Islam group urges forest fire jihad

[brendan]

http://www.theage.com.au/national/islam-group-urges-forest-fire-jihad-20080906-4b53.html?page=-1

[costargh]

omg i had the exact same thought yesterday!!!

Not particularly Muslims, but for terrorism in general.

[phagist_]

god bless propaganda.

[gregi]

lol the age is a pretty left paper. I doubt this article is propaganda.

[UprightMan]

This is speculation...hopefully it doesn't start anything nasty, and I'm sorry if it does but:
The aim of a terrorist is to incite terror in the general public; terror makes uprooting law and order easy and anarchy ensues.   Causing bushfires, in my line of thought, would do the opposite.  You can see it on the news already; people, at the idea of the recent bushfires being deliberately lit incites anger, a seething, public outrage and anger directed towards the arsonist(s).  Not only that, the public is not hiding in fear, or angry at the government, we are banding together, digging deep to help our fellow Aussies in their time of need.  Something like this, appalling and terrifying as it is, brings us closer, knowing that we can rely on ourselves as a society to pull those affected through.  Wouldn't this be exactly the opposite aim of a terrorist?

[Mao]

This is speculation...hopefully it doesn't start anything nasty, and I'm sorry if it does but:
The aim of a terrorist is to incite terror in the general public; terror makes uprooting law and order easy and anarchy ensues.   Causing bushfires, in my line of thought, would do the opposite.  You can see it on the news already; people, at the idea of the recent bushfires being deliberately lit incites anger, a seething, public outrage and anger directed towards the arsonist(s).  Not only that, the public is not hiding in fear, or angry at the government, we are banding together, digging deep to help our fellow Aussies in their time of need.  Something like this, appalling and terrifying as it is, brings us closer, knowing that we can rely on ourselves as a society to pull those affected through.  Wouldn't this be exactly the opposite aim of a terrorist?

yes, but the aim and consequences are very different. Look at the 9-11 tragedy, it pulled America together rather than shook it apart.

[costargh]

This is speculation...hopefully it doesn't start anything nasty, and I'm sorry if it does but:
The aim of a terrorist is to incite terror in the general public; terror makes uprooting law and order easy and anarchy ensues.   Causing bushfires, in my line of thought, would do the opposite.  You can see it on the news already; people, at the idea of the recent bushfires being deliberately lit incites anger, a seething, public outrage and anger directed towards the arsonist(s).  Not only that, the public is not hiding in fear, or angry at the government, we are banding together, digging deep to help our fellow Aussies in their time of need.  Something like this, appalling and terrifying as it is, brings us closer, knowing that we can rely on ourselves as a society to pull those affected through.  Wouldn't this be exactly the opposite aim of a terrorist?

yes, but the aim and consequences are very different. Look at the 9-11 tragedy, it pulled America together rather than shook it apart.

+1

The way people react is unpredictable. Therefore a basis for the definition of terrorism can't possibly be on the way people react to it.

[UprightMan]

I wouldn't say the reaction of people is unpredictable.  People in large numbers tend to follow the mob if something goes wrong or something extremely sudden happens.
Eg. If a stink bomb goes off  in the middle of a school gym full of kids, the people closest to it will most likely run away from the stink bomb.  People further away will most likely follow them, or either stand confused until the smell reaches them.

People are not entirely unpredictable, especially the masses.  It's almost an innate reaction to follow the crowd when something sudden/frightening happens.

Drawing back to the topic; what I'm trying to get at is that a bushfire is not going to do what 9-11 did; 9-11 made a lot of people insecure or afraid of travelling.  That probably lead to the US government flexing their muscles to reassure the general public that they were doing whatever they could to be prevent another occurrence like 9-11, which in turn lead to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.  The bushfire is just making people supportive and/or angry at the arsonist.

[costargh]

I wouldn't say the reaction of people is unpredictable.  People in large numbers tend to follow the mob if something goes wrong or something extremely sudden happens.

That's irrelevant though. That's not we're talking about. I'm saying the way people react may be differnt to the intended reaction that you sought.

You may fly a plane into a building in the hope that a country becomes unsettled and lives in fear but the end result may be A MASS OF PEOPLE coming together united in a fight against terror.

[mullums1]

I dont think Jihadists will cause a bushfire. If they wanted to, they would have done so long ago. Even if they tried today, i highly doubt it would be anywhere devastating as to the ones we have seen in the past few days. Terrorists work in small numbers when they operate (mainly not to attract attention), when you look at the thousands of hectares of land in contrast to just a few people lighting it, it wont cause a lot of damage. Even it spreads, it should be quelled pretty quickly. The bushfires we have seen recently are the work of nature's wrath and no human arsonists can match it.

So relax.

[costargh]

I dont think Jihadists will cause a bushfire. If they wanted to, they would have done so long ago. Even if they tried today, i highly doubt it would be anywhere devastating as to the ones we have seen in the past few days. Terrorists work in small numbers when they operate (mainly not to attract attention), when you look at the thousands of hectares of land in contrast to just a few people lighting it, it wont cause a lot of damage. Even it spreads, it should be quelled pretty quickly. The bushfires we have seen recently are the work of nature's wrath and no human arsonists can match it.

So relax.

Even though they Victorian police are on the verge of arresting a man over the bushfires and already arrested a man over the previous weeks bushfires?

[Mao]

I dont think Jihadists will cause a bushfire. If they wanted to, they would have done so long ago. Even if they tried today, i highly doubt it would be anywhere devastating as to the ones we have seen in the past few days. Terrorists work in small numbers when they operate (mainly not to attract attention), when you look at the thousands of hectares of land in contrast to just a few people lighting it, it wont cause a lot of damage. Even it spreads, it should be quelled pretty quickly. The bushfires we have seen recently are the work of nature's wrath and no human arsonists can match it.

So relax.

You don't need a massive workforce to start an inferno. It was so dry the foliage were the perfect fuel, it's like trying to set fire to a petrol station. You only need to ignite it to start a shitstorm.

[bubble sunglasses]

 ^Mmmm. Because bushfires [unlike bombs and missiles] already occur independently of terrorists, it would be hard for them to claim responsibility.

[thelovecatsx]

This article is thanks to the fair and balanced folks over at Fox News. 

[TrueLight]

omg there's america linking terrorists to everything........................sigh........