Sydney dawn counter-terrorism raids: why now, and why so few answers? | Richard Ackland | Comment is free | The GuardianSydney dawn counter-terrorism raids: why now, and why so few answers? | Richard Ackland | Comment is free | The Guardian










Close






Skip to main content

 









sign in








subscribe









search




jobs






more


from the guardian:


jobs


change edition:



switch to the UK edition


switch to the AU edition







US edition




switch to the UK edition




switch to the Australia edition













The Guardian


Winner of the Pulitzer prize











home


›
opinion










home




US




world




opinion
selected




sports




soccer




tech




arts




lifestyle




fashion




business




money




travel




environment







browse all sections
close







 











Comment is free



Sydney dawn counter-terrorism raids: why now, and why so few answers?





Richard Ackland








Journalists were recruited to cover anti-terrorism dawn-raids, and lapped it up with no questions asked – it seems large media organisations are willing to be played like a trout

















An Australian Federal Police officer talks with a suspect who was detained during a raid on a house in western Sydney. Photograph: Handout/Reuters





Thursday 18 September 2014 21.41 EDT







Share on Facebook







Share on Twitter







Share via Email







Share on LinkedIn







Share on Google+







Share on WhatsApp
















A solitary intercepted phone call, over 800 police bursting into homes in Sydney and Brisbane, hovering helicopters, 15 arrested and detained, four charged.
The charge against Omarjan Azari, aged 22, is conspiracy to prepare for a terrorist attack. The prosecution alleges, “there was a clear imperative to commit an act to shock, horrify and terrify the community as a whole”. The plan allegedly involved “random selection of persons to rather gruesomely execute”. 
Stripped of all the crypto-military flourishes and the connection with Islamic fundamentalism, the charge might have been conspiracy or solicit to murder, under section 26 Crimes Act, NSW. Another man was charged with firearms and ammunition offences and released on bail. 
Soon, the politicians were on the job. NSW premier Mike Baird, usually a pusillanimous sort of character, adopted George W Bush’s rhetoric: “We will hunt you down.” The prime minister, speaking in the Northern Territory before sending troops off to fight Isis in Iraq, has already found the charged man guilty: “So this is not just suspicion, this is intent.” 
We don’t actually know the details of the evidence against Azari, and because it is wrapped in the shroud of counter-terrorism some of the proceedings against him will be in-camera on the tenuous ground of national security. This could all have been achieved much more stealthily and proportionally, but that would have stripped the occasion of the opportunity for some serious theatre. 
The media were duly recruited and the major mainstream TV outlets supplied with footage of the commando-style operations, filmed and supplied by the police themselves. The police also helpfully supplied still shots of the action to the newspapers. 
Most of the media laps this up with its ears back as willing pawns in the politics of terror drama – a readiness to be used by the very governments which go to extraordinary lengths to deprive journalists and the public of information. The secrecy surrounding Operation Sovereign Borders is an obvious example, where details are only ever released if it suits the government. It seems large and supposedly influential media organisations are quite willing to be played like a trout. As British politician Aneurin Bevan put it rather wonderfully when talking about Fleet Street, censorship and political patronage during the time of the Attlee government: “There is absolutely no need to muzzle sheep.”
If a little scepticism was applied, questions would be asked as to why we had this sudden splash of commando bombast when this particular group in Sydney had been under surveillance since May. Suddenly it is crystallised into the need for immediate action – no questions asked.
Why, for instance, did it take so long to twig to the fact that there was a $9m discrepancy in the funds that had been sent by a Lakemba money transfer business to the Middle East? That was the undisclosed amount that headed to “high terrorism financing risk jurisdictions” – and had been going on since January. 
The Sydney Morning Herald revealed on Monday that the the armed wing of the PKK, which Australia has designated as a terrorism organisation, is working alongside the Kurdish Peshmerga forces which simultaneously Australia is arming. If our media sleuths had a nose for this, they might try and cut through the rhetoric and work out whether the relevant security agencies have really been on the ball. 
Needless to say, the intelligence that formed the basis of the raised raids in Sydney and Brisbane on Thursday was gathered without the need to retain the entire nation’s metadata for two years. 
“Right now is a time for calm,” said the NSW police commissioner Andrew Scipione. “We don’t need to whip this up.” However, the message the politicians were trying to get across was, “Now’s the time for you to be desperately anxious.” The Navy at Garden Island spent this morning blaring “alert ... alert ... alert” throughout the neighbourhood, accompanied by various head-splitting whoops and sirens. 
As a result, moderate mainstream Muslims have been put in a dreadful position, with raucous elements of the media and the population beating-up the unrest. This will be a real test to see that Australia’s peaceful multicultural cohesion is not hijacked. In the meantime, only when a court determines the weight of the actual evidence still being gathered will we be in a better position to know what Azari has been up to. 



Topics



Australian politics




Sydney




Islam




Religion




Islamic State (Isis)








Share on Facebook







Share on Twitter







Share via Email







Share on LinkedIn







Share on Google+







Share on WhatsApp


























View all comments >







comments 
Sign in
or create your Guardian account to join the discussion.

This discussion is closed for comments.

We’re doing some maintenance right now. You can still read comments, but please come back later to add your own.


Commenting has been disabled for this account (why?)







Order by 


newest


oldest




Show 25


25


50


100




Threads 


collapsed


expanded


unthreaded





Loading comments… Trouble loading?




View more comments







 






related content













popular












 








The Guardian






back to top














home




US




world




opinion
selected




sports




soccer




tech




arts




lifestyle




fashion




business




money




travel




environment







all sections
close







home




US




world




UK




europe




americas




asia




middle east




africa




australia






opinion
selected




sports




soccer




MLS




NFL




MLB




NBA




NHL






soccer




live scores




tables




competitions




results




fixtures




clubs






tech




games






arts




movies




tv & radio




music




books




art & design




stage




classical






lifestyle




food




health




love & sex




family




women




home & garden






fashion




business




markets




companies






money




travel




USA




europe




UK






environment




development




cities






science




media




crosswords




video











Opinion




›
Australian politics








jobs

subscribe
all topics
all contributors

info and resources

contact us

feedback

complaints & corrections
terms & conditions
privacy policy
cookie policy
securedrop


© 2015 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.






















 
