The author hits the nail on the head in the middle of the article, the Sunni insurgents are Western proxies funded and equipped through fronts in the gulf states, they're Western mercenaries whose actions are "plausibly deniable".

ARJAY:-
"the Sunni insurgents are Western proxies funded and equipped through fronts in the gulf states, they're Western mercenaries whose actions are "plausibly deniable".

No, they are not Western mercenaries, they are tribal blood brothers
to the Syrian side they fight for.

They swear allegiance to Australia but they demonstrate that their
loyalty to the Australian people takes second place to their
tribal,kin blood line in the countries they immigrated from.

LOrd help our soldiers if ever they were forced to fight in Syria
on the other side, if there were a lot of these Syrian tribal loyalists (so called Australians) in the Australian army then
you would witness all the shootings in the back of our soldiers
like the ones in Afghanistan.

So much for Multiculturalism.

Loved your scenario Joe & you are right. Most of these people that have gone to Syria to fight (Humanitarian Mission) have fled from fighting in their own country & come to Australia for safety. It seems strange that they go back to a Warzone. (The men)

The UNCHR says that when a person flees their Country & becomes a refugee they lose that status if they return of their own free will. Yet, in Australia, we have refugees gaining Australian Citizenship then returning to their country to get their relatives out or to join the fight. But because they are now Australian citizens they can't be kicked out. You are right, something is seriously wrong.

I do see these people as a future danger to our Australian way of life.

Jayb - couldn't agree more! Anyone who is an Australian citizen, whether born or accepted as an immigrant who goes as a private citizen to fight in conflicts outside our borders deserves no assistance if captured, wounded or stranded. On return they should face immediate detention pending investigation of their activities.

The biggest problem we face in this respect is the noisy PC brigade who will no doubt cry and wail about racism and the rights of people to practice their kulcha ....

Mr Wakim writes. "The real 'illegals' are arriving in planes, not boats." Sorry Joe - they're coming via both means and we want it to stop

What's wrong with mercenaries? As long as they aren't deserters I don't see the problem.

Mercenaries have a long and proud military tradition. The Swiss Guard maintain a presence in the Vatican to this very day (although it's mostly ceremonial). The French Foreign Legion are still an effective fighting force.

I really can't see the problem with foreign nationals fighting under a foreign flag, as long as they're not deserters or war criminals.

Cheers,

Tony

The "loopholes" you referred to Mr Wakim in Australian law,came about because when our laws were written, they were conceived to apply to civilised people, not Jihadi religious fanatics who want to immigrate to our country with the hope of destroying us by rotting us out from the inside.

You are correct that when these fighters return they will be given a "heroes welcome". They will not be given that welcome by Australians, but by the Muslim population now resident in Australia who think that men who fight for Islam are the highest grade of Muslim.

Any attempt to arrest these enemy "Australians" who are fighting for our enemies will be met by a storm of disapproval by your mates in the ABC, just like they did with Mamdouth Habib and David Hicks. Just like the Muslims, anyone who fights against the western world they choose to live in is a hero to the trendy lefties.

They would rather these characters return "home" unmolested and then start recruiting Jihadis to bomb and kill Australians than violate their "rights" to do whatever they please. Like Hicks and Habib, We must pretend that these "Australians" are just tourists and welfare workers unless our laws can prove beyond a shadow of doubt that they are active terrorists. This type of politically correct "thinking" got the stupid Brits in the poo with the London bombings and one wonders why we are now going to emulate their failure?

One definition of "insanity" is "making the same mistake, over and over again."

It is time that Australians, (like the Euros) realised that the importation of Muslims into Australia has been a financial, legal,and social catastrophe.