The terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were tragic and historic events and with the perspective and the wisdom of hindsight, we can see where the western world made some very big mistakes that we are still dealing with.
There is no doubt that Al Qaeda took the steps that they did in 2001 in order to pick a fight, and the West gave them one. We fell into what should have been an obvious pitfall. Our aggression didn't only devastate a country and a people, it in turn helped Al Qaeda (and a lot of other similar organisations) to recruit more fighters across a number of countries. There was no Al Qaeda footprint in Iraq until the 'Coalition of the Willing' invaded.
And now we are in similar territory.
We have an idiot in Canberra, supported by a foreign minister (who has made upsetting our asian neighbours into an artform) and an unaccountable immigration minister who seems to froth at the mouth with each new scandal in his portfolio. Tony Dumb Dumb is in very deep domestic political trouble but he saw a blip of approval (that has now disappeared) following his response to an act of aggression in the Ukraine that led to great tragedy. We have had the recent horror of a murdered journalist in Syria which has shocked the world.
The exact wrong approach is to spread fear by suggesting, as Tony Dumb Dumb has, that beheadings in Australia are much more likely unless we ramp up our anti-terror laws and give away our freedoms. Again this is where Abbott is no student of history - as First Dog on the Moon reminds us - beheadings were quite widespread in Australia - the victims.. Indigenous Australians, the perpetrators... Australian settlers.
If we want to live in a safe, civil society, we shouldn't treat refugees like criminals when they are victims. We shouldn't give the state more power and less accountability when it comes to spying on all of us. We shouldn't re-invade Iraq. We shouldn't whip up fear and anxiety and division and have ourselves back in the world media for a repeat of the Cronulla riots.
And we shouldn't subscribe to stupid ideas like 'Team Australia'. Just ask Malcolm Fraser... that doyen of the looney left.
It certainly says a great deal about Team Dumb Dumb when they sit significantly to the right of a former Liberal PM.
While it is clear that Tony Dumb Dumb is not the man to lead us in these uncertain times... what makes this whole situation even more volatile is the wildcard we have in Clive Palmer - who seems to be having a negative impact on international relations both through his business activities and through his politics (and the uncertain line between the two).
Palmer and Lambie are not the people to help steer a government ship that has "Captain Clueless' at the helm and is crewed by the Keystone Cops that are the Abbott Ministry.
Our best hope is that they run aground sooner rather than later.