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Articles on Sydney siege

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Police guard the blockade line in Martin Place, Sydney, during the siege of the Lindt Cafe in December 2014. AAP/Jeff Tan

Should we negotiate with terrorist hostage takers?

Not every terrorist hostage taker will be open to hostage negotiations. But everything we know from psychology tells us that some of them might be.
Questions are being asked about why Man Haron Monis was free on bail, but a witch-hunt is unlikely to improve the process of deciding when to keep an accused person in custody. AAP/Dean Lewins

When bail causes outrage, don’t just blame the courts

The spotlight is on a 2013 decision to grant bail to Man Haron Monis, the man responsible for the Lindt Cafe siege a year later. It must be hoped risk-averse politicians can avoid knee-jerk responses.
The story of Jake Bilardi (centre) has distorted the characterisation of what most people think of as a radicalised individual. AAP/Twitter

Jake Bilardi’s story shows why terrorist intervention must be tailored

There will be more Jake Bilardis to come, and Australia must realise that no two cases will be entirely the same. Radicalised individuals will come from all areas of society.
Some argue that the Martin Place siege shows why citizens would be safer if allowed to carry weapons, but the global evidence disproves that. AAP/Mick Tsikas

Martin Place siege review makes case to tighten, not relax, gun laws

The recommendations of the joint review into the Martin Place siege confirm Australia is on the right path with tight gun controls but needs to clamp down on illegal firearms in the community.
Tony Abbott’s proposed national security changes have the potential to exacerbate the underlying causes of violent extremism and further damage Australia’s social cohesion. AAP/Lukas Coch

Abbott’s national security changes are unlikely to make us safer

Australia’s response to terrorism must not be rooted in short-term political gains, but in a larger strategy that takes into account the problems leading to social disaffection.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott insists that ‘the system’ let Australians down in the case of siege gunman Man Haron Monis. AAP/Paul Miller

Abbott fires up on national security but how safe can we really be?

Tony Abbott insists that “the system” let Australians down by not heading off siege gunman Man Haron Monis long before he ever got near the Lindt cafe in Martin Place. “This monster should not have been…
Security conscious. Behind Boris Johnson’s analysis of terror. BackBoris2012 Campaign Team

Boris’s jihadi ‘wankers’ mark a real shift in western terrorism

Last week, London’s mayor Boris Johnson generated a largely negative reaction when he described European jihadis as “wankers” – people who feel they are failures and that the world is against them. Now…
A wave of small-scale assaults has shaken public confidence in governments’ capacity to protect citizens from terrorism. AAP/Yann Korbi

Bonds of trust are terrorists’ target in the age of ‘leaderless jihad’

The Charlie Hebdo massacre and the subsequent attack on the Hyper Cache kosher market in France are merely the latest and most bloody jihadist atrocities to have traumatised the West. From Ottawa to Sydney…
Flowers cover Sydney’s Martin Place, where two hostages were killed on Tuesday morning. AAP/Nikki Short

Public mourning: a brief history

The sea of flowers and messages of condolence in Sydney’s Martin Place is reminiscent of public mourning in the Victorian era. At that time, it was common for over a thousand people to attend a public…
A woman views the floral memorial outside the fenced off Lindt Chocolate cafe in Martin Place in Sydney. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Could the Sydney siege have been predicted and prevented?

It’s the question everyone is asking – could the Sydney siege have been predicted and therefore prevented based on the past behaviour of gunman Man Haron Monis. Monis’ troubled history was well known to…
There are ways for the media to cover stories such as the Sydney siege without committing gross ethical violations. AAP/Joel Carrett

News Corp’s siege coverage built on a ‘take-no-prisoners’ culture

AUST gets wake-call with Sydney terror. Only Daily Telegraph caught the bloody outcome at 2.00 am. Congrats.— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) December 15, 2014 In one brutally insensitive tweet, Rupert…

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