“We all have a great deal to fear from anti-terror laws” – letter in the “Canberra Times” from Neil James, Executive Director, Australian Defence Association, and response from Tony Kevin, on 5 and 6 October 2005. (I don‘t know if Neil plans to publish this correspondence in the ADA journal “Defender” but it would be good if he did, so that his readers could see the other point of view as well, and judge for themselves the merits of both arguments).

1. Neil James, in Canberra Times Letters to the Editor , 5 October 2005:

Civil liberty 'Jeremiahs' playing into the hands of Islamists

Is Australia's pluralist liberal-democratic society under attack from Islamist terrorism or not? If the answer to this question is yes, as most Australians appear to recognise, then much more restraint is needed in public debate.

There should be no more wild claims that our civil liberties in general are seriously threatened by what are, in reality, quite narrowly targeted counter-terrorism measures featuring numerous checks and balances.

Several High Court judgments during both World Wars established that the relevant constitutional heads of power governing national security wax and wane depending on the threat.

Some of the new measures are undoubtedly tough by normal peacetime standards (which no longer necessarily apply) but they are not unprecedented during time of conflict.

They are also specifically targeted only at terrorists and their sympathisers - a very small and distinct segment of the population.

Most Australians strongly support these counter-terrorist measures because they clearly realise this fact.

The reason the Islamist extremists targeted by the measures (and some of their apologists) claim otherwise is because they realise it too.

Various civil liberties Jeremiahs keep alleging conspiracies behind every second gum tree.

They ignore or downplay, for example, that recent unanimous decisions in these matters were swiftly reached by nine Commonwealth, State and Territory governments of quite disparate political views (including those who declared considerable scepticism about the measures beforehand).

Unfounded allegations that the measures are unjustified, or that they somehow "discriminate against Muslims", are needlessly causing concern among Australia's broader Muslim community and playing into the hands of Islamist propagandists.

Confused moderate Muslims need instead to be reassured that only Islamist extremism and its violent manifestations are being targeted.

Normal, law-abiding Australian Muslims have no more to fear than any other normal, law-abiding Australian.

Neil James, Executive Director, Australia Defence Association

2. Response from Tony Kevin, in Canberra Times Letters to the Editor, 6 October 2005

We all have a great deal to fear from anti-terror laws

Neil James, who heads the Australian Defence Association and is a former army intelligence officer, is one of those well-meaning people who are naively helping John Howard’s stealthy project to turn Australia into an authoritarian state (Letters, Canberra Times October 5).

Neil suggests that decent Australian Muslims have nothing more to fear from the government’s projected anti-terrorism laws than any other Australians.

He’s right, but not as he thinks. We all have a great deal to fear, whatever our religion or ethnicity.

He’s wrong when he says that Jihadist terrorists are attacking our plural liberal democracy.

No, these terrorists react to what the West’s ongoing invasions and greed to control global oil resources have done to pride, culture and human life in Muslim countries.

A few – it only takes a few - are prepared to die and to kill innocent people to vent their unquenchable rage.

This is not new – when people are intolerably oppressed and humiliated, terrorism happens.

Robert Fisk estimates that 200,000 Iraqis have died from war-related causes since our coalition invaded Iraq in 2003.

We have trashed that country and the lives of its people.

There is huge misery in Iraq now. That is why there were suicide terrorists in the US, UK, Spain and Bali, and why there will probably eventually be in Australia if we do not change policy.

It’s not too late, if intelligent and influential people like Neil James would wake up and smell the coffee.

Tony Kevin, Forrest.