No matter what is said here, it appears that the National Security Committee has finalised plans to bring "home" 16 women and 42 children.

At the same time, those of us who already knew, are reminded by adolescent and child psychologist, Clare Rowe, that culture, thoughts and beliefs are set in the few first years of life. Rehabilitation is complicated and difficult: not necessarily successful.

Another thing we need to be reminded of with regard to the 32% government, that is making Australia more dangerous place, is the adage, 'communism never goes away, it just changes its coat'.

Hi AC,

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown the world that
without American power or for that matter - Western
power - the world would definitely not be a better
place.

America and the Western powers are not perfect.
US President Joe Biden, was right when he stated at the
beginning of his presidency that the battle between
democracies and autocracies would be the defining
struggle of our time.

Russia's aggression has clearly shown the world that
Biden was right and why authoritarians and the authoritarian
idea itself is such a threat to peace and stability.

Russia invaded Ukraine, a democracy, because of the
ambition, recklessness and domination of one man,
Vladimir Putin. The countries that have rallied most
enthusiastically behind Ukraine have almost uniformly
been democracies, chief among them - the United States.
The notion that of any moral equivalence between
the United States and Putin's Russia has been rendered
laughable.

Russia's unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation in
Europe has put matters back in their proper framing. And any
suggestion that the US is a uniquely malevolent force in
global politics has now been resolved. In the span of a very
short time the world has been given a taste of what a
world where America grows weak and Russia grows strong would
look like.

To see America as a provocateur is rather odd. As it's been
Russia not the US that has been the world's most imperial
force for the past 3 decades. So arguments against the US
indicate that those critics are not really anti-imperialists
they just have an aversion to American and Western power.

We can only hope that - the day will not come when these
anti-Western people will find themselves in the odd
position of praying for the health and longevity
of not just the US, and the West, but Western power as well.

May none of us ever have to live under an authoritarian regime.
Be it Russian, Chinese, or any other. The US and Western
powers may not be perfect - but you really don't want to
taste the alternative.

.

Dear ttbn,

.

You wrote :

« Australia is preparing to overturn its policy of more than three years and launch a mission to "repatriate dozens of women and children, the family members of former Islamic State fighters who have been languishing for years in squalid detention camps in Syria" … whether or not there will be enough evidence to prosecute these terrorists' families would be and should be irrelevant if they stay where they are … »
.

According to reports, an estimated population of 65,000 men, women, and children from about 60 different countries are currently being held in detention centres in Syria. The majority are women and children.

As I see it, ttbn, countries have not only a duty to protect their citizens but also a moral, legal and political responsibility to recuperate their citizens that are being held in custody in the Syrian detention centres. We have about 60 including 47 children in the Al-Hawl and Roj camps.

Whether we like it or not, I think we should stop shirking our responsibilities and take charge of our own people.

I, personally, see terrorism as an act of war against innocent civilian populations. Consequently, I should like to see the perpetrators of such acts, and all those aiding and abetting them brought to trial under our system of courts-martial and Defence Force Magistrate.

In this context, to be complete, I should add that I consider that capital punishment should be reintroduced in Australia to apply potentially to anybody under our jurisdiction found guilty of acts of terrorism.

.

The kids are Australian citizens. If citizenship means anything then they must be bought home. Equally the women, where they are also Australian citizens, cannot be forgotten. That's not to say that once they come back they shouldn't then be prosecuted for breaking Australian law by joining ISIS.

Of course, some of these women renounced their citizenship as a sign of their devotion to Allah and they should be left to wallow in their failed decisions. If they truly loved their kids, they'd allow them to be bought back while they remain to plead for forgiveness for their crimes. But that'll never happen.

So bring them all back and watch them like hawks while prosecuting to the full extent of the law, those who broke the law

AC continues to display his naivety in regards to international events even as, day in and day out, his failed assertions about Ukraine are shown to be so much dross...

AC writes: "How many people died in Iran over the last week or so?
And why?
- Because the US was mad they sent drones to Russia?"

No they died because they were protesting a totalitarian regime that seeks to restrict both their freedom and prosperity. A young women died at the hands of their so-called morality police for the crime of incorrectly wearing her headscarf. Others protested the death and they were similarly killed. Then still more protested the overall suppression that is wrought by the regime, and they were killed.

But in the fantasy world of AC, if something bad happens in the world, it is the fault of the US. Protestors killed in Iran? Must be caused by the US. No other possible explanation in AC's fantasyland.

So the protested were manipulated by the US in order to punish Iran for supplying Russia. Pretty convoluted but it seems to make sense to those with the level of misunderstanding exhibited by AC.

Of course it it also highly racist. In this telling, these stupid muslim protestors don't know what's what and are easily manipulated by the CIA. And the muslim women don't know that their opposition to headscarfs is really just a ruse used by the CIA to punish the mullahs. A twofer - racist and mysognistic.

That Paul thinks all this makes sense pretty much summarises its wrongheadedness

The death penalty is not equally applied. In terms of lives lost and general destruction the greatest terrorist in today's world is Putin. Will he be brought to justice? Have any of the presidents of the US been brought to account for Vietnam and deeds of 'shocks and awe' in Iraq? Will anybody in China be brought to account for the crimes in Sinkiang? The death penalty does not bring the victims of murder back to life and cannot be applied with justice. Australia in abolishing the death penalty is civilised in that respect.