-Media Buries Islamist Motivation Behind Sydney Siege
-Former CIA Chief: ISIS to Attack U.S. Soon
-DHS insider information
-Despite Sydney’s Gun Control, Gunman Holds Hostages For 16 Hours
December 15, 2014
The self-styled sheikh is a suspect in a murder case and well-known for his twisted campaign of writing hateful letters to the families of fallen soldiers. (AP)
Police toting automatic weapons and lobbing flash grenades stormed a Sydney cafe early Tuesday, bringing to a dramatic end a 16-hour standoff in which a jihadist and murder suspect held an unknown number of hostages in a scene much of the world watched on television.
A series of explosions, believed to be gunshots and flash grenades, came just before 2:30 a.m. local time as several more hostages fled Lindt Chocolat Cafe, where a man identified as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian also known for sending hate mail to the families of fallen soldiers, was holed up with an unknown number of captives. The drama, which began early Monday, appeared to be coming to a dramatic resolution, as frenzied activity enveloped the scene that Australians had been watching on television for hours.
Four of the hostages were seen being taken from the cafe on stretchers, with three possibly being in critical condition, Sky News reports. One hostage received CPR at the scene. There are also unconfirmed reports that two people are dead, including the gunman.
“Police and paramedics have stormed the building,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported. “Dozens of continuous bangs and possibly gun shots have lit up the sky.”
Several people were taken from the building on stretchers as an alarm rang and police in riot gear moved in and out of the shop, in the heart of Australia’s largest city’s business district. A bomb disposal robot was seen being deployed in the shop, though police said the standoff was over. It was not clear if anyone was killed or what had happened to the suspect. The handful of hostages seen fleeing as the explosions echoed through the predawn air followed escapes hours earlier by five captives.
For hours, television news crews had broadcast footage of frightened hostages looking out through the front window. Initially, police did not identify Monis, though they knew he was the suspect inside. His identity was known early on to police and media alike, but was only released for the record by police sources as night fell on Sydney with the nation transfixed on the televised scene.
During the evening hours on Monday, several people were seen with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the glass, and two people were seen holding up a black flag associated with Islamic fanaticism. Australian broadcaster Network Ten reported that Monis, seen wielding a shotgun and a machete, has forced hostages to call him “The Brother” and demanded to speak directly with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
“The gunman seems to be sort of rotating these people through these positions on the windows with their hands and faces up against the glass,” Seven Network television news reporter Chris Reason said, according to The Associated Press. “One woman we’ve counted was there for at least two hours — an extraordinary, agonizing time for her surely having to stand on her feet for that long.”
The drama began during the Monday morning rush hour and carried into night time in Australia’s largest city. Five hostages escaped some six hours into the ordeal, running out a side door and into the arms of police, who have the shop surrounded. The shop is in Sydney’s central business district in Martin Place, a plaza in the heart of the city’s financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year. Shops in the area were closed and people were ordered to stay out.
A journalist on the scene tweeted that the terror suspect appeared to fly into a rage after the hostages escaped.
“The gunman could be seen from here getting extremely agitated, shouting at remaining hostages.”
– Chris Reason, journalist
“The gunman could be seen from here getting extremely agitated, shouting at remaining hostages,” tweeted journalist Chris Reason.
Reason described Monis as unshaven, wearing a white shirt and a black cap, and holding what appeared to be a pump-action shotgun. He could be seen pacing back and forth past the cafe’s four windows. Sky News described Monis as bearded, middle-aged and wearing a black and white headband. Sky cited reports that he is known to police and media outlets.
“Just two hours ago when we saw that rush of escapees, we could see from up here in this vantage point the gunman got extremely agitated as he realized those five had got out. He started screaming orders at the people, the hostages who remain behind,” Reason reported.
Monis, who reportedly emigrated to Australia in 1996, is known in Australia for his public campaign of writing letters to the families of fallen soldiers calling them “murderers” and urging the recipients to lobby the government to withdraw from Afghanistan. Haron was charged in 2009 with using the postal service to harass in a case he fought all the way to Australia’s highest court, which dismissed his appeal.
Last year, he was charged in connection with the murder of his ex-wife in a case that is pending as Monis is free on bail. He was charged earlier this year with sexual assault of a woman who went to his office in New South Wales for “spiritual healing.”
“This is a one-off random individual. It’s not a concerted terrorism event or act. It’s a damaged goods individual who’s done something outrageous,” his former lawyer, Manny Conditsis, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “His ideology is just so strong and so powerful that it clouds his vision for common sense and objectiveness.”
As night descended on Sydney, the lights inside the shop went off, but it was unclear if that was by the suspected jihadist’s choice or if the police made the cafe go dark as a negotiating tactic. Earlier, the gunman appeared to be rotating frightened hostages in front of the window, holding up the black Islamist flag “Shahada” flag, an emblem of Jabhat al-Nusra, the Al Qaeda-linked terror group fighting – sometimes with, sometimes against – Islamic State in Syria.
The gunman was reportedly relaying threats and demands through two hostages, and claimed to have planted two bombs inside the cafe and two others elsewhere in Sydney’s central business district. New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione told reporters Monday evening that authorities were concentrating their efforts solely on the cafe and were not concerned with any other location
Late Monday, Abbott released a pre-recorded statement calling the attack “very disturbing” and “profoundly shocking.” His office has not responded to the gunman’s demands.
Three men were seen running from a fire exit of the cafe approximately six hours after the hostage situation began at 9:45 a.m. local time. Moments later, two women believed to be employees, followed suit. It was not immediately clear how the hostages escaped.
New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner for Specialist Operations Catherine Burn said negotiators had made contact with the unidentified gunman and believe he is the lone suspect inside the cafe. Burn also said that fewer than 30 people were held inside the cafe, though she did not give an exact number. Local reports put the number at between 10 and 15, and witnesses said they do not believe any children are inside.
The U.S. Consulate, located just south of the cafe, was also evacuated and a warning issued urging Americans in Sydney to “maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security.” A White House official told Fox News that President Obama had been briefed on the situation.
Lindt Australia posted a message on its Facebook page thanking the public for its support.
“We are deeply concerned over this serious incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the staff and customers involved and all their friends and families,” the company wrote.
The government raised Australia’s terror warning level in September in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of the Islamic State group. Counterterror law enforcement teams later conducted dozens of raids and made several arrests in Australia’s three largest cities — Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. One man arrested during a series of raids in Sydney was charged with conspiring with an Islamic State leader in Syria to behead a random person in downtown Sydney.
The Islamic State group, which now holds a third of Syria and Iraq, has threatened Australia in the past. In September, Islamic State group spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani issued an audio message urging so-called “lone wolf” attacks abroad, specifically mentioning Australia. Al-Adnani told Muslims to kill all “disbelievers,” whether they be civilians or soldiers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/12/15/sydney-siege-five-hostages-escape-police-contact-gunman/
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Sydney Hostage-Taker Revealed As Muslim Cleric, ‘Sexual Healer’ with Criminal Past
15 Dec 2014 by Jordan Schachtel
A man who has been holed up in a Sydney cafe after taking dozens of citizens hostage has been identified as Man Haron Monis. He has also been described by followers as “Sheikh Haron” or “Ayatollah Manteghi.”
Haron was born in Iran but had recently moved to Bexley North in the south of Sydney, Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The hostage-taker reportedly left Iran after he was deemed too “liberal” for the Iranian regime.
In early December, he posted on his website the following statement: “I used to be a Rafidi (rejector), but not any more. Now I am a Muslim. Alhamdu Lilah (Thank God).”
Haron has an extensive record of arrests for illegal acts ranging from being an accessory to murder to sexual assault.
In April, he was charged with sexual assault after detectives found him guilty of assaulting a woman in 2002. At the time, Monis was reportedly using the name Mohammad Hassan Manteghi, and had been describing himself as a “sexual healer,” CNN reports.
In 2013, Haron was convicted with the charge of being an accessory to his ex-wife’s murder. He was reportedly freed temporarily after posting bail.
In 2009, Haron wrote letters to the families of slain Australian soldiers, calling them “criminals,” “killers,” and “murderers.” He wrote to a deceased Jewish Australian soldier’s family: “A Jewish man who kills innocent Muslim civilians is not a pig, he is a thousand times worse.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Haron’s Facebook page had 14,725 “likes” before it was shut down on Monday night.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/12/15/Sydney-Hostage-Taker-Revealed-As-Muslim-Cleric-Sexual-Healer-with-Criminal-Past
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Media Buries Islamist Motivation Behind Sydney Siege
Narrative shifts to portray culprit as “lone actor” with no political agenda
December 15, 2014 by Paul Joseph Watson
Despite demanding to speak with the Prime Minister, asking for an ISIS flag, and telling hostages that the media was covering up ISIS responsibility for the attack, the narrative in the Sydney siege quickly shifted to portray culprit Haron Monis as an “isolated figure” who had no real political motivations.
Two people, including the gunman, died after commandos stormed the building earlier today, ending a 16-hour siege.
Whether or not Monis was an ISIS member or merely inspired by ISIS, to downplay that his actions were politically motivated is patently naive. While it’s true that Monis was out on bail after being charged as an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife, both his history and his actions during the siege clearly indicate that he was driven by extremist Islamist ideology.
Video at the link below
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8a3_1418648132
Monis made numerous demands during the siege that were deliberately not reported by the media. When those demands leaked out onto Facebook and YouTube, the posts and videos were quickly deleted.
Hostages were asked by Monis to produce short videos in which they related Monis’ assertion that the incident was an ISIS attack and that the media was covering up the fact that the attack was inspired by ISIS. Monis also repeatedly demanded access to a radio station to air his views.
A Facebook post made by one of the victims also stated, “The man wants the world to know that Australia is under attack by the Islamic State”. Monis also demanded that an ISIS flag be delivered to the cafe. A generic Islamist flag was subsequently held up by hostages in the window of the Lindt store.
Monis originally came to Australia in 1996 as a political refugee and self-proclaimed Shia cleric, claiming that his life was under threat from the “Iranian regime” and was subsequently interviewed by Australia’s ABC network in 2001 in what some saw as part of an effort to demonize Tehran. Monis also said he was in contact with the United Nations regarding Iran’s “terrorist operations in the war”.
In 2008, Australia’s senior Shia leader, Kamal Mousselmani, urged federal police to investigate Monis while distancing himself from the cleric, asserting that no one knew who he was.
In September last year, Monis was sentenced with 300 hours community service for sending hate mail to the families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, Monis announced his conversion to Sunni Islam, posting on his website, “I used to be a Rafidi, but not any more. Now I am a Muslim, Alhamdu Lillah”.
“It was the Australian media itself who introduced him publicly as an “Ayatollah” and the Australian government that vetted him and allegedly granted him political asylum,” writes Tony Cartalucci. “He was allegedly in contact with the UN and was used to stir up anti-Iranian sentiment in Australia. It is then highly suspicious that now both the Australian media and the Australian government appear to have no knowledge of who he is or where he came from.”
Indeed, the mainstream media now seems to be very keen on emphasizing the narrative that Monis was a “lone actor,” an “isolated figure” and had “no known links to jihadist groups”. His overtly political statements and demands made during the siege have either been glossed over or ignored entirely.
Imagine for a second if a Tea Party supporter in the United States who hated Muslims took dozens of hostages and asked for a Ku Klux Klan flag while ordering the hostages to tell the media that he was acting on behalf of the KKK – would the media then downplay the political motivation behind the attack?
The Grand Mufti of Australia, the highest Muslim authority in the country, also sought to downplay any political or Islamist connotation, referring to the incident as a “criminal” attack.
Other factors also suggest that contrived concerns over cultural sensitivity were advanced to cloud the actual nature of the attack. A campaign called “I’ll ride with you,” which encouraged Australians to accompany Muslims traveling to work, went viral, despite no reports whatsoever of any violence being directed towards Muslims as a result of the incident.
The Sydney Morning Herald even suggested that Australians should have “empathy” for the terrorist, asking, “How should we feel for the perpetrator so far witnessed and his family?”
It’s odd that a country usually keen to create hysteria about Islamic terrorism in order to justify military campaigns would downplay the clear extremist Islam motivation behind the Sydney siege, but this seems to be part of a growing trend. The US Department of Homeland Security has also repeatedly denied information which suggests that ISIS members are active on the southern border.
Are authorities in the United States and Australia embarrassed at the fact that their role in destabilizing Syria helped foster the growth of ISIS and increased support for its activities worldwide, or are they just too incompetent to deal with the menace posed by the group and its ideology and have instead chosen to downplay the scale of the threat?
http://www.infowars.com/media-buries-islamist-motivation-behind-sydney-siege/
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Former CIA Chief: ISIS to Attack U.S. Soon
Ex-CIA Director Morrell says terrorist attack in U.S. “guaranteed”
December 15, 2014 by Kit Daniels
Former CIA Director Mike Morrell said terrorists will attack the U.S. “sometime over the next year or so, guaranteed.”
Morrell was commenting on the current Sydney, Australia, hostage situation on CBS Monday when he claimed jihadist militants will likely carry out a similar operation in the U.S.
“What concerns me the most is we’re going see this kind of terrorism around the world and we’re going to see it here,” he stated. “We need to be prepared for that.”
“You know, it shouldn’t surprise people when this happens here sometime over the next year or so, guaranteed.”
The hostage situation in Australia wasn’t surprising, Morrell said, because 300 Australians left the country to fight in Iraq and Syria, including 70 who are fighting for ISIS.
“ISIS has had a focus on Australia for sometime,” he added. “Just a couple of months ago the Australians did a countrywide raid arresting a number of people after a senior ISIS leader called for individuals in Australia to behead Australians in public for ISIS, so there is this focus on Australia.”
No doubt the federal government will use the Sydney hostage situation, and ISIS in general, to justify a greater expansion of the police state which creeps into every aspect of Americans’ lives.
This is a centuries-old government strategy called “problem – reaction – solution” in which the government manufactures a crisis or takes advantage of an existing one to scare the public into demanding a “solution” which was the government’s objective all along, before the crisis even started.
“Most of us unwittingly fall victim to it all too often and sadly if we don’t stop, we will continue to lose our free will and liberties,” journalist General Maddox wrote. “It has been widely used by our governments and corporations around the world.”
“You could say that in terms of controlling the masses, and society in general, its deployment has been an effective tool in keeping humanity in check.”
And it’s also worth wondering what else Morrell knows which he isn’t revealing.
http://www.infowars.com/former-cia-chief-isis-to-attack-u-s-homeland-soon/
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DHS insider information
It was just a few hours into the hostage crisis at the Lindt Café in Sydney, Australia when I received information from my source within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that this evolving incident will be a catalyst for many events inside the U.S. and throughout the West. According to my source, the hostage crisis created by an Islamic terrorist in Sydney, Australia “is not, nor will it be, a ‘one off’ event. “Don’t be fooled, this will be a ‘game-changer’ in many ways for not just Australia, but for all of the West. Maybe not immediately, but in short order. And this [Obama] regime will use it to their tactical advantage.”
According to this DHS source who is well-embedded at a fairly high level within this political leviathan inside the beltway, high level DHS briefings made late Sunday (Washington, DC time) confirmed that various police and intelligence agencies throughout New South Wales and Australia not only know the identity of the perpetrator at the Lindt Café, but “[they] have had numerous dealings with him over the last several months.” This source stated that “he is not just some random unknown perpetrator without a history, but has made his intentions known for some time. Once, or if the truth comes out, you will see that he is also known by the CIA.”
It is important to consider that the event started at a time when the Western media was on weekend autopilot, allowing U.S. intelligence agencies time to manage the outflow of information more adeptly. Nonetheless, much of what the event was designed to do has already been accomplished.
According to this DHS source, “the war has officially reached Oceania. The cancer of ISIS, created by Western intelligence and government agencies will quickly metastasize within the U.S. and throughout the West. The political movement disguised as a religion (Islam), and its armed wing known as ISIS, along with the Muslim Brotherhood as their political ambassador will take up their respective roles in a Hegelian dialectic created by the West in short order.
http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2014/12/15/dhs-insider-sydney-to-be-the-game-changer/
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Despite Sydney’s Gun Control, Gunman Holds Hostages For 16 Hours
Violent criminal refuses to obey gun laws
December 15, 2014 by Kit Daniels
Despite Australia’s gun control laws, a gunman held hostages for 16 hours at a Sydney cafe, resulting in at least three deaths including the perpetrator.
Australia’s gun laws, which have nearly eradicated private gun ownership in the country, allowed Man Haron Monis, 49, to walk into the Lindt Chocolate Cafe and take hostages at gunpoint Sunday because he neither encountered nor likely expected any resistance.
Monis had no intention to obey the country’s gun laws because he was willing to commit violent crimes anyway.
After the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, Australian lawmakers enacted heavy restrictions on gun ownership, including a ban on semi-automatic weapons.
“There is little evidence to suggest that it had any significant effects on firearm homicides or suicides,” researchers at the University of Melbourne, Australia, discovered after a study.
If peaceful, law abiding Australians were allowed to carry guns, Monis may have thought twice about storming the cafe, but even if he didn’t, armed citizens could have still fought back.
Of course this logic won’t be promoted by politicians who’d rather use the tragedy to enact more gun restrictions which only result in more violent crimes by criminals who don’t obey laws to begin with.
So why do big government politicians promote gun control to begin with if it doesn’t work as intended? Because disarmed populations are easier to control.
“Those regimes seeking to assert and maintain absolute control over the citizenry will always try to disarm them first by means of confiscation, regulation, taxation, and through controlling markets for firearms and ammunition,” journalist Edward Wimberley wrote. “Without exception, an unarmed citizenry is one that can be effectively bullied and coerced and are readily controlled by the government.”
And it was American patriot George Mason who said to disarm the people “was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.”
It’s no coincidence that the politicians who promote gun control also promote other draconian laws which expand government control at the expense of personal liberties.
For example, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is perhaps the staunchest anti-gun proponent in American politics, spearheaded an initiative to ban the sale of soft drinks over 16oz in the city.
Now just think of what politicians like him would do if they had complete control over a disarmed population.
Here’s a hint: they won’t limit themselves to just regulating the size of soft drinks.
http://www.infowars.com/despite-sydneys-gun-control-gunman-holds-hostages-for-16-hours/
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Related previous posts on this blog
https://reclaimourrepublic.wordpress.com/key-previous-posts/
https://reclaimourrepublic.wordpress.com/key-isis-hamas-benghazi-muslim-brotherhood-previous-posts/
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