It remains the case that the Police sniper(s?) had numerous opportunities to put a bullet through Moni's head. There is extensive discussion on that in several newspaper links.
The one sniper I'm aware of, was positioned in the channel seven building.
It was he who called in that the first victim had been shot, ergo, there is absolutely no doubting the clear and uninterrupted view (and therefore line of fire) he had into the cafe. So, there must have been multiple opportunities to terminate Monis over the 17 hours.
He would have required clearance to take the shot and the political and social will to do that clearly wasn't there. - That was a mistake, and that is what I'm highlighting.
Why isn't the political will there? Because they're too worried about the backlash from the goody-two shoes apologists, that's why.
So yes, it ''could have been a lot worse', but it could have been a lot better also. (hindsight being a great thing).
Negotiation has its place, but it's not the be all and end all.
And making crass assumptions that other posters don't understand the psychology behind hostage negotiation, well that's just as bad as my taking your quote out of context, isn't it?
Australia needs to change its mind-set - quickly.
View attachment 38376
