The author Arundhati Roy make a good point in saying that "our economy thrives on insecurity, on fear, on threats, on protecting what you have - your washing machine, your dishwasher...- from the invasion of killer tomatoes or evil women in saris or whatever other kind of alien. It's such a sad, lonely, terrible price to pay for creature comforts..."

If this is the case, then the media is only playing it's part.

Not only are they trying to simply make us buy stuff, but they keep our lives off-balance by maintaining us in a constant state of concern.

Not a single day goes by where we aren't reminded of, or told about something new that we should fear.

It's almost as if they don't want to give us time to stop and think about what's really happening in the world.

We are personally controlled by our emotions and can be controlled by others in exactly the same way.

According to many reports, and going by many of the statements seen in these pages alone, we should have been at constant war with the Islamic world for the last 1400 years, not just sporadically over the last decade or so.

They in turn are probably getting fed the same messages over there.

For those of us who went through the Cold War period, it's strangely familiar.

I tend to agree with Mr Holden -

I still wonder where were all these experts on Islam in November 2000 before 9/11 - there is no shortage of them now -

If Islam is a threat now it was also in 2000 and before but you never heard too much about it then - the so called "incompatibilty" between us and them was not evident then it seems.

I still fail to see what all the fuss is about -

One moment the govt is said to have us tittering with fear; the next an avalanche of postings pour in to tell us that On-line Forum readers are NOT afraid. Meanwhile the airports are packed; the streets are bustling; shopping malls and all manner of public places are thronged with the masses; just as unafraid as the posters to this Forum. Strange, huh? Jeez..Aussies sure know how to hide their terror.

Are you ninnies deluded or what? If you own a car or a house and take out an insurance policy you are not "living in fear"!! If your doctor advises a more balanced diet, a bit of exercise and less alcohol for the sake of your health; this is not "fear-mongering". All these things are simply telling you that you should be alert to potential dangers but not alarmed. Where have we heard that before? And to what wailing and teeth-gnashing from neurotics over-reactors?

Why don't you all just get a grip? Hysteria may be fun (I sometimes enjoy a little of it at the football, myself) but you shouldn't let it take over your life...assuming you've got one. Cheers

Bushbred

You said “ It has become so very wrong as shown by the percentage of American people now against the Bush regime.”

Sorry. Did you just argue that the merits of an idea can be measured by its supporters? Or lack of?

Any comparison between the US and Ancient Rome or even the British Empire is spurious. Roman conquest often involved executing all the men and selling the women and children into slavery. Roman Emperors conquered as much of the world as they were physically able, all for the greater glory of themselves and Rome. The general understanding of siege warfare during Roman times was that besieged towns which did not surrender immediately would forfeit the lives of ALL its citizens, once the walls were breached.

The British followed along similar lines to the Romans. Conquest was about enriching the state and spreading the glory of his/her majesty. The British behaved appallingly in India and many other places. But of all the imperialists of the last 400 years, the British are probably the most benign. The Spanish and the Portugese, with their Roman Catholic absolutism, were perpetrators of the most barbarous obscenities all in the name of Christ and monetary gain.

Since the end of the cold war the US has been involved in a number of wars, which have been fought to protect the rights of others, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo are a few examples. The US is committed to defend Taiwan against aggression by the Chinese. It is committed to defend South Korea against aggression from the North Koreans. These countries are not part of the US empire in any meaningful sense.

You said “Things are changing”

Based upon what Bush Bred, I’ve already given you evidence that the 1920’s brigade are an aberration amongst the insurgents in Iraq. Membership is negligible and they have actually assisted the Americans in their fight against Al Qaeda groups in Iraq.

Iraq will definitely fracture into civil war if the Americans leave before the Iraqi gov’t has the ability to deal with the insurgents by itsel

Poor TR can't pull himself off his knees in worship of Dawkins.

Here's something to think about. While on the surface it would appear Islam is being used to foment public unrest and terror attacks, any in depth study shows that religion is not the prime tool in developing adherents in expanding or maintaining terrorism. Psychology is. There is not a religion of terrorism, rather there is a psychology of terrorism.
People are not being manipulated by the use of religion. They are being manipulated by the use of psychology with in their religion. Most terrorism is perpetuated against Muslims by Muslims. Most terrorist activity takes place in Islamic countries by Muslims. Ah! It must be about religion. No. It's about politics. It's just very hard to separate religion from politics when it comes to those who are religious leaders[?] fighting for political dominance. Same thing is going on around the world in various non Islamic nations. Religious leaders fighting for political dominance with in their communities.
As I have stated before. It is not the religion of Islam that is at the core of these attacks. It's the politics of Islam. And those who advocate Islamic rules for society and their psychological tactics in hopes of gaining that rule. Islamic rule is authoritarian not democratic. Islamic rule is imposed. Unfortunately it is written into the religious text that amend the Koran. And these text used exclusively to abrogate the teachings in the Koran.
Politics and psychology is being used to manipulate a religious people living in poor economic climes and subjugated by their authoritarian leadership and brainwashed into believing that the 'west' or democracy is a conspiracy to undermine their culture and religious practices.
Terrorism is power politics not religion.

Aqvarivs

Its all very well for you to use your scalpel to separate politics from religion in Islam. The problem is, that this is not a distinction that the Koran and hadith allow for. Its no good pretending that the hadith aren’t legitimate, the number of Muslims who follow the hadith is testament to their authority. Hadith tells Muslims how to pray, how to dress, in fact they tell Muslims how to behave in almost every situation. And the hadith and the Koran leave no room for secular life at all.

I agree that it depends upon how Islam is practiced. The vast majority of Muslims are peaceful people who would never kill innocent civilians . However, those wahabists/salafists, are not practicing a version of Islam without basis in the Koran. They quote real passages from the Koran with which to justify their actions. Their’s is not an absurd cult, like scientology, it has real roots in the Koran and hadith. This is why their communities don’t immediately denounce them. They are seen in their communities as practicing a strict/literal interpretation of Islam and as such are often respected.

Politics, as I was taught to understand it, is about Power, who has it, who doesn’t and how is it used. Religion has always been about power, no matter what the flavour.

The difference between non Islamic religious figures pushing for political power is they can’t point to evidence of the word of god, which supports their claim. Islamists can.

I think you are on the right track when you talk about psychology, although I still think that it is subordinated to religious fervour. A large number of suicide bombers aren’t poor or subjugated. I think that disillusionment with modern life, combined with the promises of paradise and the ability to help loved ones from above, as well as the cash payments to martyrs families, has a role to play in suicide bombers decisions. But without the religious base, which promises life in paradise after death, I don’t believe that we would see anywhere like the number of suicide bombers.