What did the Australian and US Intel Communities Know that we don't

Iranian Australian Man Monis (RT)

Been sitting here watching the "Sydney Hostage" saga going down for the past couple of hours. Sadly, the saga ended in a deadly shootout between the gunman and police. The man identified as Man Hanos Monis - a self proclaimed radical and a Muslim cleric who entered Australia as an asylum from Iran years ago. Mr Monis is not new to Australian and US intelligence. He was accused in court as an accessory to his wife's murder and was also accused of sending harassing notes to family members of dead Australian soldiers. (source).

This man should have been removed from public domain the moment he was accused of his wife's murder and harassment of families of dead soldiers. I know it is easier said than done, and it also easy to look back with critical eyes, combing through things and arguing as to what should have been done, but it is critical for the state to look at the interest of public safety when it comes radical people like Monis. This man should have been monitored and followed closely by the Australian intelligence agency and the fact that he successfully held hostages for more than ten hours shows that he was not being monitored or watched by the police.



Here in USA, similar circumstances over the past years occurred, interestingly, the instigators were known to the FBI and CIA yet their were allowed to slip through the cracks. Notorious of this is the attempted 'Underwear Bomber' who is currently behind bars for trying to blow up a jetliner over Chicago. He was stopped before he carried out his suicide mission by passengers who saw what was going on. It turned out that the father of this terrorist approached US officials in Nigeria and UK and warned them of his son's radicalization, but he wasn't taken seriously. He was allowed to get on the plane he planned to vaporize in the air. 

To assume that the Intel communities in Australia and UK don't know know much about these kinds of lone-wolf radicals is an understatement. The IC, whether in Australia, US or UK, know very well who the bad guys are and what they up to. That is their job and this is what taxpayers pay them to do. I won't be surprised if the Intel community in Australia knew the guy but reluctant to follow him for reasons unknown, or for lack of evidence to properly handled the guy. This is a trend common here in the US. Somehow the civil right of the would-be killed is protected until he or she committed mass-murder.

It is time for the West to develop some matrix on how to handle radicals like Monis that is both legal and effective in preventing innocent people from falling victims terrorists; especially, when the government knew before hand the kinds of radical views these lone-wolfs espoused.