John Smith wrote on Dec 17^th, 2014 at 8:15am:


Dear John (Oh how I hate to write...)  I'll let you go away and think about that  comment. 
Of course your rationale here is that lunatics -- even those reported to the government as having fake credentials and spreading anit-Islamic messages -- even those convicted of behaving offensively to Australian military personnel et al, even those recently advertising on their websites that that have converted to a radical persuasion; even those who have had a somewhat questionable relationship with the Iranian Intelligence and are wanted by Interpol; even those required to report to the police every day --  shouldn't be the concern of counter-terrorism experts -- that is until they are involved in acts of terrorism.  Is that it John?

I'm very sorry for what happened in your country today guys.  From my vista across the pond, you seem to be a peaceful people and unaccustomed to violence like this.  While you will surely ask yourselves why this happened and how you can prevent it from happening again, I hope you will not allow it to change who you are.

Our hatred and desire for revenge post 9/11 led us down a path of decadency I really don't think we'll ever recover from.  We have become renowned war mongers, spies, torturers and have sacrificed the values of liberty and transparency to appease our anger against others.  In the end, the weapons we developed to fortify our freedom have been turned on us to destroy it.  Every email is read, every call recorded; warrantless searches; checkpoints that aren't at the border; police officers that murder civilians weekly on camera and walk free; trigger-happy SWAT teams raiding barbershops in poor neighborhoods simply to verify barber's licenses; and even the smallest towns now have armored vehicles and arms from Iraq that the local police are now beginning to deploy to address misdemeanors and  collect fines. 

You do not want this to become your daily reality.  You *must not* allow this man to convince you to destroy yourselves.  People will seize on this opportunity to try to barter your freedom for your security.  Don't fall for it.  They'll call you "traitors" and "anti-Aussie" and other nasty things.  The more they talk, the more stubborn and noisy you need to get.  Shout them down.  Don't even let them *set foot* on that slippery slope. 

Secondly, I am warning you, as a black man living in this buggered-up, sadistic, evil, twisted, racist American society: hatred is like a cancer -- it is slow and budding at first, but quietly, it consumes everything you are, spreading from place to place until it kills the very organism that hosts it.  I see how you (as a people) treat immigrants in your country, and what I see makes me sad.  And at the core of it is that same budding hatred -- all of it's ugliness and viciousness tucked deep, deep down where it will ferment until it is bursting at the seams.  Hatred will only beget more hatred, and not just from those your nation mistreats.  It never stops there.  When you practice lack of compassion, you'll eventually lose it for each other.