Category: Security

Deprogram Yourself: Serco: The Biggest Company You’ve Never Heard Of

Source: Deprogram Yourself: Serco: The Biggest Company You’ve Never Heard Of

The Rise of America’s Secret Government: The Deadly Legacy of Ex-CIA Director Allen Dulles Pt. 2 | Democracy Now!

Part 2 of our interview with David Talbot, author of “The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government,” about how Dulles’ time at the CIA helped shape the current national security state.

Source: The Rise of America’s Secret Government: The Deadly Legacy of Ex-CIA Director Allen Dulles Pt. 2 | Democracy Now!

Parramatta shooting: three men arrested in Sydney raids were listed on terrorism control orders. Yet Farhad wasn’t known in a crowd on the security radar

NSW police face questions over lack of information on 15-year-old Farhad Jabar before the attack as investigators look into links with extremists

Source: Parramatta shooting: three men arrested in Sydney raids were listed on terrorism control orders | Australia news | The Guardian

Use of Force Bill – first secrecy, now the power to use deadly force – » The Australian Independent Media Network

BlockUseOfForcee

Use of Force Bill – first secrecy, now the power to use deadly force – » The Australian Independent Media Network.

Paediatrician may face prison for speaking out about Nauru – ABC North Coast NSW – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Prof David Isaacs

Paediatrician may face prison for speaking out about Nauru – ABC North Coast NSW – Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Abbott Response ‘Creepy’ As More Evidence Emerges Nauru Contractors Spied on Sarah Hanson-Young | newmatilda.com

Abbott Response ‘Creepy’ As More Evidence Emerges Nauru Contractors Spied on Sarah Hanson-Young | newmatilda.com.

The War You Don’t See

Were it not for Edward Snowden, the N.S.A. would likely still be collecting the records of almost every phone call made in the United States, and no one outside of government would know it.

NSA Forced to Stop Spying on Americans by Monday

Claire Bernish
May 29, 2015

(ANTIMEDIA) After all the outrage and controversy since Edward Snowden made the program known to the world, the bulk collection of US phone records will cease as of 5pm (East Coast) on June 1st. After the NSA did not petition the secretive FISA Court for a 90-day extension, the nearly 14-year run of the hugely contentious metadata dragnet has finally met its demise.

“We did not file an application for reauthorization,” an NSA official told The Guardian.

 

Use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act to justify bulk data collection was deemed illegal by a federal appeals court on May 7, much to the delight of civil rights advocates and others who were alarmed to discover such an enormously invasive governmental overreach. No injunction was ordered with that ruling since the court felt its decision would ostensibly lead to sunsetting the provision on June 1st.

The Obama Administration announced that it would order the NSA to wind down its spy programs which target Americans if Congress did not extend section 215 of the Patriot Act by May 22nd. Congress didn’t extend it thanks to an hours-long bipartisan filibuster, so the program began shutting down last week.

After a great deal of wrangling on the Senate floor on Saturday, the USA Freedom Act was defeated after failing to garner enough support. Though marketed to the public as a way to halt the NSA’s spying, the act would permit new bulk data collection on millions of Americans. It would also renew Patriot Act provisions that allow the FBI to access business records.

Once the Freedom Act was voted down, Sen Mitch McConnell scrambled to pass a temporary renewal of the Patriot Act’s Section 215 with aspirations to compromise on the bill when Congress returns in June. His attempts were thwarted. McConnell is a diehard proponent of an extensive surveillance program, calling this “a high-threat period” for domestic spying.

Though the NSA’s role as a data collector for Americans has now come to an end, the Freedom Act — if passed — would transfer that duty to phone companies. The government would then have access to the information. Included in the legislation, is a transition period of at least six months for developing the necessary technology to carry out the program.

Sen Rand Paul, who wants the ability to constrain parts of the act through amendment, expressed concerns about its premise: “This is […] about whether or not a warrant with a single name of a single company can be used to collect all the records. All of the phone records of all of the people in our country with a single warrant. Our forefathers would be aghast.”

The Senate reconvenes on May 31st to attempt an agreement about the bill although the chances that it will occur are remote.

“For the first time, a majority of senators took a stand against simply rubber-stamping provisions of the Patriot Act that have been used to spy on Americans. It’s disappointing that the Senate couldn’t coalesce around far-reaching reform, but in its absence the Senate should simply let the expiring provisions sunset,” said Michael Macleod-Ball from the ACLU’s Washington office.

Fittingly, the NSA’s notorious surveillance dragnet ended almost as surreptitiously as it began.


Anti-terror: Take our rights — we probably don’t need those

Anti-terror: Take our rights — we probably don’t need those.

Good Theatre, Bad Policy: Another Day In the Life Of National Security Tony | newmatilda.com

Good Theatre, Bad Policy: Another Day In the Life Of National Security Tony | newmatilda.com.

AFP on the ball Scott Morrison may instruct my citizenship cancelled after 66 years and paying taxes for 58 years. This country has certainly changed. Abbott’s documentation is flawed but that’s ok it’s vanished.

Matthew Flannery

Australian Federal Police methods under question after ‘LulzSec hacker’ claims he was wrongly accused

A man described by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) as being the leader of the notorious international hacking group LulzSec says the AFP’s claims are based on a single joke Facebook message.

A 7.30 investigation has found a teenage accomplice was actually responsible for the hack and was raided by police but never charged.

Late last month 25-year-old Matthew Flannery was sentenced to 15 months’ home detention when he was convicted of five hacking charges.

When he was arrested in April last year police called him a self-described leader of LulzSec, a claim that shocked Flannery when he was bailed.

“I went to a computer in the library because, you know, they’d taken mine, and I started Googling [sic] and to my shock and horror I found that not only was I being reported by Australian news agencies, but also internationally,” Flannery told 7.30.

A detailed examination of his court documents showed only one reference to LulzSec, which Flannery said was a joke Facebook message to his friend.

“I would like to know if that is solely what they are basing their claims off of and, if so, then why did the AFP – in a press release in front of the world – state that I had made claims in online chat communities that were frequented by LulzSec members that I was the leader of LulzSec?” Flannery said.

The AFP’s national manager of cyber crime Commander Glen McEwen said police were unsure if Flannery was ever a member of LulzSec but his boasting attracted the attention of police.

“That’s something I cannot confirm,” Commander McEwen said.

“As you’d appreciate, the virtual world and the anonymity as such, people come together for certain reasons and move away.

“I cannot categorically say that the individual was part of LulzSec but I definitely can’t discount that.”

Commander McEwen said he did not back away from his comments that Flannery was a risk to Australian society.

“I don’t make any excuse or apologise for the activity of the AFP in relation to this matter,” he said.

Secret internet chat logs also show the hack announced by the AFP was carried out by a teenage accomplice.

It involved placing an offensive image on the Narrabri Shire Council website in the early hours of the morning.

Hacking sources said Flannery asked for the hack to be carried out because, far from being the leader of LulzSec, he lacked the technical skill to carry out a basic attack.

“Why were people raided as a result of my arrest – because they were associated with me? Why were they raided?” Flannery asked.

“And saying this serves no benefit to me, it’s more a question of the AFP’s integrity.

“Why were those people raided and arrested for much more serious offences and yet saw no charges or any kind of media attention whatsoever?”

Commander McEwen likened virtual crimes to break and enter and robbery and said the AFP stands by the arrest.

“I still don’t understand where people believe that breaking in and stealing from others is harmless fun,” he said.

“I’m sorry maybe I’m old school, but I just don’t agree with that.”

Charges considered against SAS corporal who removed hands of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Special forces soldier

In August last year, the ABC revealed a group of soldiers from the elite SAS Regiment were under investigation for cutting off the hand of at least one Afghan insurgent.

The ADFIS officer told them it did not matter how the fingerprints were taken and that it would be acceptable to chop off the hands of the dead and bring them back to base for identification purposes.

The ABC understands it took three days for the senior command at Tarin Kowt to realise what had happened, but as soon as it was known an operation pause ( paws ) was put in place.

Article 15 of the Geneva convention states: “At all times, and particularly after an engagement, Parties to the conflict shall, without delay, take all possible measures to search for and collect the wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled.”

After the publication of the initial story in August last year, the ABC was informed that an AFP investigation would be launched to identify the source of what was described as an unauthorised disclosure of information.

We now have no-knock raids in this country. What we can look foward to.

nazisssss

Finalists Announced For This Year’s NAZI Stormtrooper Of The Year Award

 The five finalists have been announced for the coveted NAZI Stormtrooper of the Year Award. The award is given each year to the SWAT team or individual law enforcement officer who, in the opinion of the judges, perpetrates the most heinous atrocity on an innocent American citizen during a drug raid or traffic stop. The award is sponsored by the Peace Officers Malevolent League, the National Association of Corrupt Prosecutors, the Bribable Judges Guild, and the Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club of Brighton, Illinois.

This year the awards ceremony will take place in Atlanta because of the high number of abominations carried out by officers representing that great state. The winner of this year’s competition is expected to be announced sometime this week.

Below you will find a brief synopsis of each raid and subsequent barbaric obscenity being considered by the panel of judges.

1. The Phonesavanh Family, Habersham County, Georgia

In Cornelia, Georgia on May 28—narcotics officers carried out a paramilitary no-knock SWAT raid at 3 AM at the home of Alecia Phonesavanh. The person they were looking for, Phonesavanh’s nephew Wanis Thonetheva, was suspected of making a $50 methamphetamine sale. Thonetheva, however, didn’t even live in Phonesavanh’s home and was nowhere to be found during the raid. But Phonesavanh’s 19-month-old toddler, Bounkham “Bou Bou” Phonesavanh, was home. After breaking down the door of the Phonesavanh home, one of the officers tossed a flashbang grenade—which landed in the baby’s crib, exploded and caused the toddler extensive injuries (including severe burns, disfigurement and hole in his chest that exposed his ribs). No drugs were found in the home, and Wanis Thonetheva was subsequently arrested later without incident.

To make matters worse, Habersham County officials announced in August that the county would not be giving the Phonesavanh family any assistance with the baby’s huge medical expenses. And the fact that members of the SWAT team escaped criminal charges on October 6 only encourages militarized narcotics officers to continue endangering the public.

2. David Hooks, East Dublin, Georgia

In September, methamphetamine addict Rodney Garrett confessed to stealing an SUV from the home of 59-year-old David Hooks, an East Dublin, Georgia resident who owned a construction company. Garrett claimed that he found a bag of meth in the vehicle, and the Laurens County Sheriff’s Department obtained a warrant for a no-knock raid on Hooks’ home. When the SWAT team broke into Hooks’ house on September 23, Hooks—according to attorney Mitchell Shook, who is representing Hooks’ widow—thought he was being robbed again and grabbed a gun to defend himself, although Shook said Hooks’ didn’t actually fire it. At least 16 shots were fired by the SWAT team, killing Hooks instantly. Shook told reporters, “There is no evidence that David Hooks ever fired a weapon.”

No drugs were found in the home during a 44-hour search. And there was no evidence that Hooks had any involvement in drug trafficking apart from the dubious claims of a confessed meth addict and car thief.

3. Jason Westcott, Tampa, Florida

Militarized police are a hazard all over the United States, but progressive talk radio host/attorney Mike Papantonio has said more than once that militarized police in the Deep South (who he describes as “Dixieland stormtroopers”) are especially toxic. And the Dixieland stormtroopers were feeling very trigger-happy when, on May 27, a SWAT team in Tampa, Florida carried out a no-knock raid on the home of 29-year-old Jason Westcott (who narcotics officers suspected of selling marijuana). Westcott, who evidently believed he was being robbed, grabbed his gun—and he was killed when the SWAT team opened fire. Officers found about two dollars worth of marijuana in the house.

4. Larry Lee Arman, St. Paul, Minnesota

There have been many examples of militarized narcotics officers killing pet dogs during drug raids, and the two dogs that St. Paul, Minnesota resident Larry Lee Arman owned were shot and killed when a SWAT team carried out a no-knock drug raid on his home onJuly 9. Although Arman acknowledges that he is a recreational marijuana user, he has vehemently denied any involvement in drug trafficking—and the only items found during the raid were a glass bong and marijuana remnants in a metal grinder. Camille Perry, Arman’s girlfriend, was present during the raid and said that she feared for the lives of her children. “The only thing I was thinking was my kids were going to get hit by bullets,” Perry told Minneapolis’ KMSP-TV. But gratefully, their children—unlike Bounkham “Bou Bou” Phonesavanh—were not injured.

5. Lillian Alonzo, Manchester, New Hampshire

Journalist Radley Balko (author of Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces) has often said that when paramilitary weapons are used in connection with investigations for nonviolent offenses, the chances of innocent people being injured escalate. That happened in Manchester, New Hampshire on August 27, when members of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raided the apartment of 49-year-old Lilian Alonzo.

Although two of her daughters, Johanna Nunez and Jennifer Nunez, were suspects in the investigation, Alonzo herself was not a suspect—and neither of them lived with her. During the raid, the unarmed Alonzo was picking up a baby when two shots were fired; one of them went through her left arm and entered her left ribcage (30 stitches were needed). No drugs were found in Lilian Alonzo’s apartment.

Honorable Mention

Dwayne Perry, Cartersville, Georgia

In Cartersville, Georgia, state narcotics officers acted like soldiers in Fallujah, Al Anbar when, in early October, they invaded the back yard of Dwayne Perry. Flying overhead in a helicopter, they were searching for marijuana plants and thought they spotted some in Perry’s yard. The officers, weapons drawn, invaded the yard with a K-9 unit. But what they thought were marijuana plants turned out to be okra plants. Perry told WSB-TV: “I was scared…….They were strapped to the gills. Anything could have happened.”

Iraq war logs: secret files show how US ignored torture

• Massive leak reveals serial detainee abuse
• 15,000 unknown civilian deaths in war

Iraq, Rawa. Operation Steel CurtainInsurgent suspects are led away by US forces. Some of those held in Iraqi custody suffered appalling abuse, the war logs reveal. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian

A grim picture of the US and Britain’s legacy in Iraq has been revealed in a massive leak of American military documents that detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.

Almost 400,000 secret US army field reports have been passed to the Guardian and a number of other international media organisations via the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The electronic archive is believed to emanate from the same dissident US army intelligence analyst who earlier this year is alleged to have leaked a smaller tranche of 90,000 logs chronicling bloody encounters and civilian killings in the Afghan war.

The new logs detail how:

• US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished.

• A US helicopter gunship involved in a notorious Baghdad incident had previously killed Iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender.

• More than 15,000 civilians died in previously unknown incidents. US and UK officials have insisted that no official record of civilian casualties exists but the logs record 66,081 non-combatant deaths out of a total of 109,000 fatalities.

The numerous reports of detainee abuse, often supported by medical evidence, describe prisoners shackled, blindfolded and hung by wrists or ankles, and subjected to whipping, punching, kicking or electric shocks. Six reports end with a detainee’s apparent death.

As recently as December the Americans were passed a video apparently showing Iraqi army officers executing a prisoner in Tal Afar, northern Iraq. The log states: “The footage shows approximately 12 Iraqi army soldiers. Ten IA soldiers were talking to one another while two soldiers held the detainee. The detainee had his hands bound … The footage shows the IA soldiers moving the detainee into the street, pushing him to the ground, punching him and shooting him.”

The report named at least one perpetrator and was passed to coalition forces. But the logs reveal that the coalition has a formal policy of ignoring such allegations. They record “no investigation is necessary” and simply pass reports to the same Iraqi units implicated in the violence. By contrast all allegations involving coalition forces are subject to formal inquiries. Some cases of alleged abuse by UK and US troops are also detailed in the logs.

WikiLeaks says it is posting online the entire set of 400,000 Iraq field reports – in defiance of the Pentagon.The whistleblowing activists say they have deleted all names from the documents that might result in reprisals. They were accused by the US military of possibly having “blood on their hands” over the previous Afghan release by redacting too few names. But the military recently conceded that no harm had been identified.

Condemning this fresh leak, however, the Pentagon said: “This security breach could very well get our troops and those they are fighting with killed. Our enemies will mine this information looking for insights into how we operate, cultivate sources and react in combat situations, even the capability of our equipment.”

Some diseases are good for politics they justify more secrity measures some aren’t . We don’t speak of those

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Australia’s metadata grab will create modern-day Stasi files Keeping phone, internet and location metadata for two years will allow modern-day Stasi files to be created for all Australians

Laptop computer

Blanket data retention is no less than state-sanctioned mass surveillance. As a country of immigrants, many of whom came to this land seeking a fairer, more democratic society, Australia would do well to recall that democracy does not easily flourish when governments employ mass surveillance in the name of protecting national security.

The Stasi collected 40 binders – somewhere in the vicinity of 20,000 pages – on Poppe over 15 years. In 2010, Austrian Max Schrems made an access request to Facebook, asking the internet giant to provide him with a copy of all data collected by the company about Schrems since he joined in 2008. He received 1,222 pages relating to his activity on the site over a three year period, including information Schrems believed he had deleted from the site.

One need only consider the many other internet services all Australians use, and the many telecommunications providers who facilitate those individuals’ access to internet services, in order to get a sense of how much metadata exists, and what exactly it might reveal about them. The Stasi’s files pale in comparison.

Well Spent 650 million to inconvenience the hell out of us ON THE GROUND

The mother and her two sons are filing a lawsuit.

Family targeted in Sydney’s anti-terrorism raids launches legal action

 

EXCLUSIVE
The mother and her two sons are filing a lawsuit.

The mother and her two sons are filing a lawsuit. Photo: Janie Barrett

Mohamed woke to the sound of his mother screaming.

Men in balaclavas with bright flashlights had bashed the door in at 4.30am and dragged Amatuallah out of bed without giving her a chance to cover herself.

Mohamed, 15, and his brother Omar, 14, were handcuffed while police searched their south-west Sydney home for 12 hours.

“They bought in dogs to smell the place, they bought in metal detectors, they scratched the doors, they dug up the backyard, they looked through all the books and they found nothing,” Mohamed said. “Even if they found one thing, they would have charged us.”
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The family of three will launch a civil suit in the NSW Supreme Court this week claiming they were brutally and unfairly targeted during counter-terrorism raids in Sydney last month.

Their home was one of 16 raided by state and federal police before dawn on September 18 but they were not detained or charged and they still have not been told why they were targeted.

The family’s claim of heavy-handedness is one of several arising from the largest-ever counter-terrorism raids, which netted just one suspect.

Mohamed said he wants a police officer who punched his mother to be charged. He claimed his mother tried to stop an officer from ripping her bed sheets off and was assaulted in the process.

“What really burns me from inside was hearing my mum screaming and seeing her in pain and not being able to do anything. I will remember that forever,” he said.

“My mum has covered herself all her life and all of a sudden someone punches her because she didn’t want to expose her body.”

The family have used aliases and concealed their identities to protect themselves from further backlash.

Mohamed said their neighbours have stopped talking to them and he and his brother are scared to return to school this week because they do not know how students will react.

He is even worried the unwanted attention might affect his job prospects.

Police took away the family’s laptops and mobile phones and Mohamed has not been able to complete holiday assignments before school returns.

“I’m an Australian boy, I was bred here, I’ve lived in this house for 11 years, I don’t know any other country,” he said. “Every time I go to bed I’m afraid that I will wake up at 4.30am with police over my head and handcuffs on my hands.”

Zali Burrows, the family’s lawyer, has enlisted barrister Clive Evatt to launch legal action. A complaint was made to an independent police observer at the raid who told Ms Burrows that an incident report would be provided.

A spokesman for the NSW police, who executed the search warrant, said they were not aware of any formal complaints.

“However if one is received it will be investigated thoroughly,” the spokesman said.

It’s believed Amatuallah’s family were targeted because of loose family links to a man charged with foreign incursion offences, yet they are adamant they are a law-abiding family with no links to terrorism.

Others swept up in the raids have also challenged their inclusion. Marsfield labourer Mustafa Dirani, 21, who was detained then released, said he had never even contemplated religious extremism.

Kawa Alou claims he had his nose broken and Maywand Osman suffered serious bruising on his face.

One man, Omarjan Azari, was charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act after allegedly speaking via phone to terrorist Mohammed Ali Baryalei, who told him to behead a stranger.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/family-targeted-in-sydneys-antiterrorism-raids-launches-legal-action-20141006-10qrsd.html#ixzz3FPAsP1iv

The argument is about Security in Parliament and not about the cultural religious significance of a code of dress.

Ban the Hassidic Jews, the Amish. If the beard and glasses were left behind would you recognize this dude?

Burqa defenders’ paradox of injustice

Date
August 13, 2010

Comments 106

Ruby Hamad

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/society-and-culture/burqa-defenders-paradox-of-injustice-20100812-121bm.html#ixzz3F9ALjslK

The argument about Parliamentary Security was framed by the advice given to a an MP by Peta Credlin. All the other cultural arguments attached to the two items of clothing referred to by the Burqa are irrelevant and don’t apply here.

The newly appointed director of the  AFP Andrew Colvin says he has no problem with it at a security issue. Nor do various State premiers. Tony Abbott foolishly turned it into a personal issue when he showed his prejudice. Strange for a man who once thought of donning religiously symbolic dress himself..

The issue was raised by Lambie, Bernardi and others in unfortunate terms. If facial recognition is required on entering Parliament why single out the burqa other than for attention grabbing and divisive reasons. Shit other current fashion trends could do with closer examination and not only the burqa when it comes to security. Hipster  beards and sunglasses, overly made up women with large retro sunglasses would be hard to ID in any line up after they were quickly removed. Polite people who don’t want to share the flue are as confronting as anybody with hygiene masks on. So why  is the burqa the focus of argument in our pluralistic democracy? Surely ‘facial recognition required’ would have been better.

As for the cultural contradictions Ruby Hamad is referring to they are another matter and a matter that isn’t at the heart of Islam but rather her culture. The Burqa and Niqab are not a Koranic requirement nor a cultural one in the majority of Islamic countries around the world. So to identify it as an Islamic symbol of repression of 800 million women is a bit rich. Indonesia has had more women in power in politics than we have encourages education the running of businesses etc etc. Malaysia, Philipines Thailand in fact the burqa is really only found in Afghanistan and the Niqab in Saudi Arabia Iran and a few others.

Andrew Bolt loves to drag the oppression line up whenever he can and use it against Islam as a religion rather than to the specific culture of a country. Christian white right-winger males  trot  this out not to save anybody but to condemn Islam. You see  Bolt never raises the issue when it comes to Orthodox Jews whose dress codes are extremely strict for both men and women. Individuals also don’t stand out due to modesty requirements. Amish it’s a crime to cut the beard off an Amish man.

Cultural oppression of women strikes me as far more severe in  Christian countries Somalia, 95% and Ethiopia where 65% of women are forced to be circumcised or should I say mutilated. Bolt conveniently side steps that one. Ruby I appreciate the personal conflict you have with your parents but your right many of the women from your culture are not as conflicted and are comforted by it. You seem to be suffering a cross generational as much as cross cultural issue in a multicultural society. It happens to Italians, Greeks, strict christian denominations as much as it is happening to you.

 

 

 

 

Australian women wear headscarves in solidarity with Muslim community

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/10/02/australian-women-wear-headscarves-solidarity-muslim-community

“The response I have got from that has been pretty terrifying, being linked to terrorism just because I have chosen to wear a piece of fabric on my head.”

“We’re all people, we’re all human and it doesn’t matter what we wear, what colour our skin is, what we believe in – we’re all human and we’re all equal. We should be able to live our lives with our differences.”

“I would love to see some of our politicians who perhaps are a little bit obsessed with discussing Muslim women’s dress, for them to perhaps don a hijab and get behind this campaign.”

Our Prime Minister thinks the war back home is the easiest but we don’t have enough POW camps

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Australia State of Terror. Lies and Misconceptions

ious

Like many things our prime minister says, it is simply a convenient lie.These are not good laws. They are not even laws to make Australia safer.These are cynical, opportunistic laws. Laws barrelled through under the spurious guise of protecting us against a fanatical foreign Islamic beheading cult with apparent links to Muslims in this country.

They are appalling laws, built on a lie.

There has never been an act of domestic terror in Australia. And no, a lone teenager committing a seemingly unplanned act of violence is neither a terror attack nor a retrospective justification for foreign military intervention and ramped up “counter-terrorism” powers.The so-called Islamic State ‒ a ragtag bunch of rebels occupying a chunk of land about the size of Tasmania half a world away, is hardly a threat to anyone — except if you happen to live in Iraq or Syria. American Homeland Security are quite clear on that

Yes, there may indeed be 50 or 60 Australians fighting with them, but that doesn’t make them a threat here in Australia — particularly after ASIO summarily cancelled their passports. Any supporters these foreign fighters have in this country ‒ a miniscule number at most ‒ are surely able to be easily monitored using existing laws and, if they commit a criminal act, arrested and prosecuted under the existing criminal law.

The real reason for these new powers has got nothing to do with Islamic State, or ISIL, or ISIS ‒ or whatever they are called this week ‒ but they are to do with closing down scrutiny of Australia’s spies and the Government unpublicised activities.

ASIO have been caught with their pants down on two majorly embarrassing occasions since the Abbott Government took power last year.

The first occurred when the ABC and Guardian Australia published leaks from former U.S. intelligence operative whistleblower Edward Snowden that our spies had tapped then Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s mobile phone for 15 days in 2009. These revelations caused a major rift with Indonesia and is still a lingering source of tension.

It was not long after this event, on January 28, that Abbott first used his famous “team” epithet, while denouncing the ABC in an interview with on 2GB with his friend, right wing Sydney shock jock Ray Hadley [IA emphasis]:

“It dismays Australians when the national broadcaster appears to take everyone’s side but our own and I think it is a problem.

“You would like the national broadcaster to have a rigorous commitment to truth and at least some basic affection for the home team, so to speak.”

Abbott went on to call Snowden a “traitor”, saying the ABC “seemed to delight” in publishing his information:

“And of course, the ABC didn’t just report what he said, they took the lead in advertising what he said. That was a deep concern.”

Abbott reaffirmed his position in a subsequent doorstep, going on to condemn the ABC for working with the Guardian, or as he put it:

“… touting for a left wing British newspaper.”

There were no surprises when the vindictive Abbott left it for his broken former rival Malcolm Turnbull to announce an efficiency review of the ABC a couple of days later. This review has now called for the ABC’s budget to be slashed with some important investigative news programs, such as Lateline, in the firing line. Turnbull has also flagged cutting $200 million from as ABC budget already cut deeply in the May Budget, blatantly breaking a clear election promise.

These terror laws will stop whistleblowers exposing the Government’s undercover operations through the media.

The problem with this is that the Coalition ‒ under Tony Abbott, avowedly “open for business” ‒  is seemingly not above using the security services in an improper way to assist private individuals and corporations. Under the new laws, any whistleblower seeking to expose the security services, for instance, helping an Australian big business on the behest of a cabinet minister looking for a cosy post-parliamentary sinecure will now be shut down and any journalists assisting locked up for a long time.

These security laws, therefore, can be seen as the next stage in the Abbott programme to hamstring the ABC as an effective source of scrutiny of Government activities.

But, even more importantly, they will make Australian journalism generally reluctant to expose the Government’s undercover activities, as this could lead to them being sent to prison for a decade.

Australia’s spy network was again in the spotlight in December last year after Attorney General George Brandis ordered ASIO to raid the Canberra offices and home of barrister Bernard Colleary, a former ACT deputy chief minister, who was representing East Timor against Australia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.

This is not democracy. No wonder they don’t want a Federal ICAC.

The Islamic State is a mirage as far as we are concerned here in Australia. It is not an existential threat to us. The grave threat, in truth, is new security laws that stifle freedom of speech, remove privacy protections, gaol journalists and serve, in the end, to limit scrutiny of the Government and its operatives.

Moreover, providing new powers to secret agents, which also provides them with civil and criminal immunity is an outright danger and threat to us as citizens. It makes these shadowy figures immune to prosecution and therefore, effectively, unaccountable for their actions. Under these laws, frankly, spies can kill us and fear no recourse.

Under these laws, there is no-one to watch the watchers. Now that is truly terrifying.

In truth, we probably expect our extreme right wing Government to implement these sorts of outrageous and unwarranted laws; certainly we can see why they are doing so. It is, however, the weak acquiescence by their so-called Opposition that is most criminal part of this affaor.

We know the ALP under Bill Shorten do not want not a cigarette paper between themselves and the Government on immigration and security matters. This is the exact small target strategy using so brilliantly and effectively by former Opposition leader Kim Beazley during such events as the Tampa Affair and Children Overboard.

However, politicians who unnecessarily sacrifice the rights of the people in the interests of popularity and power show themselves up as unsuitable for high office.

By supporting these so-called “anti-terror” laws ‒ which have nothing to do with preventing terrorism ‒ the ALP, under their current milquetoast leader, have followed the Coalition so far to the right, they are no longer truly a progressive Opposition.

And now more than ever, as the Government shuts down scrutiny and proposes gaoling journalists, Australia needs a progressive Opposition

 

What triggered his rage?” He wasn’t part of Al Furqan for quite some time” His passport was cancelled and his home raided

Man shot dead, two counter-terrorism officers stabbed outside Endeavour Hills police station

Numan Haider was shot dead after stabbing two police officers outside a Melbourne police

Numan Haider in a Facebook image posted today. Source: HeraldSun

POLICE searched the home of terror suspect Numan Haider just hours before he was shot dead last night, it has been claimed.

Firebrand preacher Sheikh Ustadh Mohammed Junaid Thorne made the explosive claims on Facebook as he paid tribute to the slain Endeavour Hills teenager.

Haider, 18, had an Islamic flag with him when he was shot dead after stabbing two counter-terrorism police officers.

“We understand that the local authorities had cancelled the passport of this young boy for no reason, keeping him a captive in his own country for no valid purpose,” Sheikh Thorne wrote.

“We also understand that the police visited or raided his house (not clear yet) as he was hanging out with some friends in Hungry Jacks, just hours before his death.”

“The police then requested him (or forced him) to come in for a brief meeting or questioning.”

Sheikh Thorne said Haider’s friends tried to talk him out of visiting the police station, but he said he had nothing to hide or be afraid of.

“Unfortunately, our young brother went alone to meet with these “ambiguous” policemen, the violators of his privacy, and it is still unknown the details of what happened then,” he wrote. “What we are sure of though is that he was murdered in cold blood right in front of a police station, in front of a place that is supposed to be providing security and comfort to our youth.”

READ MORE OF SHEIKH THORNE’S CLAIMS

Haider, whose recent behaviour had caused authorities “significant concern”, had his passport cancelled about a week ago on security grounds.

People seen walking into Haider’s Endeavour Hills’ home today. Source: HeraldSun

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said the Afghani teen, a past member of radical Islamic group Al-Furqan, first came in contact with police three months ago.

He said officers had previously spoken to Haider but his activities had heightened in recent weeks. ????

“We first became aware of this male three months ago when he came into contact with Victoria Police,” Mr Lay said.

“It’s true to say late last week we learned of some behaviours that were causing us significant concern and our interest was greatly heightened.” ???

A constant stream of wellwishers and family have visited Haider’s Endeavour Hills home today. While today it’s in mourning, last night it was crawling with counter-terror officers.

A relative who answered the door said the family were grieving.

The teen’s mother Suraya has barely spoken since the news was broken to her last night.

“She did not know what her son was doing,” the friend told the Herald Sun.

“She is in shock and very upset.”

The teen’s 20-year-old brother is comforting his parents, the friend said.

“We are in mourning, we have not buried the body we have not seen the body, “ he said.

The body of Numan Haider is removed from the scene. Picture: Andrew Batsch Source: News Corp Australia

 

Forensic police outside Endeavour Hills police station. Picture: Getty

Forensic police outside Endeavour Hills police station. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images

A neighbour said the teenager had lived at his Endeavour Hills home for several years.

He said Haider would politely nod a greeting in the street.

Earlier it was confirmed that Haider had been waving a flag supporting terror group Islamic State at a shopping centre, bringing him under scrutiny.

It is understood it was at Dandenong Plaza Shopping Centre.

“It’s true to say some of our people came across this person in public places and held conversations with him,” Mr Lay said.

Australian Federal Police Acting Commissioner Andrew Colvin said the investigation was in its early stages but no specific threat had been made by Haider against Prime Minister Tony Abbott despite reports.

Mr Colvin said “a range of factors” heightened the police interest in the Muslim teen in recent days. ????

HAVE YOUR SAY: BLOG WITH ANDREW BOLT

BEZZINA: CALM NEEDED AGAINST THREAT

Mr Colvin said a decision was made to talk to Haider about his “rhetoric” and his intentions.  ????

Counter-terrorism officers met Haider outside Endeavour Hills police station in Melbourne’s southeast about 7.45pm after the teen told police he felt uneasy about taking in the station’s foyer.

He greeted the officers with a handshake before stabbing an AFP agent in the neck, abdomen and upper body.

He then stabbed a Victoria Police officer twice in the arm.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said the Victorian officer fired a single shot that killed Haider.

A second knife was found on Haider’s body after the shooting.

The AFP officer has undergone surgery in Melbourne and is in a serious but stable condition.

The Victoria Police officer will have surgery today and is in a stable condition.

Police said they had “no choice” but to shoot the teen dead after the stabbings.

“I think the fact that the Joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce was doing some work around him indicates our level of concern,” Mr Lay told 3AW radio today.

Mr Lay said Haider “had one thing on his mind and that was to do the most amount of harm to these people (police officers) that he could”.

Mr Abbott said the incident in Melbourne’s southeast shows some Australians are capable “of very extreme acts” and would do their countrymen harm.

“The suspect did mount a fierce attack on both officers,” Mr Abbott said in a statement issued from the US.

“Obviously, this indicates that there are people in our community who are capable of very extreme acts.

“It also indicates that the police will be constantly vigilant to protect us against people who would do us harm.”

Mr Abbott was briefed on the incident while travelling to New York to attend United Nations meetings dealing with the rising threat of the Islamic State.

Islamic Council of Victoria secretary Ghaith Krayem said members of Al Furqan told him Haider hadn’t been a part of the group for a while.

A bomb squad member is suited up before inspecting the police station. Picture: Mike Keat

A bomb squad member is suited up before inspecting the police station last night. Picture: Mike Keating Source: News Limited ???

Police at the scene. Picture: Mike Keating Source: News Limited

Timeline of last night’s incident. Source: HeraldSun

Harun Mehicevic, leader of Al-Furqan in Springvale, refused to confirm Haider’s alleged involvement in the group.

He said he would not comment on Haider’s attack on two police officers or discuss his death last night.

Speaking outside a Springvale flat near the Al-Furqan bookshop, the controversial sheik said the group was working on a statement to be released later today.

Al Furqan Information Centre in Springvale South was raided by counter-terrorism squads in 2012.

Horat Ali Batoor, a photographer representing Melbourne’s Afghani Hazara community, said Haider appeared to be of Aryan descent.

He said that Haider was not linked to the Hazara community who moved to Melbourne in the 1990s.

“He’s Aryan looking,” he said.

“Probably he was born here.”

Mr Batoor condemned the attack.

“We totally condemn this action,” he said.

“Terrorism is not acceptable, we came here to escape terrorism.”

A large crime scene remains in place at the police station as detectives continue to investigate.

Police and SES members erected a tarp and makeshift wire fence around a silver sedan, believed to be Haider’s car. Detectives removed what is believed to be evidence in paper bags from the scene.

“Our members had no inkling that this individual posed a threat to them,” Mr Cornelius said.

“It’s absolutely clear to us that our members really had no choice other than to act in the way in which they did.”

Mr Lay said the officers would get help to recover from the physical and mental trauma of the attack.

“These were two young men who turned up to work, doing their job, keeping their community safe, in a very very difficult environment,” he said.

Mr Lay has written to all Victoria Police members today warning them to be alert and prepared for any situation.

There will be extra police at the AFL Grand final on Saturday, including undercover operatives.

Mr Cornelius said it was “important that the community understands this is not an exercise in police seeking to single out particular individuals in the community”.

“Where we see individuals in the community behaving in a way which causes a concern to public safety, we have to reach out to those individuals and do what we can to understand what it is that they might be planning to do and put ourselves in a position to deal with those individuals in a way which is safe and in a way which promotes community safety,” he said.

The homicide squad will investigate on behalf of the State Coroner, with the police Professional Standard Commands to oversee the investigation.

Abbott’s let the dogs out and 3 families suffer

 

Be Alert, Be Very, Very Alert! The Person Next To May Have An iPhone.

  • September 24, 2014
  • Written by:
  • paraphrased

 

Last night a man was shot by police. A policeman is in hospital with serious wounds. These events are tragic. The man is alleged to have made threats against the Prime Minister (who is currently out of the country). Whether these involved a knife or a chaff bag is unclear at this stage.

It just strikes me as inconsistent that we can dismiss a threat to one prime minister as just being “a figure of speech”, but another will be used by many people as justification for a range of measures. And yes, it  has resulted in a violent altercation.

A few days ago, the terrorist threat was raised to high, but we were told that there was no particular threat.

Then we had the raids. Which we were told had been part of an investigation which had been going on for months. And that an attack would have been carried out within days.

We’re told that the PM and Parliament are a potential target for threats.  this always been the case?  John Howard wore the bullet proof vest when speaking to good, old responsible Aussie gun owners.

Tony Abbott tells us a few days later that all that’s needed for an attack is “a knife, an iPhone and a victim”, but he adds:

“Terrorists want to scare us out of being ourselves and our best response is to insouciantly be fully Australian, to defy the terrorists by going about our normal business,” he told reporters in Sydney.

Abbott went on to tell us that orders to carry out demonstration executions had been sent to the the “small networks” of followers in Australia and other countries.

So, lets make sure that those “small networks” didn’t miss the orders by broadcasting them on the nightly news. Let’s tell everyone that how easy it is to become a terrorist – all you need is “a knife, an iPhone and a victim”

Then say that you need to be “fully Australian”  and just say “She’ll be right, mate” and go off to work.

Videos posted by ISIL stays there and nobody takes it down. Some sort of perverse respect for freedom of speech?

Yet the Murdoch media can completely ignore hundreds of thousands (world-wide) marching on climate change, but find it worth writing stories about less than a hundred protesting the building of a mosque.

 

“Regrettably, for some time to come, Australians will have to endure more security than we’re used to, and more inconvenience than we would like,” he said.

“There may be more restrictions on some, so that there can be more protection for others.

“The potential is there for a journalist or a blogger who writes about a special intelligence operation to go to jail for 10 years,”

From the Iraq war to terrorism laws, politicians are using the idea of an irrefutable “national interest” to avoid community debate and parliamentary scrutiny, writes Danielle Chubb.

Before you do that, you must tell me what the national interest is.

Who gets to decide the national interest?

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop seems unwilling to entertain the idea that the national interest might be open for debate.  “We would only act in our national interest.” Whatever the government decides, it will be “in the national interest”.

The idea that foreign policy is an elite decision-making arena, beyond the ken of the average Australian, and should not be submitted to the vagaries of Parliament, is one that serves governments well. Labor in opposition knows it too will benefit from such a formulation when in power. It is in the Opposition’s interest to continue the myth.

Why should complex legislation regarding carbon trading regulations be considered by Parliament and not questions of national security? The argument that intelligence briefings provide the clarity required to inform such decision-making is a smokescreen. We learned this back in 2003, after we had been told that reliable and sensitive intelligence pointed to the possession of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Today John Howard is saying sorry but….

When we submit to these arguments, we sacrifice exactly the democratic values we profess to defend. A functioning and responsive parliament is at the core of this

The Australian public deserves to be part of the conversation. Once troops are committed, it is difficult for politicians to properly represent the views of their constituents, for fear of appearing to denigrate the work of those Australians putting their lives on the line. It is imperative that we allow such opinions to be aired – through the democratic mechanisms we are so fortunate to have at our disposal – before we embark on military adventures.

 

It would seem our Attorney General is more a Corporal Klink and doesn’t know what he’s doing again

Labor demands detail on foreign fighters bill before pledging support

Attorney-General George Brandis, left, with his opposition counterpart Mark Dreyfus.

Attorney-General George Brandis on Sunday claimed he had secured the Opposition’s backing for the next tranche of anti-terror laws – the so-called foreign fighters bill – to be introduced to Parliament on Wednesday.

Cracks have emerged in the bipartisan political response to the rising terrorist threat, with concern inside Labor at the extent and practicality of enhanced powers the federal government plans to grant security agencies.Labor has expressed misgivings at the onus of proof being placed on returning citizens.

A spokeswoman for Mr Dreyfus said the Opposition had been surprised to hear that bipartisan agreement had been secured before Labor had seen the foreign fighters bill.

“It would be negligent of us to give blanket support for something we haven’t seen. We have internal processes to follow,” she said.

Chatter is a means to guage to what degree your opposition can be confused, manipulated and divided. It serves a purpose.

1411108355020973100.jpg

Abbott cites ‘chatter’ of attacks on govt, Parliament

 SYDNEY: Intelligence “chatter” has revealed that militants plan to attack Australian politicians and government buildings, the prime minister said on Friday, a day after hundreds of police carried out a sweeping counter-terrorism operation.

When government uses the words intelligence service you can rest assured tosteterone fueled buffoons rise to the surface

 

Would airport security stop the ex Archbishop of Sydney George Pell’s personal assistant   for two hours in an enclosed room and refuse to tell him what was happenning or that of the Anglican Archbishop? I don’t think so

The Australian National Imams Council expressed anger that one of its most senior members, an assistant to the Grand Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, was pulled up at Sydney airport on Thursday on the way to the Haj, a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

The Imam, who met Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Attorney-General George Brandis recently, was stopped at the boarding gate, stripped of his mobile phone and iPad and kept in a room for two hours without explanation, the general manager of ANIC Samir Bennegadi said.

Mr Bennegadi said the Imam was treated in an unprofessional manner and he wondered, if this could happen to one of the most senior Imams in Australia, what could happen to the rest of the Muslim population when, “especially during this time, the Haj, we have hundreds of people leaving Australia every day”.

Anti-Muslim sentiment has been felt around the country and people are reporting graffiti on mosques and attacks on homes. Threatening letters have been sent to businesses, bookshops and religious leaders with handwritten messages such as “we will fight you … terror for terror … blood for blood and … bomb for bomb”.

Cars, and houses have been vandalised  women threatened but true to form the man in the fruit salad uniform

NSW Police Superintendent Mark Walton said

officers would not “stand guard” outside mosques that received bomb threats, purportedly from the Australian Defence League.

He said that, other than the letter from the league, there were no credible threats to security being investigated during Operation Hammerhead, a NSW operation to increase police visibility that was launched after terrorism raids on Thursday.Despite a car damaged with offensive comments and women threatened to be set alight.

Passenger ejected from flight over notebook doodles

Oliver Buckworth's notes.

A Melbourne man was hauled off a Tiger Airways flight by federal police on Saturday after claims he was seen doodling and writing sentences in a notebook satirising the current terrorism threat.

“The irony is I was writing a sentence about the absurdity of the fearmongering when we live in such a happy country of ice-cream and beaches and fluffy things,” he said.

Other doodles include a sketch of a chandelier – Mr Buckworth is an interior designer – and the play on words: “Terrorismadeup.” In a cartoon of a child clutching his head, Mr Buckworth wrote in a thought bubble: “Tyrannosaurus Rex. Terodactyl. Tarantula. Terrorist.” The interior designer has now been blacklisted by the airways. Don’t fly Tiger!!!

 

 

 

 

“Beheading was not specifically mentioned in the one phone call between Barylei & Azzari

News Ltd’s Simon Benson “assumed” the plot involved beheadings. Here he is with his “Canberra source”:

View image on Twitter

The Chicken Little-in-Chief’s big beheading scare

Bob Ellis 20 September 2014, 4:00pm 26
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LggFEEr_GxY
The new Yellow Peril? (Image via hoodedutilitarian.com)

Shouting ‘fire!’ in a crowded theatre is frowned upon in most societies and thought an example of a limit on freedom of speech we can all agree on. Tony Abbott did something far, far worse yesterday. He told an entire nation they could be randomly beheaded at any moment.

He then told us to calm down, and behave as if he hadn’t said it.

He added to the usual terrors female shift-workers endure on late night buses, late night trains and the long walk from a railway station home at 1.30 a.m. — the ultimate horror of having your head cut off.

He did it by adding the word ‘random’: by not even implying, but saying straight out that you didn’t have to be famous, or politically connected to a particular cause, or a prominent member of a particular faith. You could be an ‘innocent bystander’, beheaded.

He then said it was very easy to do. All one needs, he said, is a knife and cell-phone, and an accomplice with a car.

Is this responsible? Is it the act of a nation’s leader, or a cyberbully? It seems to encourage terrorists, implying they can’t be easily detected and it doesn’t matter who they kill.

Forty-six people ‒ Australian people ‒ died from cigarettes yesterday, none from decapitation.

Three or four motorists will die this weekend, in car accidents.

Before Christmas, two young men will die in pub brawls.

‘Domestic’ terrorism will occur — a father kidnapping and threatening his estranged wife or children once or twice this fiscal year.

I will bet a lot of money no-one will be beheaded here in Australia.

It is because it is not a very Australian thing to do. People who live here don’t do that sort of thing and thereby imperil their families, and the livelihood of their parents, brothers and sisters. It is a long way from the battlegrounds of Baghdad, Mosul, Gaza, Donetsk, where such ‘terrorist’ things do happen lately — incidents in war.

And this is why it hasn’t happened in ninety-nine years and nine months here, since the Battle of Broken Hill in January 1915. It is not a particularly Australian thing to do.

And frightening old women with it is, I think, unbecoming for a prime minister. And possibly illegal, as it ‘encourages the terrorists’.
If the Prime Minister were serious about it, the two big football games this weekend in Sydney would have been cancelled, along with the opening night of The King And I. If he were serious, there would be random body searches of Middle Eastern women entering the Sydney Art Gallery. Most art galleries, given ISIL’s hatred of art, would be closed for six months.

But he isn’t serious, he’s making mischief.

He’s lost most of the policy battles of his first year and he’s thought a joke by many people, by many others a disgrace, and he’s embarked on the biggest ‘scare campaign’ since the Yellow Peril.

He’s become what I call the Chicken-Little-in-Chief. And he shouldn’t, any more, be given the time of day.

And he should be asked to resign by his colleagues (as Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond was a few hours ago and has done), or by the Senate, or by a poll of public opinion.

He’s blown it. May the sky come falling down

View image on Twitter

Attorney General is easing abuse of powers legislation. Proof is no longer necessary suspicion rules. Remove that hijab lady…Now!!!!

Arrest in Sydney

Substantial new powers of arrest for police officers under proposed amendments to anti-terrorism laws

Under the proposed changes, police officers would need only to “suspect on reasonable grounds” that a person has committed or is committing a terrorism offence. The amendments also would make it easier for authorities to apply for control orders, intended to prevent terrorist acts by restricting the movement or activities of certain people, such as forcing them to wear an electronic tag or making them report regularly to police. Under the proposed amendment, they would only need to “suspect” that this had taken place.

Allowed to enforce three-week suspensions of the passports of Australians who are suspected to be planning to “prejudice the security of Australia or a foreign country”.It makes it illegal for Australians to travel to certain places overseas except to do humanitarian or government work.

How to justify $650Mill, Abbott “we have no specific intel” Murdoch “Biggest Terrorist Raid IN History” This is a recruiting excercise.

Live blog: Hundreds of police mount anti-terrorism raids in Sydney and Brisbane

Updated 10 minutes agoThu 18 Sep 2014, 8:14am

Police have raided dozens of homes in Sydney and Brisbane as part of the largest counter-terrorism operation in Australian history.

The joint operation between local police, the Australian Federal Police and ASIO involves hundreds of officers and at least a dozen people have been arrested in Sydney.

Similar raids took place in Brisbane but police said it was too early to say if anyone had been arrested.

Keep up to date with the latest developments on our live blog.

ASIO and hundreds of police raid Sydney and Brisbane homes in biggest counter-terrorism raid in Australia’s history

ASIO and hundreds of police raid Sydney and Brisbane homes in biggest counter-terrorism raid in Australia’s history

ASIO and police swoop in terrorism raid

ASIO and police swoop in terrorism raid

ASIO and counter terrorism police have swooped on homes across Brisbane’s south and in Sydney this morning in what is believed to be the largest anti-terrorism bust in the nation’s history.

Several arrests have been made in the secret pre-dawn raids in Sydney but the Courier Mail understands there have been no arrests in Brisbane thus far.

Hundreds of police executed search warrants in Logan, Underwood and Mt Gravatt East along with the Sydney suburbs of Beecroft, Bellavista, Guildford, Merrylands, Northmead, Wentworthville, Marsfield, Westmead, Castle Hill, Revesby, Bass Hill and Regents Park.

Police arrest a man in Guilford this morning.

Police arrest a man in Guilford this morning.

The raid is believed to have been mounted following months of surveillance of people linked to the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The Courier Mail has learned that an estimated 600 officers from the Australian Federal Police, state counter terrorism units and ASIO launched the pre-emptive strike in the early hours of this morning.

The raids and arrests are believed to have been based on the execution of multiple ASIO and AFP warrants.

It is believed that dozens of suspects have been netted, with links to a Brisbane man who was recently arrested on suspected terrorism related charges.

It is believed that a terrorist network had been planning to carry out a series of attacks in Australia.

Another man is arrested in Guilford.

Another man is arrested in Guilford.

Last week, Brisbane man Omar Succarieh, 31, was arrested and charged with terrorism-related offences following a series of raids.

He’s accused of fundraising for Syria-based extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra and helping another man, Agim Kruezi, obtain funds to fight for a terror organisation overseas.

OMAR SUCCARIEH: Bail application to be heard today

TERROR RAID: Accused ‘misses his kids’

Succarieh, who is due to apply for bail in court on Thursday, is believed to be the brother of Ahmed Succarieh, who reportedly became Australia’s first suicide bomber in Syria last year.

Logan man Kruezi, 22, has alleged links to the Islamic State group.

The raid follows the lifting of the national security alert level from medium to high last Friday by the outgoing director general of ASIO David Irvine.

One of the detainees with police this morning.

One of the detained men in the pre-dawn raids in Sydney.

It is believed the size of the raid eclipsed that of Operation Pendennis in 2005 when several hundred ASIO, AFP and NSW police arrested 13 men across Melbourne and the Sydney suburb of Bankstown, who had been planning bomb attacks in both capitals.

In Brisbane, a double story house on Creek Road, Mount Gravatt East, was among the properties raided.

One neighbour said he had lived near the family, who he described as “Middle Eastern” for more than 20 years but had rarely communicated with them.

The man said he had only heard dogs barking during the morning raid.

A number of Australian Federal Police officers remain at the address.

It has not yet been confirmed whether any arrests have been made.

An AFP spokesperson said further updates would be provided later on Thursday.

Senior government ministers were unable to shed more light on the raids, but praised the work of authorities.

“I note the security agencies, the Police, ASIO are working hard to ensure that we are safe,” Coalition frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull told ABC radio this morning.

“Our security is the consequence of continued vigilance and hard work on the part of the security agencies.

Police at the scene of a raid at Mt Gravatt East.

Police at the scene of a raid at Mt Gravatt East.

“There is no cause for being complacent about security.

“There are people, regrettably some of them in our midst, that don’t have the nation’s best interest at heart.”

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s G20 Finance Minister’s meeting in Cairns, Joe Hockey said he had confidence in the security measures in place.

“Everyone needs to make sure that with an increased threat level associated with potential terrorist attacks in Australia we have all the necessary precautions taken for both the G20 here in Cairns and also in Brisbane,” the Treasurer told Sunrise.

“But, I am very confident that all bases are covered.

“We have put a lot of effort into this for a long period of time.”

There are about 60 Australians believed to be fighting in Iraq and Syria with groups such as Islamic State, while another 100 are suspected of providing support from Australia.

Originally published as Hundreds of police in terror raids

They found a terrorist!!!! That’s what we get for $650 Million…less her fine….Oh shit it better be huge….We want value for $$$

Ms Gold is accused of placing a tiny sticker, similar to this one, on a pole near Raintree Shopping Centre in Cairns.  

‘It’s almost like the Thought Police’: Grandmother, 60, CHARGED by Australian police after she allegedly placed THIS tiny G20 sticker on a pole in Cairns

  • Cairns grandma Myra Gold charged over allegedly placing a sticker on a pole
  • Four police officers raided Ms Gold’s home over the sticker 
  • She was charged with wilful damage to public property 
  • Sticker protested G20 meeting in Cairns at the weekend
  • The sticker said ‘G20 benefits the 1%’
  • ‘It’s almost like the Thought Police’, Ms Gold said    

A Cairns grandmother was charged with wilful damage to property after she allegedly placed a sticker on a pole.

Four police officers raided the home of Myra Gold, 60, on August 24.

The sticker, which was found by police on a pole at Raintree Shopping Centre, said ‘G20 benefits the 1%’.

Ms Gold told Daily Mail Australia the raid was an attack on freedom of speech.

‘It’s almost like the Thought Police,’ she said.

Myra Gold (left), pictured with a climate change poster, and the G20 stickers she was charged over. 

The G20 stickers she was charged over. 

Myra Gold (left), pictured with a climate change poster, and the G20 stickers she was charged over.

As many as 800 extra police are being sent to Cairns to guard the G20 finance ministers' meeting, held on September 20 and 21 at the city's Convention Centre. 

As many as 800 extra police are being sent to Cairns to guard the G20 finance ministers’ meeting, held on September 20 and 21 at the city’s Convention Centre.

The finance ministers of the G20 – an influential international body – will hold a meeting in Cairns at the weekend.

As many as 800 extra police are set to arrive in Cairns early this week.

‘Over in Europe when they have things like this, they have thousands of people turn up to protest,’ she said.

‘They’re allowed to protest. They understand people have a different different view.’

Ms Gold said she has no memory of placing the sticker on the pole.

She said she never expected this could happen to her.

‘(It) was quite stunning,’ she said.

Ms Gold is scheduled to appear in court on October 1.

A spokeswoman for Queensland police refused to comment further because the matter is before a court.

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