Sydney siege - Siege confirmed to be over

And how often does that work?, especially if it was a well planned attack. Even if it's just a random publicity thing I somehow feel, given how nuts some most of these people are, body bags will be needed.

Tony Abbot PM is going to give a press conference shortly.

And apparently a man has been arrested nearby the scene, with a handgun there.

THey seem unsure how many people are involved? I don't think any one really knows any specifics yet.

Indeed, most, if not all these attacks end up in death ... but I'm just saying that getting hold of the guman(men) and interrogating him would help us prevent things like this.

As if they're going to say anything, shoot them and let them bleed out rather than turning them into an additional burden on their state

Killing them only fuels hatred.

Killing them only fuels hatred.

Guys please report that idiot above like I did. Hopefully he will be banned by tomorrow and we will be spared his constant "edginess". How ****ing tedious.


I'm afraid I disagree 100% with this. If anyone's hatred is fueled by the killing of a terrorist, they are well on their way to becoming terrorists themselves. We are not even 1% responsible for it though, same as we're not responsible for the acts of mentally unstable people.

Who is 'we'?

Mr Abbott with a great politically correct speech there

As if they're going to say anything, shoot them and let them bleed out rather than turning them into an additional burden on their state

The rest of society.

Why so bloodthirsty? There's a great big window in the cafe, it should be child's play to surround the area with gunmen or get some special forces into the building via the roof and issue a credible warning demanding that the attackers drop their weapons and surrender. Any shootings should be contingent on that; Western states are not barbaric, and operate according to the rule of law. This is not an act of war, it's terrorism, and should be dealt with summarily and justly by law enforcement, as terrorism was before 9/11. It doesn't behove Western states, which are rich and stable enough to act with moral righteousness, to go rampaging in looking for heads to explode like open warfare has been declared.

And indeed this appears to be what we are seeing from Australia so far, with a police siege of the building in progress. One hopes for the situation to be resolved by the morning with the minimum of bloodshed, even as priority is for the hostages rather than the terrorists.

To act as if terrorism is an act of war is to play into the terrorists' hands, and as we have seen across the West since 9/11, it has ultimately resulted in the erosion of civil liberties for Western citizens, which I'm sure the Islamists would be quite pleased about. Terrorism should be dealt with just like any non-political hostage situation, for example a husband holding his wife and children hostage. This approach reflects the same steadfast refusal to allow terrorists to dictate the terms of the argument that is expressed in, say, Abbott not acceding to the terrorists' demand for a televised dialogue.

Tony Abbot PM is going to give a press conference shortly.

Has this happened yet mate? Any chance you can bring me up to speed? Would be appreciated.