Osama has added that the war was begun by America and now the consequences will be faced by America by losing the war with the permission of Allah. Implementation of divine will seems to be the main rationale of Al-Qaeda. Clearing the west of anti-Islamic ideologies is the main rationale of Jeemah Islamiyah based on which they believe in use of all kinds of terrorist activities to 'correct' the nations. 3.1.4. Recruitment

The recruitment policies of the group are based on the social, cultural and historical context of the new 'terrorist'. A young man who abandons his home has to be recruited based on patriotic ideologies if the man belongs to the more privileged class. A young man who belongs to a struggling or an immigrant family is recruited based on social advancement ideology and if he belongs to the family that disapproves of him joining the group, the ideologies are based on revolutionary act of self-improvement and self-discovery (Stuart 2006).

Recruitment in Jeemah Islamiyah is more dependent on the strategies used to prepare and mold younger individuals and families for the preparation and development of a new Islamic state. Families and individuals becoming the members of the groups are regarded as the entities of Islamic states.

3.1.5. Sources of Funding

Some of the main sources of funding for the groups comes from heroin trade and donations and grants from the supporters. The fact that personal assets of Bin Laden support the group has been proven wrong. In the case of both militant groups, funding network consists of financial facilitators including donors from the Gulf countries as Saudi Arabia and Islamic charity donations.

3.2. Operational Issues

Al-Qaeda has a strong network that is led from some of the most well-known tribal areas of Pakistan having a strategic purpose.

3.2.1. Operational locations

The investigations have shown that there are a number of global franchises of Al-Qaeda based on which operations are controlled and organised (Taylor 2007). Some of these are as follows;

a. Al-Qaeda in Iraq,

b. East Turkestan Islamic Movement in China,

c. Libyan Islamic Fighting Group

d. Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, and Islamic Jihad of Yemen,

e. Mujahideen Youth Movement in Somalia,

f. Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb,

g. Egyptian Islamic Jihad

Jeemah Islamiyah operates in Indonesia and Singapore spreading its wings in the west (Bobrow 2004).

3.2.2. Recent Activities

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, Hamas and Hezbollah were surpassed by Al-Qaeda being the most notorious of terrorist organizations. More than 202 people were killed in the Madrid railway station bombings in 2004. Since the Second World War, Britain had not seen any bombing worse than the one on 7th July 2005 where four bombs in three subway stations and one in a double decker bus caused more than 50 casualties. One of the most important events in the history of these two militant groups was when Al Zawahiri announced in 2006 that Jeemah Islamiyah and Al-Qaeda had joined hands for their purpose.

4. Threat Assessment

Based on the information given above, Australian government needs to assess the capabilities that they have to protect themselves from terrorist threats (Caldicott and Edwards 2003).

4.1. Identification and Characterization of Nature of Threat

Australia is a target in its own right and being a western nation. The threat was openly announced by Osama Bin Laden against Australia in 2001 saying that the Australian forces had landed on the Indonesian shores that clearly belong to the Islamic world. He added that this fight is between Islam and the crusaders and any country that supports the Crusaders will suffer and Australia is among the countries. Jeemah Islamiyah and Al-Qaeda visions Australia following Zionist-Christian conspiracy aiming to bring injustice and poverty to the Muslim world thereby taking Australia as direct enemies.

4.2. Risk Analysis of Australian National Interests

The major stake in anti-terrorism is held by Australia. Australia joins hands with the countries that share their values and interests. More than ten operations are now being controlled by the deployment of more than 2000 Australian Defiance Forces in different regions that include Europe, Middle East and Africa. Threats from the militant groups threaten the security of the Australians living abroad or traveling along with Australian commercial and economic interests. The terrorism threat greatly reduces consumer confidence increasing the costs of travelling, tourism, and trade, lessening economic growth (Singh and Australian National University 2003).

4.3. Perceived threat to Australian values

Along with security, the Islamic militants...

Australia is a diverse, open and a tolerant society and this is challenged by the values of Islamic militants. Democratic societies as Australia are under attack as they use their fake openness to hurt the very democracy. The greater threat to the community tolerance and freedom is now faced by the Australians because of these Islamic militants (Mannes 2004).
5. Policy Recommendations

In the light of the information presented, here are some recommendation for policy changes for Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia.

1. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade must be fully aware of the tactics, capacities, and capabilities of the terrorists that may include newer groups as well as those mentioned.

2. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade must start to spread an increased awareness in the Australians regarding the terrorist groups.

3. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade must design policies based on increased bilateral relations with the countries stronger in dealing with the terrorists.

4. It is important that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issue warnings as soon as a threat is received.

5. The policy changes must accompany stronger and strategic responses to any threats received by the terrorists and extremist groups.

6. Conclusion

How Australian government deals with the threats is important. The fact is open that the mentioned Islamic extremist groups are now in open and they have threatened the west in open. How the threats are dealt with is important. By now, bilateral cooperation has been the most important strategy used by Australia to deal with these threats. Australia is now involved in more than 11 anti-terrorism cells built by the UN. Day by day, the Islamic extremist groups seem to evolve based on which strategies of dealing with newer and evolved threat are to be designed by the Australian government.