At one level, the Aussie authorities screwed up the way the Canadian and US authorities screwed up: These jihadists are less "lone wolves" than, as Patrick Poole says, "known wolves". The Ottawa shooter, the St Jean killer, the Marathon bombers, the Fort Hood major, the pantybomber, all were known to the authorities. So was "Sheikh Haron": Aside from various earlier charges and convictions, he had been charged as an accessory to the murder of his wife, who died in a particularly brutal way, stabbed and set alight in the stairwell of her apartment building. And yet he was out on bail. And so Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson died. The price of incubating, nurturing and growing Islam in the west is too high. Ms Dawson and Mr Johnson did not deserve to die for going to a coffee shop. And, beyond the folly of Sheikh Haron's bail eligibility, the two Sydney victims were sacrificed on the altar of multiculturalist delusion. [I Wish That Bird Would Fly Away, MarkSteyn, December 15, 2014]

Mark Steyn writes,"Sheikh Haron" was particularly infuriated that the media was refusing to report his claim that he was acting in the name of the Islamic State. Just like politicians who have never read the Koran confidently assure us that "Islam means peace," reporters can ignore the stated motivations of a terrorist if it contradicts the Narrative of evil whites oppressing helpless minorities.

And of course, the real victim in this case are Australian Muslims, because even though there has been no "backlash" (there never is), there might have been one.

Therefore,

Usually the Muslims-fear-backlash crowd at least waits till the terrorist atrocity is over. In this case the desiccated multiculti saps launched the #I'llRideWithYou campaign even as the siege was still ongoing - while Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson were still alive. Muslims are not the victims here. Ms Dawson and Mr Johnson are the victims. And yet the urge to usher Muslims into the victim chair and massage their tender sensibilities is now so reflexive the narcissists on Twitter don't even have the good taste to wait till the siege is over and the corpse count is known. Far from a restoration of faith in humanity, it's a glimpse of how advanced the sickness is. For good measure, Bill Shorten, Leader of the Opposition, threw in the usual smug moral preening: Australians tonight doing what we do best - uniting to overcome intolerance and hate#illridewithyou Laura Rosen Cohen again: It's ALWAYS ABOUT THEM. Muslim terrorist holds people hostage in cafe,entire world worries about imaginary "backlash" against Muslims. I'm sorry, I'm a little more concerned about the hostages. Screw the imaginary backlash and all its pedlars.

Just so.