| Iraq war rouses terrorists, ASIO says |
| Wednesday, 27 October 2004 17:52 | |||
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Australia's top spy has told the Sydney Institute the war in Iraq has increased the threat to Australian interests overseas. ASIO director Dennis Richardson says that on a global level, the conflict in Iraq may have created more terrorists. "The only reasonable assumption is that Iraq has added to the number of militant Islamists and will lead to the development of international linkages between such individuals and groups," he said. As a result, he says it is Australian interests overseas that are at greater risk because of Iraq, especially those in the Middle East. Mr Richardson says the coalition campaign in Iraq has helped Al Qaeda recruit potential terrorists. "Iraq has provided Al Qaeda with propaganda in recruitment opportunities and it only stands to reason that they would have some success," he said. "It has provided another justification or rationalisation for acts of terrorism. "It has increased the threat against Australian interests in the Middle East." However, he cautions against overestimating the effect of the conflict. "When you strip it down, it has been an add-on, not the central driver," he said. He says most of the attacks on Australian interests to date probably would have happened even if Australia never sent troops to Iraq. Mr Richardson says a lot remains at stake because a coalition withdrawal from Iraq could embolden terrorists and hand them a safe haven. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says Islamic terrorist groups were not set up in response to the Iraq war. Mr Downer says it is possible there are new followers of those groups in Australia who are motivated by the invasion of Iraq. But he says it is not a reason for the coalition to abandon the task of creating a democracy in Iraq. "The point here is you've got to understand what ultimately is driving these people, these people are not being driven by Iraq per se, by the demise of Saddam Hussein, some of these people who hold this kind of Wahabist-style Taliban-like ideology are appalled by the prospect of Iraq in the heartland of the Islamic world becoming a liberal democracy," he said.
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