Howard's first big mistake! http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Aus+rules+out+barring+Mu slim+immigrants <http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Aus+rules+out+barring+M uslim+immigrants&id=93059> &id=93059 Aus rules out barring Muslim immigrants _____
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 (Canberra): Prime Minister John Howard, who has expressed concerns that an Islamic minority is failing to integrate into Australian society, has ruled out barring Muslims from immigrating. "I don't believe in abandoning a nondiscriminatory immigration policy," Howard told Macquarie Radio on Tuesday. "That would send the wrong signal to moderate people around the world." "They would feel they are excluded and would feel there was a universal hostility to a particular religious group and I don't think that is helping" the global war on terror, Howard said. But he said moderate Muslims had an obligation to vocally condemn terrorism. "Justifying terrorism by reference to Islam is the common thread of all the terrorist attacks we've had," Howard said. "It puts obligations on all of us, including in particular moderate Islamic leaders because it's their faith that's being blasphemed and wrongly invoked," he added. Question of debate Howard said he would consider an opposition Labour Party proposal that Australian visa forms include a statement of Australian values so newcomers would know what was expected of them. What constitutes Australian values remains a question of debate. "What you have to do is to get people to integrate and if part of that integration process is to better understand and more strongly commit to Australian values, then I'm all for it," Howard said. An advocate group for immigrants dismissed the concept of new arrivals signing a statement of values as "absurd." "Getting visa-holders to tick a box saying that they support hard work is hardly the key to making Australian multiculturalism work or defeating terrorism," Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria state said in a statement. But Labour Leader Kim Beazley said requiring immigrants to state that they would respect different religious and political views as well as respect women would help moderate Islamic leaders counter the spread of extremism. (AP) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/