BY BRIM GARRETT @iusecomicsans
Acts of terrorism in Australia are ‘inevitable’, a counter-terrorism expert and military strategist has warned.
Dr David Kilcullen, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Australian Army and counterinsurgency adviser to Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq, also said that anyone who thinks the threat can be stamped out is “living in a dream land”.
“The question is: how bad will it be, how will we respond, how will we focus on consequence management and on recovery from that kind of attack?” Dr Kilcullen said.
On the episode of Q&A, which aired Monday night, an audience member asked why the western world was not adopting the Israeli mentality and cracking down hard on extremist and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State. Another panellist, Federal minister assisting the Prime Minister Michael Keenan, responded that the force Australia was employing was equal to the threat it is facing, and rejected the notion of heavily enforcing violence against the acts. He added that security problems faced by Israel were worse than in Australia.
Dr Kilcullen said on radio station 3AW last week that the chances of another terrorist attack in the future are “one hundred percent”.
“I don’t mean to be pessimistic but I do think we need to be realistic that if you think that the government can protect you from any kind of terrorist attack, you’re living in a dream land,” he said.
Mr Keenan noted that although three local terror attacks have taken place, Australian agencies have stopped a further six.
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