Australia to increase defense spending<\/p>\n
Associated Press, Canberra<\/p>\n
Australia will likely increase defense and security spending in
\nthe wake of the Bali bombing and might need to send troops to
\nSoutheast Asia in the war against terrorism, the government said
\non Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"When something like the 12th of October happens to a country
\nlike Australia you have to look right across the gamut and I felt
\nin my bones that we would have to commit more resources to
\ndefense and security,\" Prime Minister John Howard told reporters.<\/p>\n
The bombing on the Indonesia island of Bali earlier this month
\nkilled more than 180 people and injured 300. Some 90 Australians
\nare missing or have been confirmed dead in the attack.<\/p>\n
Many in Australia are comparing national anguish over the
\nbombing to the pain Americans felt after the Sept. 11 attacks on
\nthe World Trade Center and the Pentagon. U.S President George W.
\nBush also has made the comparison.<\/p>\n
After the Bali bombing, Defense Minister Robert Hill called
\nfor a review of Australia's security policies.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday he said there would be a shift in defense and
\nsecurity strategy to include closer ties with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"For example, expand our intelligence, sharing of
\nintelligence, supporting them in their efforts, to ensure that
\nterrorism is rooted out within Indonesia,\" he told Australian
\nBroadcasting Corp. radio.<\/p>\n
Speaking earlier on the broadcasting corporation's national
\ntelevision network, Hill also said Australian troops could be
\nsent to Indonesia and other countries in the region.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think it's out of the question that some time in the
\nfuture our forces may well be working with forces of other
\nregional states to tackle this joint enemy,\" Hill said.<\/p>\n
Australia already has more than 100 police, intelligence and
\ndefense personnel in Bali working on an international
\ninvestigation with Indonesia, the United States, Britain and
\nseveral other countries.<\/p>\n
Also Wednesday, Attorney-General Daryl Williams rushed a bill
\nto Parliament to allow the government to immediately list
\norganizations as terrorist groups under Australian law, instead
\nof deliberating for months.<\/p>\n
Howard on Wednesday dismissed a U.S. media report that claims
\nan Australian spy agency eavesdropped on members of Jamaah
\nIslamiyah talking about hitting Australian targets in Asia only
\nweeks before the Bali bombing.<\/p>\n
According to the report by David Kaplan in this week's edition
\nof U.S. News and World Report magazine, two separate U.S.
\nintelligence sources told him the intercepted conversations were
\nmade in the weeks leading up to the Bali attack.<\/p>\n
Howard said Australian intelligence agencies had searched
\ntheir records and found no evidence of any specific threats
\nrelated to Bali.<\/p>\n
An al-Qaeda operative now in U.S. custody has told the FBI
\nabout plans to attack popular bars and nightclubs in Southeast
\nAsia, according to classified documents, the Cable News Network
\nreported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Mohammed Mansour Jabarah told FBI interrogators that another
\nal-Qaeda operative, Riduan Isamuddin, was planning to \"conduct
\nsmall bombings in bars, cafes or nightclubs frequented by
\nwesterners in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and
\nIndonesia,\" CNN reported.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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