Our Sidney forum brethren
 

Just a shout out to our fellow members in Austrailia, particularly the ones in or near Sidney. Just wanted to let you all know we had you in our thoughts and prayers and hoping none of you were involved in the incident as it unfolded.

I can honestly say that the US media could learn a thing or two on how to effectively cover a story like this if they payed any attention to your media guidelines.

Unfortunately, ours likes to encite the biggest emotional response from the public, regardless to the cost of the victims or emergency personnel responding to the situation. It's as if any moral or ethical code has been long since lost.

Hope all of you are well,

Thanks mate.

Thank you for your sentiments. I lived in Sydney for 6 years when I was in the Army and I have some good friends there.

It's a great town. I'm sure they'll recover and get back to normal soon.

Yes. Scary. It only takes one person with a twisted mind.

Americans seem to feel a kinship with Australians that no other nationality can match. So when something like this happens to them, lots of Americans feel like it happened to them as well.

Very much so.

One idiot terrorist in Moore, OK cuts the head off of a co-worker. One idiot terrorist in Canada kills an unarmed guard at a memorial in Canada. Now this. There are lots more acts of idiot terrorist. Those are just the three most recent.

Marv,

And unfortunately there will be more to come... Until the world gets tough with these terrorists it will continue...

Love Sydney and sorry to see this happen.

My heart and mind go out to the deceased and relatives of them(not the perp though). In time we will find out what happened in that Lindt Store. Apparently the perp had a shotgun. How many shells does a shotgun hold? 2?

Did he also have explosives with a detonator? How did he manage to hold that number of hostages for almost 16 hours? How can one 50 year old hold them hostage so effectively? In time we will find out.

I would like to think that if I was there in that situation that some azzhat would not hold me for 16 hours. I am sure many other Pelicans would do the same. His attention span would dwindle as he got more tired.

There are some of you out there that could be faced with a similar situation in your lifetime but hopefully not. The heroes on United flt.97(number?) proved that there was no lack of courage there. Being on the ground you have more choices. Think on my friends, stay fit and have courage. Those in the Armed Forces or vets have a definite advantage.

Cheers, Guy

Thanks for your support guys. This has really distressed everyone. I work in a large trauma hospital in the outer suburbs of Sydney and the CEO has sent around an email offering counselling to all staff even though we weren't involved in treating the injured.
A couple of things about this guy- He was out on bail for being an alleged accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. Also accusations of violence and sexual assault. Lots of archival footage of him ranting and raving giving speeches to who knows who. He is/was Iranian and took on the appearance of an Aytollah in his garb.
At the culmination of the siege, he apparently started to nod off. The manager of the Lindt cafe took this opportunity to try an wrestle the gun from him. He was tragically killed in the ensuing scuffle,but this allowed the rest of the hostages to take flight. As they(10 or 11 of them) were running out one more woman was killed and some others( not seriously) were injured.

There were no bombs found. Due to the design of the cafe, it was very difficult to see in and determine if he was acting alone- so they had to wait.

Very very shocking for Sydney- I know it sounds cliched, but Sydney, in relative terms, is a very safe city despite being very multi-cultural

My stepmother is Australian. Aussies (and Kiwis) are great people and take care of their own (the manager of the cafe). This whole thing is a tragedy.

Apollo is correct, Sydney is a VERY safe city and one of the most diverse I've ever visited.

My grandmother on mothers side was Aussie. Cousin married an Aussie and 1/2 the kids are here and half there. Terrorism is sad, not matter where it is or who was attacked.

Lots more people killed daily in the Sand Box.

Thanks Apollo for the info. I appreciate it.
Guy

Merry Christmas to all our fellow members in Oz!!! Wishing all of you the very best of days this Christmas Day.


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