Dear Kactuz,

<<Actually, the problem is less that of a lone lunatic than of a large group of people whose values are not those of the West in general, or Australia in particular.>>

This may be your personal problem, not that of the victims in the Lindt Cafe.

When someone, myself included, does not share the values of the West in general or Australia in particular, it could indeed mean that they have no or lesser values - but it could also mean that they have different or even superior values.

Unlike Man Haron Monis, my presence here is an asset to Australia, not a liability. I am not a terrorist nor a criminal and the only "threat" I pose to Australian society is to expose the vanity of its culture and the stupidity of its ways.

Suse'
You're kidding right? From the end of WW2 Irish immigration basically stopped, apart from a few from the north who were British subjects and the Irish in Australia were treated with deep suspicion because they were rightly considered to be a seditious and untrustworthy ethnic group whose loyalties lay to their own people rather than Australia or Britain.
As far as us "Racists" are concerned the Irish immigrant can go home as well and take a Muslim under each arm, we don't want any more people coming here from the U.K and especially not from Ireland. The Muslims are somewhat of a menace on one level, an annoyance more than anything but it's the "educated", middle class English and Irish immigrants with their stupid liberal or socialist ideas who are doing the most harm in society.
I could go to Tehran or Kuala Lumpur and speak my mind on most any issue relating to race, nationalism or religion, if I did it in London or Dublin I'd be jailed or deported or both, this is why we're increasingly seeing international meetings of nationalists, unorthodox scholars and dissident thinkers held in places like Uzbekistan, Iran and Russia.

All religions commit atrocities against people they see as "non believers" Buddhists killed Muslims in Rohinga communities in Myanmar, Muslims suffered massacres at the hands of Hindu Fanatics in 2002, in Israel fanatic Orthodox Jews have also killed Muslims, Christians killed by Muslims in parts of Indonesia, and then there is the born again christian George Bush trying to impose his Western Christian values on the Middle East and further back Christian values placed on our own Aborigines who believed in the "Dream Time". When will people wake up to the fact that religion is the cause of all evil in the world, a mad religious lone nutter in Sydney or a mass murdering nutter like George Bush in the USA. Yes ! The whole world is full of nutters whose only thing on their mind is let's kill in the name of my belief in some being who does not exist, only in their head.
.

Exactly how I feel ojnab.
Religion appears to be at the root of many evils.

Runner, I never said Muslim was a race did I?

As far as I am concerned, deciding that all Muslims should be denied entry to Australia because of the actions of a few is very racist indeed, given there are many races and countries who are predominantly Muslim.

Good on you though Runner for managing to spit out a comment without bringing up your usual words of progressives, dogma, feminists and abortion......

Today's 18/12/2014 SMH article - All about what we've been discussing in this thread!
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/how-sydney-siege-gunman-tricked-police-into-thinking-there-was-a-bomb-in-his-backpack-20141217-129fqi.html

TITLE "HOW SYDNEY SIEGE GUNMAN TRICKED POLICE INTO THINKING THERE WAS A BOMB IN HIS BACKPACK"

They were the wires that had police wary.

As he walked around the Lindt cafe, siege gunman Man Haron Monis was wearing a backpack that he told hostages was filled with explosives.

Snipers stationed in the Channel Seven studio across the road could see wires poking out of the backpack and it was one of the reasons they were reluctant to take a shot at the gunman, according to a report from Seven journalist Chris Reason, who was on the scene.

Footage captured through the windows of the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Martin Place clearly shows Monis wearing a large backpack as he creeps around inside the cafe, using hostages as human shields throughout the 16-hour siege.

The sharp images of Monis captured on camera led many to question why, if the cameras could get a clear view of Monis, the snipers did not shoot him earlier?

Reason said Monis had convinced the hostages that he was carrying a bomb, and police had no choice but to take that threat seriously.

One possibility was that the supposed bomb was fitted with a dead man's switch, which would automatically activate if Monis was incapacitated.

However when a police later examined the backpack they discovered an old stereo speaker inside the backpack, revealing just how calculated Monis had been in his movements. There were no explosives in the backpack, as he had claimed.

"It turned out the gunman was carrying an old stereo speaker, but at the time the police didn't know that and had to assume the worst," Reason reported.

Monis had also claimed there were bombs planted around the city, which proved to be false.

CONTINUED BELOW

FROM ABOVE

Channel Seven's studio in Martin Place is located directly across from the cafe, and provided such an ideal vantage point to view the unfolding hostage situation that a sniper positioned himself within the newsroom throughout the 16-hour siege.

The newsroom was evacuated, but Channel Seven cameraman Greg Parker and journalist Reason were allowed to remain in the studio. Parker fed live images to police command throughout the siege so they could devise an action plan.

Another reason why snipers did not take out Monis earlier was that they were shooting through reinforced glass, meaning it was impossible to predict with precision the path of the bullet. The risk of hitting a hostage was too great, Reason said.

Reason said that Monis yelled at the police tactical team as they raided the cafe.

"We've been told in those terrifying seconds that the police stormed in the Lindt cafe, Haron Monis was heard to scream 'Look what you've made me do!' before the police shot him down," Reason said.

Police have launched a critical incident investigation into the siege, which will formally establish how Monis and two hostages, Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson, died.

Police have declined to comment on specific details of the siege while that investigation takes place.

ENDS