Friday, October 21, 2005

Don't call it 'shoot-to-kill', says Ruddock

The Australian Government is busy fending off objection to the explicit linking of shoot-to-kill powers with preventative detention; the Government's proposed method for apprehending terror suspects or their associates.
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock doesn’t like the shoot-to-kill tag being used, declaring it simply a matter of assessing how a person could be brought into custody. He says; "The point I would make is it quite inappropriate to refer to it as a shoot-to-kill provision. This is the issue relating to the use of force to detain a person to prevent the commission of terrorist attacks. The question is how do you bring somebody into detention? You need to detain them. You need a proper basis for being able to do that”
Well that is as clear as mud… Sounds like he proposing laws which allow police to shoot to kill!
Meantime Rupert Murdoch’s Australian minions are busy spreading his faith downunder…
“OPPONENTS of the proposed anti-terror legislation should get a grip, because the debate on how to protect Australia against attack is being lost in hyperbole and hysteria.” Editorial The Australian October 21, 2005

And here I was thinking that this overreaction to a terror threat created by Howard and his mates, Bush and Blair, was hyperbole and hysteria. Rupert will put us all straight.

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