Do we need to know about terrorism while in the air?

Rich says:

03:08pm | 29/12/09

Some people have an fear of flying, some fear terrorists, others fear mechanical failure etc. It is in the interests of everyone on-board not to aggravate these fears.

Does Blue Haven pools provide an email newsletter to inform pool owners each time a two-year-old dies? I think not….

Max says:

04:07pm | 29/12/09

I don’t really see an issue with it anyway.  You’re unlikely to get the full and honest story from a commercial news broadcast anyway - so the viewers aren’t really being deprived of the facts.

Dingo_aus says:

04:21pm | 29/12/09

The greater issue is why so many news outlets censor the “M” word when reporting this story.  You know…the religion of the terrorist.  I would bet my last dollar that the affluent, educated suspect was acting because of his Islamic teachings.  The question is will this post get censored because I mentioned the taboo subject?

iansand says:

04:41pm | 29/12/09

Get a grip, Leo.  The major decision in any commercial newsroom is whether there is good vision.  If there is the story goes to air even if it is about a kitten in a tree in Lower Buttsville, Illinois.  Australian journalists rabbiting on about journalistic integrity make me laugh so hard the tears run down my legs.

rabid mutt says:

04:50pm | 29/12/09

yay dingo! they didnt censor your post! - now everyone can see how ridiculous and naive you are! - to suggest that muslims have a monopoly on terror, also shows you to be a little close to extremely ignorant too..

but its funny this question should be asked on a blog such as this, as im sure, has censorship policies of its own, for whatever reasons..

Chris says:

05:37pm | 29/12/09

By editing out the terrorist content, they are acting in good faith. I’d let it rest at that.

Darren says:

05:39pm | 29/12/09

Hmm and they didn’t mention a million people died on the worlds roads this year.  @dingo And they didn’t mention the A-word. Australians are statistically, mostly, killed by Aussies.  Back to your paranoia now boys.

Paul Hyland says:

06:22pm | 29/12/09

To allay any fears of people flying, instead of the news channels showing footage of allaged terrorism, instead they should show a soothing picture of, say, a unicorn.  This will calm them down, and promote a general feeling of well being.

Eric says:

06:55pm | 29/12/09

All journalism involves censorship. Every media outlet suppresses stories that don’t fit the world-view of its editors and reporters.

This is nothing new or exceptional.

Bill says:

07:09pm | 29/12/09

White Anglo Saxon Australian Male, Gen X, Catholic - had the chance to experience the Muslim culture in Indonesia 2008 on 5 month business trip.  They are far better people with a far better culture than we could ever hope to be in our wildest dreams.  They pray to be better people, be kinder, be more hospitable, be able to look after their fellow human being better, be more giving etc. etc.  When have you seen or heard any of our culture with the same aspirations.  Until I saw it for myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.  What you hear about the Muslim culture is what the media want you to hear and that is not a true representation of their society.  They too despise the extremeists and openly say so.  Food for thought…

Matt says:

08:22pm | 29/12/09

RE: Dingo_aus

Terrorism is terrorism and therefore religious leanings is almost irrelevant. The very fact you need confirmation of the suspect being muslim for it to be a legtimate ‘attack’ is quite sad and short-sighted.

feeble knieval says:

09:24pm | 29/12/09

if i was flying on a plane, with a certain amount of my fellow passengers, likely to suffer differing amounts of anxiety at the prospect of being hurtled through the air at incredible speeds in a pressurised aluminium tube, that may be likely to suffer adverse reactions and differing degrees of distress at news of any and all airline disasters, not only is it common sense not to show those stories, not only for their benefit, but for the benefit of all passengers, and as one who believes only those with feathers should fly, it should be mandatory on all flights.  its not as if you cant catch up on each and every plane that has crashed disaster story after yours has landed safely.

Paolo says:

10:34pm | 29/12/09

Qantas will edit out anything regarding “airline disasters or terrorist aboard planes”. This policy is only slightly related to ‘terrorism’. Anything negative regarding aeroplanes, is omitted from their news bulletin.

What Leo raises though is an important point. Does a major company, like Qantas, which provides a news service to its clients really have the right to edit such a news broadcast? What else are they possibly editing out or adding, for that matter?

In my opinion, they should stop the service entirely. As Bill states, mainstream media shows a distorted view of the world, do we really need Qantas’s added touch to it. What’s next?

Bill woke up to the truth of things. We don’t need to go so far to understand such principles, we can see them here too if we would only open our eyes. Most people will not travel and work overseas, so they won’t see reality as Bill has seen it. Is it so hard to believe what Bill has experienced?

Dan says:

10:42pm | 29/12/09

Dingo, who would want to censor you? Let you get hang by your own ignorance!

Dingo_aus says:

10:45pm | 29/12/09

17 out of the 18 proscribed organisations on the official Australian list of Terrorist Organisations are Islamic.  Maybe someone should drop a line to the Australian Federal Police saying that “Terrorism is terrorism and therefore religious leanings is [sic] almost irrelevant”. They obviously missed the memo.

To Matt and friends, I’m happy for you to show me a non-religious link between 9/11, the London Tube bombings, 30 people killed today in Bauchi Nigeria, beheadings in Chechnya, Madrid bombings, separatist violence in southern Philippenes, Aceh province in Indonesia, Bali bombings, Fort Hood, the 80 people killed or injured in Karachi Pakistan today, the Marriott Bombings, the violence in the Swat valley.

Lucy says:

12:45am | 30/12/09

so you don’t get the news on the plane… big deal.  You’ll soon hear it on the television, your mobile internet, laptop, or newspaper (or even the newspaper billboard).  Having a mum that has a significant fear of flying, I know how touchy fearful flyers can be about the subject. I don’t pretend to really understand her fear, but I do understand Qantas’ policy on not broadcasting anything to do with aviation disasters on board their aircraft.

John A Neve says:

07:59am | 30/12/09

Dingo-aus @145hrs, yesterday.

I take it you know all those involved in the attacks you mention?

Sadly, I am unaware of any religious connection. Yes, most of those involved come from predominately Islamic countries, but so what?
Based on what little I know religion is not their beef, rather foreign occupation, corrupt governments, poverty, the list goes on. No one thing drives all terrorists.

Dingo, try reading something other than comics.

Eric says:

08:31am | 30/12/09

John A Neve, you are unaware of many things.

It is either ignorant or disingenuous to pretend that Islamic terrorism does not exist.

Paolo says:

08:57am | 30/12/09

17 out of 18, Dingo? What are the AFP thinking I wonder. Are the IRA Islamic? Are the Basque separatists? What about the Italian Red Brigade?  Then there’s all the Neo-Nazi groups scattered across the US and the rest of the world. We’ve even got our versions right here. There is armed conflict going on almost every continent in the world. The Islamic factor is often ‘radical extremist groups’, all religions have them.

The Middle East has been particularly plagued with conflict in Israel which started in ‘48. Many label radical Israelis as terrorists, I don’t think they’re Muslims. In ‘91, we all invaded Iraq. Again about ten years later and there were no WMD and again in Afghanistan, though ousting the Taliban I don’t really disagree with. But it’s easy to see why we have so much radical Islamic/Muslim anger towards the ‘west’. And don’t forget about the oil.

John says:

09:15am | 30/12/09

agree with some of the other bloggers on here. why would you get your news service from Ch 9 anyway….

Dingo_aus says:

09:16am | 30/12/09

@John A Neve:  No need to attempt to insult me personally by suggesting I only read comics, it weakens your argument when you play the person not the ball.

The Flight 253 suspect lived in a $4M flat in London and is the son of Nigeria’s most prominent banker, the 9/11 hijackers included trained engineers, the Fort Hood shooter was on a six figure salary etc these are not people motivated by poverty.

9/11 happened before Iraq #2 and Afghanistan but after the US waged a war in Bosnia defending the local Muslim population, so what foreign occupation motivated 9/11?  The Bali bombing killed mostly Australians, what territories in Jeemah Islamiyah’s area of the world were we occupying that caused JI to attack Australian citizens? If you cite that we occupied Iraq and Afghanistan then you are supporting the claim that global religion and not local issues are the cause of the Bali bombing.

The people involved in each and every one of the attacks I listed above have by their own words claimed they want Sharia Law to usurp the existing local system of government and law.

Feel free to doubt me and do some googling to check whether what I’m saying is right or not.

Your claim of ‘corrupt governments” is a non sequitur so I’ll leave it to you if you want to educate us further.

Dave Sag says:

10:04am | 30/12/09

I was disappointed that Qantas didn’t show the film Snakes on a Plane on a recent trip to London. 

Dingo_aus says:

10:09am | 30/12/09

@Paolo: Valid point about other terrorists.  I suspect the Commonwealth Government’s view of who makes the list or not might be that the Neo-Nazis and others haven’t hijacked any planes etc. JI and friends have certainly killed many Australians.  Considering JI has large infrastructure like training camps, funding channels, recruitment officers etc I am glad our Commonwealth government is assessing them higher than Neo-Nazi groups “scattered across the US”.

We will do more to address terrorism against Australians by looking at what motivates JI than the IRA, Basque Separatists etc.

Iraq #1 was a response to Saddam Hussein’s invasion Kuwait.  Since Kuwait is predominately Islamic. Despite any other reasons (oil), the US forces were there fighting to protect the sovereignty of an Islamic nation, defending their borders when the local army had been overwhelmed. Hardly an anti-Islamic action. Actually an action which the Muslim population of Kuwait should be (and are) very thankful for to defend them against the murderous Saddam.

What about Bosnia?  The US went in to defend a Muslim population against aggression.  There was no oil there.  Bosnia is a clear example of how the US doesn’t hate Islam.  The US has not encouraged the fervent hatred against it displayed by terrorists.

If anti-US terrorism is due to US aggression, where are the German, Japanese, North Korean, Vietnamese and South American terrorists blowing up planes?  No, it is the case that the terrorists have sought out the US not the other way around.  Just like the Nazis created a scape goat of the Jews, so do to the terrorists create a scape goat of the US for all their ills.

John A Neve says:

10:30am | 30/12/09

Dingo-aus @1016hrs,

Based on your post, I did not think you could be insulted!

But your latest post supports my comments regarding comics. You don’t have to be poor to feel for the poor, that is often the result of a good education. OBL is also rich and well educated and his main gripe is about America’s support of goverment in his own land.

America also supported the dictatorship in Iraq, only when the direction of the wind changed, did their policies.

You don’t really think the terrorists enticed Australians to go to Bali do you?

As to your comment “The people involved in each and everyone of the attacks”, come on, where Oh where did you get that rubbish from?

James says:

11:49am | 30/12/09

Dingo, there is a motivator in all those cases, and religion is just the face they put on it.  The real motivating factor behind terrorism is, and indeed always has been (right back to the ancient Assyrians), politics.  As Clausewitz once wrote, war is the pursuit of politics with the addition of other means - whether those other means are more conventional like tanks, planes and warships, or unconventional and asymmetric like terrorism, its is the use of armed force and violence in the pursuit of political ends.  All organised violence is political in nature, and to say that it is religious is to miss the point entirely.

James says:

11:56am | 30/12/09

Dingo, all the organisations you list have primarily political goals.  They may sometimes couch it in religious terms, but at heart their goals are political.  And please, do not be naive.  The US would never go to war to protect innocent people, let alone people of a particular religion.  The US only goes to war when it sees that the application of armed force will further their own interests and policies - that is: politics.  Politics is at the centre of every war, every act of organised violence. 
Your point that many of the terrorist organisations relevant to Australian policy are Islamic is certainly true, but this in itself is a product of politics, not religion.  Indeed, religion itself is a political tool, have a look into ancient Greek religion, or even Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and try placing the events described within their contemporary political context, and you will see what I mean.

My say says:

12:17pm | 30/12/09

Hey,  hey….. give the press a brake.  It would be fair and reasonable to say, “the media/press can be a real pain in the, you know where”, but, where the would we be with out it. 

It does bring to mind though that it is moreover about control and owership of the media/press insofar as the big players go…......

Dan says:

05:01pm | 30/12/09

Dingo_aus says @ 11:45pm, putting aside the fact that multiple terrorist groups are non-Islamic, terrorist groups operate out of completely different goals. You can not take terrorist 1 and group them in with terrorist 2 simply because of their religion. It’s absurd. The Madrid bombings did not occur for the same reason as Bali etc… You need to look beyond the surface as each are different. Also, Iraq #1 occured BECAUSE of oil, and America was not the only country to go imto Bosnia. To say that the terrorists seek out the US and that they scapegoat them is nonsence.  Furthermore to compare them to the Nazies and the Americans to the Jews, as if the Americans are innocent victims, is complete and total garbage! It is offensive towards Jews and Holocaust victoms and it proves that you are an absolute fool! Terrorism has nothing to do with religion. It has EVERYTHING to do with foreign policy such as occupation. .

Eric says:

05:15pm | 30/12/09

Head-in-the-sand Dan, all those terrorist operations were carried out by Islamic supremacists with religious and political goals in mind.

You can squawk as much as you like, but the evidence is indisputable.

Dan says:

05:30pm | 30/12/09

No, Eric, the evidence is not indisputable. They had political goals in mind, sure, but not religious. 9./11 for example had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with foreign policy.

However, thanks for that. Your comment that I have my head in the sand, coming from you, has given me a real laugh! The idea that YOU of all people, could make a comment like to me is hilarious!

David says:

10:19am | 02/01/10

How can anyone argue that there is no religion-based intentions behind these terrorist groups?
Look at the facts here people:
The IRA is a Catholic organisation that was unwilling to let a Protestant minority run Ireland.
The Taliban is a radical political arm of Islam. Nothing less.
Saddam Hussein’s regime was about the Sunni Muslim minority holding power and enforcing their version of Islam over the Shi’ites.
Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda are all about stamping out the ‘infidel’ Western world. Correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t infidels non-followers of Islam?
Israel pursues the exclusion of Palestinians from their traditional lands to recreate the nation so lovingly revered in their storybook.
All these civil wars in developing countries are between different peoples with opposing ideologies rooted in different sects of a religion or different religions altogether.
Religion never the driving force? You have no idea.

Steeve says:

02:01pm | 02/01/10

People use religion as a cover for all sorts of depraved stupidity to further their ends. Did it start with Mohammed? hell no,.. Look at what Titus did to the Jewish faith in AD70 or even Nero to the early christians a few years later…
Violence in the guise of religion combines two very alluring things into one nasty little combo that allows all sorts of vile acts to be passed off as “legitimate”  IE “My God says X You say Y therefore you must die..”

If we think religious terrorism is new,.. go take a look at Ireland,.. its more or less ended after around 800 years of it. Christians no less.. beating on each other over “who is the holier Thou or I?”
Honestly….makes you think Buddhism is good,.. but even that has been stained with violence in its ancient past