Dear Jayb,

<<I hear that after the next election they are going to make National Service Compulsory for everyone. Bye.>>

And along those lines don't forget compulsory male-comfort service for the ladies...

Rhrosty

The vast majority of those heads that were being 'fired over' in WWII were almost certainly conscripts themselves. Many of the major wars in history were fought with conscripts. In fact, without conscripts, they couldn't have been fought at all. Conscription is nothing new. For centuries, peasants faced being thrown off their lands (and much worse) if they refused to fight the local lord's petty power struggles with a bunch of other lords.

And ah, yes ... the camps. Thank goodness for Godwin's Law! That perennial reminder that we are the good guys of history - always were, always will be!

Unfortunately, when it comes to camps and other horrors, Britain's military legacy is up there with the best and nastiest. In fact, WWII was probably the first time the British empire ever had to fight an enemy as evil as itself.

And by the way, Australians voted twice against conscription in WWI. Had Billy Hughes got his way, and fulfilled his promise of another 50,000 conscripts for the British empire's disposal, tens of thousands more young Australians would have died in that empire spat, and their families devastated.

Team Uzunov

We seem to agree to some extent about citizens being given, or acquiring, the training to defend themselves and others against acts of terrorism and other physical threats. However, we disagree on method. You want young people involuntarily corralled into a military institution to teach them those skills (along with lots of dubious military values to go with them).

I don't.

YOU NEED SOMETHING TO FIGHT FOR AND WORTH PRESERVING! What - Jams? Chutneys?

Personally I don't want to fight for anything, let alone compulsory military service, be it male or female involvement. I'd have to turn my television set off, due to the political overload.

And yes..... the time has come for average citizens to stand up for themselves, within the law of course - yes that's why I am now going out for dinner.

Team Uzi,
"Isn't conscription going overboard? No, it's not. Let me put it to you this way: hypothetically speaking would you prefer to do 18 months national service or would you prefer ASIO or government bureaucrats gain more power and monitor all your emails, phone calls because of terrorism fears? Or be stripped searched at airports?"
How many people do you imagine are stupid enough to accept that false dichotomy?

Conscription would be of no value whatsoever against terrorists. But what it would do is make a large proportion of the population view the government as the enemy. And if it's done anything like the way it was in the past, it would also result in many suicides.

So FWIW while both your options are highly undesirable, conscription is orders of magnitude worse.

"The time has come for average citizens to stand up for themselves, within the law of course."
Anyone standing up for themselves would reject such a proposal.

You hypocritically rant about civill liberties while advocating stripping citizens of their freedom for 18 months!

Haven't you ever heard what Ronald Reagan said about conscription?

Sasha

You say, “Time and time again, we have witnessed Westerners without a sense of identity embrace Jihadist ideology”.

Therefore it comes down to why are they without a sense of identity? The Grand Mufti of Australia obviously had a problem in expressing his condemnation of the murder of Mr Cheng at Parramatta? He had to backtrack his first news release with a second release due to public outcry.

A further example what they are being told by Islamic Organisation Hizab ut-Tahir - I quote from Daily Telegraph 3/11/2015 "Sydney Muslims should shun government counter terrorism programs and disrupt police investigations, Islamic organisation Hizab ut-Tahir says. The Sydney-based organisation claimed the federal government was forcing them to become "Aussie Muslims". The government targets the Muslim community under the guise of counter-terrorism policy, seeking to mould the community in the way it wants - a way unacceptable to Muslims".

The Australian Government has just spent a further $47M on de-radicalising our youngsters.

What message does the above organisation send to youth? Why are we spending $47M to re-radicalise youngsters when they listen to the above spiel?

We have marches in support of “Say No to Domestic Violence” and other worthy causes.

I note the Grand Mufti, Imans or other leaders of the Islamic faith haven’t got their followers together and organised any march protesting against the “Jihadist Ideology” whose ideals lead to destroying many young lives.

They preach the Koran is a book of peace – a public march against Jihadist Ideology would certainly prove to us and our Government they are working with their youth to “dispel the myths” of Jihadist Ideology.

Australia continues to welcome all newcomers no matter the race, creed, colour or religion. Australia is a safe country, with boundless opportunities. However, there are those who wish to harm the very country that’s provided a safe haven. Why?
cont'd

cont'd

It’s time the Grand Mufti, Imans and other leaders stand up and speak up publicly in all newspapers, in condemnation of Jihadist Ideology, and of those who wish to radicalise our youth.

You say - “Islamic State and its franchise followers, have breached Fortress Australia”.

Correct. The Grand Mufti, Inmans and other leaders must now stand up and unite as one to dispel the myths of Jihadist Ideology, they will certainly have Australia’s support.