Backlash: Governments anti-terror work 'may spur radicals'

After posting my previous blog last night, I awoke to this news and new findings about the governments anti-terror work to 'Help protect Australia from terrorism'

Anti-terror work 'may spur radicals'
Monday Oct 15 07:28 AEST

The federal government's hardline approach to terrorism prevention may spur on radicals, a new report compiled by Melbourne academics for Victoria Police says.

The Counter-Terrorism Policing and Culturally Diverse Communities report, the result of a three-year project initiated by Victoria Police and researched by Monash University terrorism experts, is expected to be released on Monday, Fairfax newspapers say.

It warns that the federal government's approach could fuel radicalisation and undermine Victoria Police efforts to build links with communities.

"The Australian government's approach to prevention of terrorism fits with the major policy approach being applied in the United States, and is at odds with the best available knowledge on the threat of terrorism and the way that threat is best countered," the report says.

Credible anecdotal evidence exists that extremists were already probing Victorian society for alienated individuals to recruit, it says.

Tough counter-terrorism laws catches up more innocent people than traditional anti-criminal approaches, the report says. "Evidence from the UK and US suggests the impact of this may be significant in terms of fuelling a process of alienation, social exclusion and, ultimately support for terrorism."

A better way would be community policing that emphasises social cohesion and human rights, the report says, as it is more likely to win the trust of communities, including Muslim communities.

Or read it here: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=63661