Australia foils major attack

[skooooo]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051107/ts_nm/security_australia_dc

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities foiled what they believed to be a large-scale terrorist attack, arresting 15 people during raids in the country's two biggest cities of Sydney and Melbourne, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported on Tuesday.

"I am satisfied that we have disrupted what I would regard as the final stages of a large-scale terrorist attack, or the launch of a large-scale terrorist attack here in Australia," New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney told ABC radio.

The arrests come less than a week after Prime Minster John Howard said Australia received intelligence about a "terrorist threat."

[rodeodance]

1. uu...mm...

[Newsjock]

2. I don't know any particulars, but ...

... given the political situation in Australia, let me be among the first to call total utter bullshit on this.

Or, to put it another way, "How conveeeeeeeeenient."

[melody]

3. Dearest Aussie cousins

Y'all are gettin' the same crap we are in Amurkya.

Didn't the horrible poll on Howard come out today?

[disgruntled_goat]

4. right on the heels of lowest approval ever

for aussie PM Howard.....


pure, uncut, 100% bullshit.

[spindrifter]

5. Really convenient what with the new powers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4416254.stm

And, if the new powers given to the Aussies aren't enough to make one curious, Tony is busy arguing to increase his govt. power to hold terrorism suspects for 90 days to investigate charges. And, of course, we have the Dickie-bird out there lobbying for torture rights for CIA operatives.

[Javaman]

6. Soooprise, soooprise, soooprise!!

You know, I have always liked Australians but sometimes, I get the feeling they just aren't up to speed with the rest of the world.

Apparently, asshole howard hadn't realized that the low polls/terror alert thing is old hat, been exposed and found to be total and utter bullshit.

Those poor sods.

Needless to say, my bullshit meter is off the scale on this one.

[anakie]

7. why have a go at Aussies

when it is a govt decision. I would bet on an average Australian being more 'up to speed' than your average US citizen. It is like blaming all Americans for the two time election of Bush and his policies.

Of course this is a ruse. Not only about poll numbers, but more importantly for Howard he is trying to shift attention from some regressive industrial relations laws that he is putting through parliament; as well as justification of his new anti-terrorist laws.

Johnnie so wants an incident like this so he can puff his chest out and say "look I told you so" after last week asking us to trust him. I don't trust him as far as I could throw him.

[Javaman]

8. Well, I did say asshole howard LOL

And when I say australians I'm refering to the gov't not the average slobs.

[Roland99]

9. Right when Howard's ratings were in the tank???

AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!


So freakin' transparent!!

[rooboy]

10. An amazing coincidence...

On Monday night John Howard was battered in a tv interview about why his "urgent" terrorism law reforms had not brought about any arrests.

My prediction: most or all of the people arrested will probably be released without charge on Friday night.

[Nothing Without Hope]

11. Nope. I don't believe it for a minute. The Australian press has been

enabling the Howard Administration's destruction of civil rights and power grab just as in the US. They have their version of the Patriot Act too. I strongly suspect this was a public relations move to strengthen his position - sort of a less murderous version of the 9/11 attacks here.

[spindrifter]

12. Syd. Morning Herald says

no known targets id'd at this time. They just did a pre-emptive arrest of 15 people out of a 23-warrant search. They found "chemicals." This appears more and more life puffery. How much did we pay ya, Howard?

[oregonindy]

13. yeah right

[Matilda]

14. IMO, this would tend to prove that the laws we have in place

are sufficient to deal with terrorism. We don't need to make them
"stronger" to the point where our civil liberties are eroded.

But I don't think that's the message that Howard wants to get out.

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. BBC article shows the REAL reason for "attack": pushing for martial law:

Just like our own lovely Bushies!!! Howard is a bird of a feather, inciting fear and xeonphobia to grab more power and destroy civil liberties.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4413338.stm
Last Updated: Monday, 7 November 2005, 07:15 GMT

Australia plans army terror role

By Phil Mercer
BBC News, Sydney

The Australian government is planning to bring in new laws to allow for the rapid deployment of troops to support police against any terrorist attack.

(snip)

The move comes days after Prime Minister John Howard introduced tough new anti-terror laws into parliament.

Critics have insisted these new laws have more to do with politics than national security.

(snip)

Green party Senator Kerry Nettle said the move to give the army greater powers was a cynical ploy by the government to divert attention away from its controversial industrial relations legislation.

(snip)

Yep, surely does sound familiar, except that people didn't have to die in masses to support the political power play -- yet.

[Matilda]

17. They got it!

I was discussing the proposed new laws with my husband over the
weekend, and I said "Howard would just love an excuse to declare
martial law. That would really make him feel powerful."


Howard has brought a new mentality to this country, not the
terorists. It's Howard who wants to sweep away our rights and
civil liberties. It's Howard who wants to bring in the rule of
the gun.

I used to think he was just a nasty little geek; now I think he's
a truly evil little man, absolutely drunk with power already.

[canetoad]

16. Federal police media release today

TERRORISM RELATED CHARGES
Seventeen people have been arrested in Melbourne and Sydney as a result of a joint
counter-terrorism operation involving the Australian Federal Police (AFP), NSW Police,
Victoria Police, the NSW Crime Commission and Australian Security Intelligence
Organisation (ASIO).
The men have been charged with a range of offences including sections of Commonwealth
legislation that have not been previously used, relating to being a member of a terrorist
group, conspiring to commit a terrorist act and directing a terrorist organisation.
The arrests follow the execution of 22 search warrants across Sydney and Melbourne this
morning where officers seized a range of material including unidentified substances, firearms,
travel documents, computers and backpacks.
AFP Deputy Commissioner John Lawler said: “By working collaboratively Australia's law
enforcement and intelligence agencies have managed to disrupt the alleged activities of this
group and therefore protect the Australian community from a potential terrorist threat.”
http://www.afp.gov.au/afp/page/media/2005/mr051108terrorism.pdf



It all looks pretty thin to me. ....."individuals had moved to the
point of planning some sort of activity including the purchase of potentially dangerous materials,” I believe half a dozen of the arrests were on the grounds of belonging to a proscribed organisation as detailed on the Aust. Federal Police website.

Listening to ABC radio on way to work, talk back callers split pretty evenly between 'Thank goodness the police are protecting us from terrorists,' to 'how very convienient for Howard.'

[olddad56]

18. who did they arrest? I was wondering if it were Bushes people.