Barbaric image of Khaled Sharrouf’s son a warning to the world

           

A boy security agencies believe to be Australian Khaled Sharrouf’s son holds the decapitated head of a Syrian soldier.            

            

Khaled Sharrouf and boys believed to be his sons stand in front of the Islamic State flag. Picture:

TONY Abbott has denounced as “hideous” and “barbaric” a photograph of Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf’s son holding the severed head of a slain Syrian soldier.

The shocking photograph — posted on Twitter by a proud father with the words “Thats my boy!” - drew condemnation from across the political divide after being published in The Australian today. The picture has attracted worldwide news coverage.
As Defence Minister David Johnston warned against allowing such images to “colour” public opinion about Islam, the Prime Minister said the images emerging from the Middle East demonstrated the brutality of Islamic State terrorists.
“There are more photographs in newspapers in Australia today of the kind of hideous atrocities that this group is capable of,” Mr Abbott told ABC Radio.
“(The) Islamic State — as they’re now calling themselves — it’s not just a terrorist group, it’s a terrorist army and they’re seeking not just a terrorist enclave but effectively a terrorist state, a terrorist nation.
“This does pose extraordinary problems — extraordinary problems, not just for the people of the Middle East, but for the wider world and we see more and more evidence of just how barbaric this particular entity is.”
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the photograph proved the threat posed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, to the Western world.
“ISIL is a threat to the civilized world, certainly to the United States, to our interests, as it is to Europe, it is to Australia,” Mr Hagel said in Sydney.
“I think reflected on the local newspaper I saw this morning, with the picture on the front page, it’s pretty graphic evidence of the real threat that ISIL represents.”
Former army chief Peter Leahy, who at the weekend controversially warned of a 100-year war against radical Islam, said the image depicted a “depraved” and “barbaric act”.
“What’s that child going to think? What’s he going to be like for the rest of life?” Professor Leahy told Sky News.
“I read that article on Saturday and I was almost prepared to back off and say it was too long — that a century was exaggerating for effect or something — but a seven-year-old child, if he lives to 60 or 70, that’s most of the rest of this century.
“We have to condemn that to the utmost effect. We have to say as a community and all communities — Australian communities, Muslim communities overseas and Muslim leaders here in Australia — have to condemn that sort of behaviour.”
Senator Johnston said he was “obviously revolted” by the image of Sharrouf’s son, saying it “underscores the importance” of passing the government’s sweeping national security reforms.
“One of the things that I must stress here is this is an extreme minority in Muslims in Australia and around the world. The vast majority of Muslims are peace-loving and peaceful people,” Senator Johnston said.
“This is a shocking misrepresentation of Islam. I am very upset about this sort of thing completely colouring our view of Muslims. I think anybody who knows and understands the Muslim community in Australia knows that they are by far a very peace-loving and respectful group of people with respect of Australian laws.
“That photograph indicates that we need to be very vigilant. We need to make sure that the authorities in Australia have the right legislative base to go forward and protect all of us.”
Bill Shorten said the “shocking, evil image” should leave all Australians “shocked to their core”.
“As a parent, I have no idea how you could ever let your child be in that situation. I think that’s shocking,” the Opposition Leader said.
However Mr Shorten denied the photograph placed additional weight on Labor to pass the government’s counter-terrorism proposals.
“I would be careful about using that shocking image, that shocking evil image, and trying to use it for purposes which it shouldn’t be used for,” Mr Shorten said.
He pointed out that Khaled Sharrouf was able to flee Australia for Syria last year using his brother’s passport.
“I’m pretty angry that this person was able to get through our passport system under this current government’s watch and go to where he’s gone. This is dreadful,” Mr Shorten said.
“We need an explanation, how on earth this fellow got out of Australia by using his brother’s passport. I think we do need a full explanation on that.”
Lebanese Muslim Association president Samier Dandan distanced the Australian Muslim community from the image, which he call an act of a lunatic.
“Even if you are saying to me he made his son lift or carry and take a picture with a decapitated head this is something reflective of something we can all agree - this is an act of a lunatic.”
Opposition assistant treasury spokesman Andrew Leigh said the image was “horrendous” and noted “extremism comes in all sorts of guises”.
“We need to celebrate the Australian Muslim community to recognize that there are many peoples of different faiths in the world and extremism comes in all sorts of guises. The Oklahoma bombing was carried out by a Christian.”
 There is truth in Dandan's statement.  Timothy McVeigh, a former soldier and radical libertarian, in 1995 used a truck bomb to destroy a US federal government building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
We are getting a skewed impression of Muslims in general and it is not a fair one. We should not color an entire people and their faith with the same brush because of the actions of a handful of terrorists. Or to quote another maxim, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."