Well, the PM has basically had his way and the Premiers, probably with an eye on the electorate, have gone along with so-called tougher security measures. No one can quibble about tighter and more efficient security measures at airports. It's the other aspects of the proposed legislation which should concern - no, seriously trouble! - every Australian citizen, especially those who are most likely to be the target of profiling and the like. Even the police are concerned about their role in acting as enforcers of this new security regime. Needless to say the politicians have in effect dismissed concerns about any infringment of civil liberties. The catch-cry? - those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear! That's not only trite but plain rubbish! For a rather balanced summing up of what the security measures mean the article in the SMH today says it all.
Most commentary on the Chilcot Inquiry Report of and associated with the Iraq War, has been "lifted" from the Executive Summary. The Intercept has actually gone and dug into the Report, with these revelations : "THE CHILCOT REPORT, the U.K.’s official inquiry into its participation in the Iraq War, has finally been released after seven years of investigation. Its executive summary certainly makes former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who led the British push for war, look terrible. According to the report, Blair made statements about Iraq’s nonexistent chemical, biological, and nuclear programs based on “what Mr. Blair believed” rather than the intelligence he had been given. The U.K. went to war despite the fact that “diplomatic options had not been exhausted.” Blair was warned by British intelligence that terrorism would “increase in the event of war, reflecting intensified anti-US/anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim world, including among Muslim communities in the
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