ASIO boss Mike Burgess says agency is ditching ‘Islamic’ and ‘right-wing’ tags, will now refer to ‘religious’ or ‘ideological’ violence

From ABC News Australia, an article that reveals breathtaking, terrifying stupidity on the part of our ‘intelligence’ agency, ASIO. These idjits think they know better than Winston Churchill who correctly identified Islam as “the religion of blood and WAR”… or Jacques Ellul the sociologist who identifed Jihad – military jihad – as a *religious duty* – THE religious duty – of Islam.

Australia’s domestic intelligence agency will avoid referring to “Islamic extremism” and “right wing extremism” and has revealed it last year disrupted a foreign “nest of spies” who were seeking access to sensitive defence secrets.

Delivering his Annual Threat Assessment, director-general of security Mike Burgess declared ASIO will follow its Five-Eyes intelligence partners in changing the language it uses towards violent extremist threats.

Australia’s domestic intelligence agency will avoid referring to “Islamic extremism”…Instead ASIO will now use the umbrella terms of “religiously motivated violent extremism” and “ideologically motivated violent extremism” to describe those seeking to do harm. “We don’t investigate people because of their religious views — it’s violence that is relevant to our powers — but that’s not always clear when we use the term ‘Islamic extremism’,” he said. “Understandably, some Muslim groups — and others — see this term as damaging and misrepresentative of Islam, and consider that it stigmatises them by encouraging stereotyping and stoking division.”

He said describing “left” or “right” extremism was also no longer relevant or applicable in many circumstances. Instead, they’re motivated by a fear of societal collapse or a specific social or economic grievance or conspiracy.

“For example, the violent misogynists who adhere to the involuntary celibate or ‘incel’ ideology fit into this category. . . People often think we’re talking about skinheads with swastika tattoos and jackboots roaming the backstreets like extras from Romper Stomper, but it’s no longer that obvious. . . Today’s ideological extremist is more likely to be motivated by a social or economic grievance than national socialism.”

The director-general said ASIO’s language needed to accommodate those groups that fall outside “traditional” categories. He said the average age of the people they are investigating is 25 and are “overwhelmingly” male. 

Mr Burgess also revealed the organisation removed a “nest of spies” from Australia, with the total number of foreign operatives kicked out of the country reaching “double figures” in the past year. 

“One of ASIO’s investigations focused on a nest of spies, from a particular foreign intelligence service, that was operating in Australia,” he said. “The spies developed targeted relationships with current and former politicians, a foreign embassy and a state police service.”

In front of an audience of military chiefs, security bosses and diplomats, including Japan’s ambassador, Mr Burgess described how the foreign operatives monitored their diaspora community in Australia. The ABC has confirmed the country behind the foreign spy ring was not China.

Anybody who has read the Quran would tear out their hair at this stupidity.