EDITORIAL: Terror warning a reminder of need to be vigilant
Nearly 3000 lives were lost — including ten Australians — when al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center. It remains a defining moment.
It was a timely reminder of the dangers we face.
On the day we remembered the 9/11 terrorist attack that changed the world 25 years ago, Australia’s domestic spy agency revealed it had helped to disrupt 16 terror threats since December’s Bondi shootings.
ASIO Director General Mike Burgess warned transnational terrorism had re-emerged as a “significant, malignant security concern”.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Al-Qaida, ISIS and their affiliates are exploiting permissive spaces in the real world and online to grow their capabilities, demonstrating a renewed capacity to conduct and inspire attacks outside their immediate spheres of influence,” Mr Burgess said.
“These groups still see Western interests as legitimate targets. The threat is exacerbated by terrorism orchestrated by nation-states.”
ASIO had helped foil 33 major terrorism plots since 2014, he said.
These included plots where an attack was imminent, or the planning advanced.
In the nine months since the Bondi attacks that claimed 15 innocent lives, ASIO and law enforcement agencies had disrupted 16 cases “where a terrorist threat was considered serious but not necessarily imminent”.
They included a planned anti-Semitic attack, threats to kill Muslims and an advocate of racist violence allegedly being found in possession of weapons and ammunition.
While terrorist motivations were far more diverse than they were 25 years ago, Islamist extremism represented the majority of ASIO’s counter-terrorism caseload, Mr Burgess said.
It is a threat that the Western world has faced ever since the US came under attack on September 11, 2001.
Nearly 3000 lives were lost — including ten Australians — when al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the attackers.
Millions watched in horror as the attacks unfolded live on television and both Twin Towers at the trade center collapsed within hours, drowning downtown New York in ash and debris.
It remains a defining moment.
The US led the response, known as the War on Terror, which was fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, in which more than 40,000 Australians served, and more than 40 lost their lives.
That struggle also saw Australian lives lost away from the battlefields.
In 2002, Jemaah Islamiyah, a South-East Asian jihadist organisation with links to al-Qaida, detonated bombs in Bali which killed 202 people including 88 Australians.
Another bombing in Bali in 2005 resulted in the loss of 20 lives, including four Australians.
It is a sad truth that the values and way of life we so treasure remains anathema to those who embrace Islamist extremism.
It is significant that Australians were among those who went to join the Islamist terror group Islamic State.
There are millions of Australians who were not born when the Twin Towers came down, but who have grown up in a world dealing with the consequences of that day.
Mr Burgess’ grim update is a reminder of why our leaders must make sure our security agencies are properly resourced, connected with our international security partners and given the powers necessary to keep us safe.
And why we must remain vigilant.
