Published Messenger Newspapers, Adelaide, March 31, 2004
HIGH STAKES WAR ON TERRORISM
EVER since the fridge magnet arrived advising me to be alert not alarmed, the “war on terrorism” has made me think twice about things I had not previously thought once about. I now believe the strange posters stuck on stobie poles contain secret messages in a code that only al-Qa'ida terrorists can understand. “Tidy. LAB4 United Kingdom. GUYVER United Kingdom. WARP BROS Germany. Good Friday April 9th.” Makes no sense to me but expect something weird to occur on Good Friday. Or, in darkened theatres, the simultaneous glow of mobile phones in shirt pockets - silent text messages activating a terrorist cell? Such is the suspicious world we live in now. I look askance at every armed security guard and they look back even more askance. Fortunate for me, I do not have a dark complexion, heavy-lidded eyes and a beaky nose otherwise I could be in real strife. From these features, the security services can jump to conclusions and pass judgement on your motives. One cannot be too careful, even if you happen to be Mick Keelty, the Australian Federal Police Commissioner. He tells the truth by saying our involvement in the Iraqi war has made us a more likely terrorist target, and is then heavied by the Prime Minister's office to adjust his judgement to accord with the PM's opinion. Paranoia comes in many forms. Heading to Sydney recently with the Sunday Mail tucked under my arm, I was blocked by airport security and made to pass the paper separately through the X-ray machine. Uh-oh. Sitting aftewards, reading Possum's Page, pretending not to notice the sniffer dog, I left the paper behind to board the plane, only to have someone in a lemon safety vest hand it back to me. Apparently an unattended Sunday Mail could cause mass panic. Airports have been the top security priority since September 11, 2001, and now the federal government has ordered a review of maritime security as well. One fear is a ship could be highjacked and turned into a floating bomb. Tell me about it. In Sydney, I went to walk across the Harbour Bridge just as a large freighter was passing below. In simpler times, I would have run to be standing directly above as it passed - small things amuse small minds. Instead, I found myself hanging back, reluctant, pondering the horrible consequences if the ship blew-up directly under the bridge. Both alert and alarmed, I let it sail through before daring to step beyond the pylons. It is not hard to imagine all kinds of horror scenarios. The TV news nightly makes the unimaginable real. The truth is the war on terrorism is unwinnable and never-ending. Even so, what choice do we have? No accommodation is possible with suicide bombers. Terrorists cannot be allowed the last word.
