Prime Minister John Howard unveiled a plan for "flying squads" of police to stop terrorist attacks in the region yesterday, stressing he would not hesitate to order a pre-emptive strike overseas if needed to protect Australia.
The idea was condemned as "clumsy foreign policy" by opposition leader Mark Latham, who said it would make Australia less safe, rather than more safe.
With security one of the top issues for the Oct. 9 election after this month's bombing of Australia's Jakarta embassy, Howard pledged nearly A$100 million (US$70 million) to the plan if re-elected.
"We will not wait for a terrorist threat to eventuate before we take action," he said in an official announcement.
"In close co-operation with our regional neighbors we will ensure that we take every measure possible to disrupt and destroy the terrorist networks at their source," Howard said.
The six new teams of officers from the Australian Federal Police would include two based outside Australia, he said.
Under the five-year plan, the teams would have state of the art equipment at their disposal, including mobile secure communications, portable surveillance equipment, facial identification technology and chemical trace equipment. Indonesia and the Philippines were named as "high priority" countries.
Earlier, in comments likely to worry Australia's neighbors, Howard said he would not hesitate to launch a pre-emptive strike on a terrorist base overseas if it was necessary, repeating a threat made two years ago after the Bali bombings killed 202 people including 88 Australians.
"I've said that if there were no alternative other than to do something ourselves to prevent an attack on Australia from a terrorist group, I would do it," Howard told national radio.
Asked yesterday about the chances of another terrorist attack, he said it was "a near inevitability" but that he did not think one would take place on the Australian mainland.
Latham said Howard's idea was counter-productive and said Australians would be outraged if the reverse happened and a neighboring country unilaterally planned pre-emptive strikes on Australian soil.
"Imagine if a country in our region said they were prepared to launch unilateral strikes on targets in Australia, our sovereign ter-ritory, without the cooperation and involvement of the Australian government," he said.
"Imagine the outrage in this country. As Australians we would feel absolutely appalled," he said.
Latham said the reaction among Australia's neighbors would likely be as bad as that two years ago. He unveiled his Labor Party's own A$373 million defense policy including a review, more troops in northern Australia and a host of benefits for soldiers.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said, however, the government plan would be welcomed in the region and he and Justice Minister Chris Ellison would visit Australia's neighbors to talk about it if re-elected.
Other measures would include the creation of two counter-terrorism criminal intelligence teams, which could be deployed in the region, and two counter-terrorism surveillance teams.
The federal police would also develop a unit of highly trained operational linguists to work on terrorism issues. Funding for a full-time bomb data centers in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore would be provided along with a region intelligence secretariat.
Howard also announced nearly A$50 million for a critical care and trauma response center in Darwin, prompted by the key role the city played after the Bali bombings.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese