Amjid, extracting reason and logic out of your argument is as difficult as pulling teeth. You should stick to the latter where presumably you excel, as reason and logic is not your forte.

You show your true colours by your insinuating equation between Osama's terrorism and your fictitious WhiteHouse terrorism (or is it White "louse", which is rather a metaphor of an educared barbarian), while at the same time cleverly you appeal to anti-Americanism, so you can get its supporters jumping on your intellectually creaking bandwagon.

What would you prefer, to have had your "catch" snatched in the night with no publicity, like fascist states do? The "paradigm of prevention is "coined" by history, not by the US. All states in critical situations practiced it. Even the police have the legal right to shoot a would-be assasin on suspicion.

As for the war, what about the al Shifa facility in Sudan developing chemical weapons, and its links with Iraqi scientists and al Qaeda? You quote the "scribblings" of a lunatic Yemeni, as if the bombings of the fanatic terrorists are not the actions of lunatics.

Irfan's sarcastic remark to kactuz is revealing. "Moderate" Muslims forge their arguments by lies, vituperation, fabrication of history, and poverty of thought.

More on my Blog: http://congeorgekotzabasis.blogspot.com

Though I support the proposed anti terror laws I also support moderation on these arrests (like sneekepete and (I think?) Donnie).

Its interesting that the police/ASIO, no doubt with political permission, were allowed to leak a considerable amount of evidence on the arrests and on what was found (eg bomb chemicals and plans).

Information on these arrests would normally be covered by tight national security laws and conventions - but these were apparently lifted for political reasons.

How come we found out so much through "judicious" leaks to the Murdoch then (for balance?) the Fairfax media.

Where did the camera footage of police jogging in a line in the middle of the night come from? Lucky the press (or was it a police PR camera) were hanging around in the right suburban street at 2.30am.

Quite a tipoff! Nice resolute, action packed footage!

Plantagenet
http://gigolopete.blogspot.com/

Amjid,will the homegrown would be terrorist give their targets a fair chance? Or will they, like the brain washed ,brain dead ,suicide Zombies I saw on the ABC , just go for the kill?
And did the thugs who attacked the reporters the other night, give a fair chance to the poor sod before they put the boot in?
Sorry, no matter how much the muslims wail about how badly they are being treated, it will not wash because the cold blooded killers must be stopped.
Declare a stop to them, until you do, do not expect any sympathy from us.

It is one of the more interesting aspects of twenty-first century living that we so willingly allow ourselves to be led by the nose like this. What we saw in both the Sydney and Melbourne arrests was a carefully staged political stunt, designed to manipulate our responses in the most blatant and obvious Pavlovian manner. The majority of comments on this thread show how stunningly successful the exercise has been.

It is also clear that we are willing participants in this charade. Our political leaders know that we have absolutely no wish to think for ourselves any longer, but will instead happily adopt a meme that resonates most strongly with our self-image. They are supported by a sensationalist and blatantly commercial press, where the concept of "is it true, is it accurate?" gives way, oh-so-quickly, to "will it sell more newspapers?" The same rules are followed by our TV media barons, whose constant battle for ratings is characterized by a headlong dash to sleaze at the earliest opportunity.

What ever happened to dignity, thoughtfulness, tolerance and generosity? They have clearly given way to trash-talking, bigotry, inanity and intellectual slovenliness as the guiding precepts of our lives.

It isn't accidental that the preponderance of anti-Moslem comment on this thread reflects exactly the fear-your-own-shadow mentality that our government has chosen to instil into us. But it is still sad that so many people think it is necessary to demonstrate the shallowness of their own thought process, which chugs along at the level of the most vacuous of the daily rags.

Orwell got it right, no question.

Certainly Orwellian. Comments like most of those above are more frightening to me than terrorism.
I think Amjid has written a balanced and considered warning against pre-emptive judgement. A necessary caution in contemporary Oz, surely.
The fact that it's now normal to have a media inspired howling for humiliation or retribution whenever a story is beaten up doesn't make it even slightly sensible to follow that particular crowd.
Presumption of innocence should be paramount and premature ejaculators should spare our ears and eyes.
The fact that some of us find this type of murder especially horrible doesn't mean we should all take leave of our senses and disregard history. Terrorism has been a problem for centuries. Abuse of the traditional presumption of innocence in terror cases has led to execrable miscarriages of justice in the past. Hasn't it?
That's his simple message.
Why read all those personal prejudices into his piece?
And why all the insults and vituperation? It's a worry....

Yes, Orwell is my hero: The total cynic, the absolute pessimist. Orwell did it all, saw it all, from Spain to London to Berlin and Moscow. He was, in my opinion, the epidimy of cander and honesty.
How about "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." or "In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act." Orwell made a lot of people unhappy, and I hope I do too. Like Orwell, at times I am ready to resign from the human race.

Sneekeepete said "These pages are full of latter day Koranic and Islamist history experts; they have scanned the web in search of quotes... " Not just in search of, but found - quite easily I may add. There are lots of them. They shouldn't be there, should they? after all it is, I hear, a "Religion of Peace"? Why can't our Muslim friends find these verses? What I try to do is make Muslims aware of things that I think are importatnt and may have some bearing on current events. You might even say that I promote "Islamic awareness" just like Islamonline, CAIR and other Muslim organizations. You would think they would be happy.

Anyway, regarding the trial of these accused. It is not easy to prove intentions, and they will (or should) get the benefit of the doubt. However, if it can be proven that they were buying and stockpiling dangerous materials, well - that should be enough. It appears that what Amjid really wants is a pile of dead bodies, and a signed confession - then maybe the authorities can arrest and prosecute these people.

Irf, I really don't know what to do with you. Just when I get ready to grab my sword and go out to do battle with you - you write that article in Altmuslim.com. So, I told this old man to lay off you for a few months. Anyway, thanks...

John