Australian jihad update from AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
CANBERRA, Australia - Australian authorities have received specific intelligence that terrorists are planning an attack on the country, Prime Minister John Howard said Wednesday.Speaking in a nationally televised press conference in Canberra, Howard refused to give any details of the threat, which he said authorities received this week.
But he said he would introduce a minor amendment to counterterrorism laws in the House of Representatives on Wednesday afternoon and the Senate would be recalled Thursday to pass it into law.
"The reason for this amendment is that the government has received specific intelligence and police information this week which gives cause for serious concern about a potential terrorist threat," Howard said. "We have been given advice that if this amendment is enacted as soon as possible, the capacity of the authorities to respond will be strengthened."
Australia is a staunch U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism and has sent troops to both Iraq and Afghanistan. The government has denied its support of U.S. foreign policy has increased the risk of attacks, although the terrorist network al-Qaida has repeatedly named Australia as a target.
The amendment would substitute the word "the" with "a" before the phrase "terrorist act" and is part of a larger package of reforms under negotiation with the state governments.
Howard later released a statement explaining that the amendment meant prosecutors would not have to identify a specific terrorist act when prosecuting someone for planning an attack.
"It will be sufficient for the prosecution to prove that the particular conduct was related to 'a' terrorist act," Howard said.
Threats from the religion of peace ? Inconceivable.
"It will be sufficient for the prosecution to prove that the particular conduct was related to 'a' terrorist act," Howard said.
THATS THE WAY TO GO
You gotta love the subtle nuances of the English Language. I hope the jihadi's are enraged that the little letter "a" may be powerful enough to prevent allah's muhjahadeen from carrying out their next attack. This should be seen as a small victory in the WOT as countless lives may be saved due to this tiny change in legislation.
"You gotta love the subtle nuances of the English Language."
-- posted by William the Crusader
What a terrible setback it was when -- on that fateful evening September 12, 2001 -- we all settled no the term "terrorism" instead of Islam Jihad and "terrorist" instead of Active Moselm.
Ultimately, this linguistic faux pas will be counted in the millions of infidel cadavers.
Dead language begets dead people.
Yes it's a shame that the enemy were named as 'Terrorists' but at least there seems to be a shift in perceptions over the last few months.
Although the proposed legislation in Australia doesn't attempt to name the enemy as Muslim/Islamists and seems content with the vague notion of 'terrorists', at least it is a step in the right direction.
Also, just to comment on the change from 'the' to 'a', yes this time the subtle nuances of the English language seem to be working for us but I am more concerned about the 'innocents' vs 'civilians' ambiguity that seems to be making it difficult to determine where someones loyalties lie.
More evidence of this has come out today with translations of Sheik Zoud (among others) and the obvious discrepancy between what is said in English and Arabic.
These laws can't come soon enough.
Cheerio all.