicated to the destruction of our way of life.

But that was the best part of a quarter of a century ago. That lesson has faded in our minds as our memories of that time lose their sharpness.

Memories of the bombings of commuter trains by Islamic terrorists in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005, as well as the 2002 Bali bombings, have also receded.

This is a chilling reminder that the terrorists’ hatred of us has not dissipated, and their desire to see us defeated has not been blunted.

To many shortsighted Australians, living their lives in soporific safety, the conflicts raging the Middle East today look like someone else’s fight. They don’t see a role for us in standing up for Israel against its enemies. Their attitude is one of apathy.

Some are so misguided they take it a step further. They rail against Israel. They cheer on our ally’s enemies. Mindlessly, they repeat slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel, a liberal democracy isolated in a sea of murderous autocracies.

This is what those misled fools are cheering for. The cold-blooded murders of civilians revelling in the thrill and promise of a new year.