With the widely reported news that Osama Bin Laden has finally been killed by some US assassination unit, it is worth reflecting on why universities and intelligence agencies should be immensely thankful to Mr Bin Laden.
To begin with, the ‘intelligence’ agencies have never had it better: massive injections of government funds, plenty of positions to fill, lots of new equipment on which to peruse facebook, twitter and what have you.
As for universities, the massive increase in courses, programs, research centres, grants, articles, books and academics focusing on ‘terrorism’, Islam, extremism, and so forth would not have happened without Bin Laden. In Australia, graduation ceremonies are full of international students receiving degrees in ‘counter-terrorism’. Intellectuals with fIagging careers have suddenly found a new lease of energy and, even better, shitloads of cash to figure out how to ‘secure’ Australia. All but one area remains untapped: the discipline of pro-terrorism studies, with a core program called ‘How to be a terrorist’.
So I propose that both ‘intelligence’ agencies and universities institute an annual ‘Osama Bin Laden’ day, saluting the man who inaugurated a golden era of funding, research and teaching in an area previously barely acknowledged.
3 May, 2011 at 2:20 am
We should set down some odds on what the guys who woke up on Sep 12 2001 as terrorism experts will wake up as experts on come the morning of May 3 2011. Climate change? China?
3 May, 2011 at 10:01 am
I reckon ants: ants are the great threat to the future of ‘Western civilisation’. Look at the fire ants: in Brisbane they have formed a super-colony stretching tens of kms across the city, undermining it, plotting to detroy our way of life.
3 May, 2011 at 5:06 am
Of course we shouldn’t forget how many pundits, academics and gadflys have made a living out of opposing, condeming or using the wars as an object lesson for their own religious and poltical views. We got to see folks who weren’t relevant since the sixties and early seventies trot out their usual rhetoric for public consumption.
3 May, 2011 at 9:59 am
Orville, my dear man, please check your spelling before sending me your profound thoughts.
4 May, 2011 at 12:24 pm
sorry typing on the run.
3 May, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Wait. Here’s the answer: perpetual war = perpetual funding. “For jihadis, conflict is perpetual and everyone has a part … This is not the end of terror but an emphatic punctuation point in the ongoing security measures against jihadi extremism.”
3 May, 2011 at 8:28 pm
[...] For the Reverend Roland T. Boer, sing. [...]
3 May, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Mr Bin Laden – of blessed memory – is responsible for one of the four ‘national research priorities’ listed by the Australian Research Council:
SAFEGUARDING AUSTRALIA
Safeguarding Australia from terrorism, crime, invasive diseases and pests, strengthening our understanding of Australia’s place in
the region and the world, and securing our infrastructure, particularly with respect to our digital systems.
http://www.arc.gov.au/pdf/nrps_and_goals.pdf