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Terror Threat Warning System

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bigfield

the baby-eater
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yeah nah
The Australian government has recently released a new terror alert system:

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The US used to use the quasi-military HSAS system, which was a blatant attempt to scare the shit out of people after 9-11.

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Governments, especially conservative governments, rely heavily on fearmongering to gain popular support for their policies. These warning systems don't have any other apparent purpose other than to make sure people stay scared and keep voting in favour of military spending, closed borders, greater surveillance and fewer civil liberties.
 
According to the federal government website:

The National Terrorism Threat Level for Australia is PROBABLE. Credible intelligence, assessed by our security agencies indicates that individuals or groups have developed both the intent and capability to conduct a terrorist attack in Australia. The public should continue to exercise caution and report any suspicious incidents to the National Security Hotline by calling 1800 1234 00. Life-threatening situations should be reported to the police by calling Triple Zero (000).
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If the definition of a 'Probable' level is that "individuals or groups have developed both the intent and capability to conduct a terrorist attack in Australia", then it is hard to imagine how the level could ever fall below that level.

Also, a system that starts at 'not expected' should end with 'expected', not 'certain'. It is impossible to be 'certain' unless an attack is in progress - at which point it's a bit late for warnings.
 
FIFY

Governments, especially conservative all governments, rely heavily on fearmongering to gain popular support for their policies. These warning systems don't have any other apparent purpose other than to make sure people stay scared and keep voting in favour of military spending, closed borders, greater surveillance and fewer civil liberties.
 
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I remember there was some talk about 10 years ago of introducing a color system for the Netherlands in terms of terror threats. Don't think that ever amounted to anything since the only results I could google for a Dutch color based threat assessment system was for the national weather institute for extreme weather. We do apparently have a relatively frequent review of the terror threat level in the country though, but alas, it isn't color coded. Ours looks like:


Minimaal (minimal): There are hardly any national/international terrorist networks operating, and it is unlikely attacks will take place.

Beperkt (limited): There are no new dangerous trends/threats. The Netherlands is of no interest to serious terror networks.

Substantieel (substantial): There are new dangerous trends/threats. There are attacks in other countries similar to the Netherlands, or active recruitment and/or radicalization is taking place. The Netherlands is frequently mentioned by terror networks.

Kritiek (critical): Intelligence agencies have evidence of an imminent terror plot, or attacks have already taken place with more expected.


The level has never been at minimal or critical since its introduction, but it's switched between limited and substantial, and is currently at substantial.

I had to do a bit of digging to find any mention of it; but I also don't own a TV and rarely read newspapers, so I have no idea if it shows up in the media often as a fearmongering tool.
 
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

H.L. Mencken
 
Many terrorist attempts have been nipped in the bud because of these security alerts. You'd rather some innocents get slaughtered by these sickos because you think it's scare mongering?
 
Tell that to the families of those who've died falling off of ladders. It's a much longer series of conversations.
 
angelo said:
bilby said:
View attachment 4844
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Tell that to the Lindt Cafe survivers.
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The survivors were, by definition, not killed by terrorists.

The victims of the Lindt Cafe incident were not killed by terrorists either - they were killed by a nutter who had a grudge against the court system. Of course, that didn't stop the tabloid press from writing their preferred version of history; nor did it stop the morons from believing it. A lone nutter with a grudge just isn't exciting enough for some people - although I guess he was lethally exciting to his victims.

There is something uniquely abhorrent in hijacking the deaths of strangers in pursuit of a political goal.
 
I should have used the Bali bombings as an example perhaps when 88 Australians lost their lives to terrorists?
 
angelo said:
I should have used the Bali bombings as an example perhaps when 88 Australians lost their lives to terrorists?
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You could use that example; but it only supports your position if you think that 88 is a bigger number than 230; or 417; or 137; or 168; or 879; or 228; or 850.

A little very simple arithmetic says that if you are more worried about terrorism than you are about falling out of bed, then you are at least five times more worried about terrorism than the actual threat it represents deserves.

Perhaps it is time to stop being afraid. It is long since time to stop trying to make others afraid.

If you posted constant warnings about the threat of falling out of bed, then people would think you were nuts. You are instead posting constant warnings about a threat that is 21% of that severity - and people are drawing their own conclusions.
 
There have been over 25.000 Islamic terrorist attacks, just since 9/11. Have there been that number of people falling out of bed since that infamous date? If even one person is killed by a terrorist, its one too many!
 
angelo said:
There have been over 25.000 Islamic terrorist attacks, just since 9/11. Have there been that number of people falling out of bed since that infamous date? If even one person is killed by a terrorist, its one too many!
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More people than that fall out of bed every night.

Since 9/11, about 150,000 people worldwide have DIED falling out of bed, if the Australian death rate from that cause is typical of the world population.

Are you still scared of terrorism? Perhaps a nightlight would help?

After all, if just one person dies falling out of bed, that's one too many.
 
angelo said:
There have been over 25.000 Islamic terrorist attacks, just since 9/11. Have there been that number of people falling out of bed since that infamous date? If even one person is killed by a terrorist, its one too many!
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Do you include "terrorist" attacks in ,say, Iraq where America and Awstralia put a sectarian puppet government in place which used violence against peaceful protests?
I thought so
 
Here in the US we've had over a thousand people killed by police thus far this year (that we know of), and who knows how many injured.
So which terrorists should we be fearful of?
 
In Iraq you need to be afraid of all sorts of terrorists.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9tju_EmJ60[/YOUTUBE]
 
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