Very amusing, Hasbeen, coming from someone who's responses rarely extend beyond calling someone an academic.

What do you think it is that ttbn and runner do, by the way? Because they certainly never address the arguments of others.

I trust you plan on getting around to admonishing them, too, at some point very soon.

Dear Foxy,

When my kids were younger we had a visit from some German relatives on my wife's side. They had lived in East Germany before unification. There was an interesting exchange that occurred after they happened to show their passports and a funny remark was made about the photographs inside. They asked to see the kid's passports and when they told my children hadn't got them yet they asked to see their domestic papers.

We had to explain that here in Australia there was no requirement to have a photographic ID unless you were driving a vehicle.

They were genuinely shocked and asked amongst other things weren't we afraid of them disappearing.

It was a freedom I had taken for granted but it made me pause and think of just how lucky we are to live in this country. I was both grateful and proud to be an Australian.

People talk about ISIS 'attacking our freedoms' but isn't this is an obvious example. Giving in to fear and forcing mandatory display of Ids in public places means we run the risk of handing them another win, of rewarding terror and I for one don't want to be party to it.

Dear Steele,

Thank You.

I used a very similar argument along your lines with
my husband.

I consider myself very lucky that we live in
this country. We lived in Los Angeles for close to ten
years and had to decide whether to return to Australia
or stay in the US. I've never regretted our choice of
coming home.

My daughter-in-law is German. She and my son plus my two
grandchildren are planning a trip to Europe in July. They
visit Germany every couple of years.

It seems that some members here are thrilled to have Muslim terror since it gives them a pretext to forward their agenda of controlling the population of Australia.

I hardly believe that anyone is truly terrorised by these sporadic bombing events: it's still much more likely to be killed on the road hitting a stray red kangaroo than by a terrorist's actions.

I'm only an old soldier who spent his formative years in "Counter Terrorism" during the heady 1980's when what is now doctrine for both the ADF and state police within Australia was being developed. My 'specialist role' was the repair, handling and training in small arms systems.

As a qualified 'sniper' it is likewise that I know absolutely nothing compared to the eminent experts on the matter of tactics employed. Goliath was killed by a slingshot wielding sniper called David...just as dead as any Taliban killed at 2,500 metres with a Barrett .50

The university "experts" and media buffoons make me absolutely cringe when they articulate their views, opinions and subject matter knowledge (with the benefit) of: the whole electronic whorehouse in full chorus to sing their current Top 40 View on Everything We Need To Know.

In 2003, during the Charles Darwin University Symposium, it took 3 whole days for the assembled 'experts' to come up with the definition of a "terrorist" per se...these were people from all over the world and yet none of them could agree on what a terrorist was. Today it looks no different, perhaps even more muddied are the definitions - why ? Why, because their heads are buried in the sands of political correctness, each and every one too scared to point at the elephant in the room and call it an elephant ! Too busy pandering to this interest group, or that special needs organisation, too concerned that their funding will get cut off if they actually do something and research and publish something of actual worth other than what tune the piper is playing funded by his/her masters.

It isn't Islam, it isn't any other religion, it is mankind's indifference and history unfolding before us.

My "opinion"...it is simply a matter of time before we have a Manchester. We are not prepared, or alert and we are way too complacent here in Australia...."it will never happen here, we're too far away from all that stuff.." kind of thing.

Wake Up Australia !

Dear Albie,

It would be interesting to hear who you think are terrorists.

For instance are the Taliban terrorists?