Australia's Victoria Fires: Al Qaeda, a World Caliphate, and a Pathetic Loner

People in Australia are going about the important business of mourning the dead. So far, the body count is 209. More human remains were discovered over the weekend, which may raise the death toll.

Australia's Bushfires and the War on Terror

I probably won't be writing very much about the tragedies in Victoria. It's not that I don't care, or that the horrific loss of life was unimportant.

But, this is Another War-on-Terror Blog. Its focus is the conflict between people and organizations like Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda; and those who either won't cooperate, or actively oppose Al Qaeda's goals.

Al Qaeda has a rather well-defined goal: "to establish a pan-Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems 'non-Islamic' and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries." (GlobalSecuricty.org)

Even Americans who think that it's none of our business to get involved with problems elsewhere - except for things like the Kyoto Protocol - might consider Al Qaeda a threat. In February of 1998, Al Qaeda said that "it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens—civilian or military—and their allies everywhere." (GlobalSecuricty.org)

Intolerant as this may seem, I don't want Al Qaeda to succeed. I'm rather fond of breathing, and can't be 'sufficiently Islamic' for the likes of bin Laden.

What's Al Qaeda Got to do With the Australian Fires?

Apparently, not much.

There was an Islamic website that called for a "forest Jihad," and some real terrorists were sentenced shortly before the Victoria fires broke out: but the fires seem at least partly the work of two arsonists.

One of them is Brendan Sokaluk, I haven't found the name of the second suspect.

Brendan Sokaluk seems to be a loner who likes to set fires, whose hero is Mother Earth. (telegraph.co.uk)

On his (now defunct) MySpace profile, he described himself as a happy young man who wants to who wants to get married. To a woman: a young, good-looking one, apparently. He also seems to have a thing for child pornography. (telegraph.co.uk)

By any reasonable standards, this doesn't sound like a jihadist, a lion of Islam out to slay the unbeliever.

The matter of who set the fires, how and (maybe) why, will have to be investigated: and there is almost certainly going to be a trial. I hope so: the alternative at this point would seem to be a lynch mob getting to him first. Mr. Sokaluk is quite possibly the least-popular person in Australia.

So, until and unless there's a fairly solid bit of evidence that links the Victoria fires to the War on Terror, this will probably be the last Victoria fires post.

I will keep an eye on news from Australia, though: and elsewhere.

Related posts:

• "Muslims Jailed, Suspect Arrested: Terrorism and Australia's Bushfires Burn On"
  (February 14, 2009)
• "Conservation, Crispy Koalas, and Common Sense"
  (February 14, 2009)
• "Islamic Website Called for 'Forest Jihad' - But Still No Evidence in Victoria"
  (February 9, 2009)
• "Australia's Victoria Fires: Mass-Murdering Muslims, a Media Hoax, or Something Else?"
  (February 9, 2009)
• "Australia's Victoria Bushfire: Arson, Probably; Muslim Plot? Unlikely!"
  (February 8, 2009)

In the news:

• "Fire shrine to remember victims"
  Herald Sun (February 22, 2009)
• "Sydney joins day of mourning for bushfires"
  ABC News (Australia) (February 21, 2009)
• "Australian fires burn as death toll rises to 208"
  CNN (February 19, 2009)
• "Australian bush fires: second man charged with arson"
  telegraph.co.uk (February 18, 2009)
• "Australian bush fires: Alleged arsonist 'loved nature' "
  telegraph.co.uk (February 17, 2009)
• "Jihadists celebrating Victoria fires; taking joy in the scenes"
  The Australian (February 15, 2009)