'We need an honest answer to the question whether or not Australia's actions in Iraq and potentially Syria are likely to increase the risk of an attack in Australia because the people most likely to be affected by it are Australian citizens.'

strangely enough a question that Labour/Greens/Human Rights Lawyers refused to ask when inviting unlimited illegal immigrants (who trash their papers) to our shores

Don't worry Miss Kellie

About the preceding 4 comments of ignorant blokedom.

For they can only spout what they know (which is very little) about security systems and what motivates some misguided 20+ year olds in western Sydney and north Melbourne

foreign policy actions that may jeopardise their own personal safety.
Kellie Tranter,
The worst & most tragic policy is doing nothing.

"they are less likely to support foreign policy actions that may jeopardise their own personal safety."

I hope not. I don't know what the right answer is to dealing with ISIS and similar groups of thugs, western intervention generally seems to just help stir up more recruits for them. I suspect our efforts would be more productive in enabling Muslims to confront ISIS than sending infidels to kill them.

What I'd hate to see though is a choice to not help, to leave others to suffer the brutalities at the hands of thugs such as ISIS on the basis of cowardice on our part. Yes sticking our noses in in any way that helps reduce the harm by ISIS will increase the risk we face.

Good people have died on public streets sticking up for innocent victims of thugs as well, not a choice we'd all make but I hope as a nation we are driven by something higher than cowardice.

It's quite possible that if Australia helps that the risk that at some point it may be an Australian kneeling in the desert in an orange jump suit with a masked thug cutting their throat is increased slightly. Some of that risk is there anyway, ISIS and those like them don't have some finely tuned sense of right and wrong.

I hope for most of us the questions are not around how to protect our collective hides, rather what can and should we do that that will be the most real help to reduce the harm done by thugs such as ISIS.

R0bert

Well the ISIS videos suggest that after 2 Yanks a Brit is next and then ... all helpful Anglo allies (Aus NZ Canada) and the odd Frog maybe

Abbott will have manly, electorally beneficial, things to say.

all helpful Anglo allies (Aus NZ Canada) and the odd Frog maybe
plantagenet,
Well, we obviously will have to carry you through any conflict as we probably have done thus far in peace. Counting on your support is obviously not an option when the crap hits the fan here. Where do you think you might be crawling too ?