Joining the Dots

This morning (16 June 2014) the world section of my newspaper The Australian was almost entirely about world conflicts. All of them with varying degrees of violence and savagery.

• The lead story was about ISIS, an extremely violent group of Sunni Muslims, slaughtering captured enemy soldiers in Iraq; and fighting the Shia Muslim Iraqi government forces, who are being helped by the Shia Muslim Iranians.

• The next news story concerned Syria, where Syrian Sunni Muslims are fighting the Shia Muslims of the Syrian government. In Syria the Sunni Muslim rebels are also fighting other Sunni Muslim rebel groups such as ISIS and Al Nusra -- What a bloody mess. Those Sunnis are supported by fighters from  Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia and volunteers from various Western countries, and elsewhere. This rebel side is helped by the USA and several other countries. The Shias are supported by fighters from Iran, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. This government side is helped by Russia and other countries.

• Then came an item about Sunni Muslims fighting other Sunni Muslims in Pakistan. There, the Pakistani government is fighting the Taliban which is being helped by Muslims from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

• Followed by a brief article on Sunni Muslims killing and capturing hundreds of Christians, including girls in Nigeria.

• The last account in the paper reported a mere 50 people killed (hardly worth mentioning) in Afghanistan, where Sunni Muslims from the Taliban are killing Sunni Muslim civilians as they tried to vote in the elections for a new president. Some 60 Taliban fighters were also apparently killed.

In sum, that is 5 conflicts in today's paper, or 5 dots  . . . . .      so is there a common thread here? These are not international conflicts because they are in effect 5 separate civil wars. The conflicts are not racial either as there are Nigerians, Libyans, Syrians, Iranians, Pakistanis all fighting for one side or another in multiple locations. Nor are the conflicts tribal. Is culture the common thread? Since culture includes shared traditions, perhaps yes, but culture also includes civilization, and a less civilized group of people at war would be hard to find, so the common thread is not really culture.


Doctrine or beliefs appears to be the common feature of those 5 conflicts. Let us put a letter to each of the 5 dots . . . . .  so 5 letters  I.  S.  L.  A.  M.  that is the common thread to this violence.


I will be honest, there was a 6th conflict in the paper: ethnic Ukranians fighting Russian Ukranians, which does not fit the above pattern. But then I did not mention the ongoing conflicts: Sunni Muslim Brotherhood fighting Sunni Egyptians; or Sunni Hamas abducting young Israelis; or the endless civil war in Somalia, where the Al-Shubaab group competes with ISIS for sheer savagery. And I omitted the civil conflicts in Algeria, Eritrea, Morocco, Yemen and Kenya, and more, which all link the dots      . . . . .  I S L A M.


ISIS fighters from Britain have vowed to launch attacks in Britain at the next general election; elsewhere other ISIS fighters have threatened more 9/11 style attacks in America. Of a more immediate nature are the rapes in Sweden, the 'grooming' of non-Muslim girls in England, the 'no-go' zones in cities throughout western Europe, and so on. Even China and Russia have ongoing conflicts with Islamists. Just join the dots. The common thread is:        I S L A M.


Should we stop all genuine refugees from Islamic conflicts coming to Australia and the West? Not necessarily, because not all refugees from Islamic countries are Muslim, and even those who are nominally Muslim are not necessarily all 'good Muslims'. Perhaps you have a Muslim friend? Your friend is a 'bad Muslim' because Islam forbids friendship between Muslims and non-Muslims. It is the doctrine of ISLAM which is the problem, not the individual Muslim person.
However, until such time as immigrant Muslims find a way to modernise and moderate the doctrine of Islam or abandon it altogether we should not allow them to settle here. The doctrine of Islam will lead them to reject our laws and values and to cause conflict, crime and violence. Immigrants should agree to accept Australian laws, institutions and values; acknowledge the primacy of the English language, and wear clothing that does not inhibit them from finding conventional jobs.

 It is the doctrine of Islam which is so evil