This comment is in response to an article from CNN on Gillard. This poster seems to know what was happening.
rbc12345
The problem is that the Indonesian operation occurred under the former Labor government under Rudd, not under the current coalition government. Furthermore, it occurred in a climate of real fear for Australia given the: 2002 Bali bombing, the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta, the 2005 Bali bombing, the 2005 Palu market bombing, the 2008 Benbrika Group plot to bomb events in Melbourne and to assassinate the Australian prime minister, the 2009 Holsworthy Barracks terror plot and particularly the 2009 Jakarta Ritz Carlton and Marriott Hotel bombings. All of these bombings, except the Palu market bombing, were deliberately timed to coincide with the Australian school holidays in order to maximise the number of potential Australian targets. The actual intelligence operation only lasted 9 days after the 2009 hotel bombings when Australia was trying to work out what side the Indonesian government was really on i.e. whether or not the Indonesians took the targeting of Australians seriously and whether or not they were actually going to do anything about it. Fortunately, Indonesia has been relatively positive about these issues.
It is very noticeable that the original reporting and the CNN reporting on this have been very careful not to place all of this within an actual context. Some news agencies have very deliberately blurred this issue with the issues of domestic spying in the UK, Europe and the USA which really are quite different matters compared with what was a legitimate defence concern for Australia at the time (and still is). This is NOT the same as a domestic spying program and Australia had (and still does have) legitimate concerns regarding these issues. We know that to Americans, Australian lives are worth less than those of US citizens, but this is not how Australians feel.
This is pure grandstanding and party political opportunism from Gillard. If the media is going to report these things, then at least report it from all angles.
