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Indybay Feature

Massive security blanket for Cheney’s Australian visit

by wsws (reposted)
Extraordinary levels of security surround the four-day visit to Australia by the United States Vice President Dick Cheney, who arrived in Sydney last night. The official purpose of the trip is to “thank Australia” for the Howard government’s participation in the so-called “war on terror,” particularly the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet, hundreds of police and other armed personnel have been mobilised to prevent ordinary people getting anywhere near the vice president.
The New South Wales state Labor government has been working closely with the federal authorities to try to prevent any expression of the popular opposition to the Bush administration’s war crimes. More than 1,200 state police—almost a tenth of the entire NSW force—have been deployed at an estimated cost of $2 million to protect Cheney and suppress demonstrations against his visit. That number does not include the special forces officers of the State Protection Group, Counter Terrorism Command, Dog Unit and Bomb Unit.

Several blocks around Cheney’s hotel are being been shut for the four days, and city streets are being closed whenever Cheney’s convoy passes through, causing traffic chaos. Police and traffic authorities have urged motorists to stay out of the Sydney CBD, warning that “significant delays” will be caused by Cheney’s itinerary, which is being kept a tight secret.

For three days and nights before Cheney arrived, army Black Hawk helicopters buzzed the Sydney CBD, ostensibly for counter-terrorism training. Several residents contacted newspapers to complain of unbearable noise. One reader told the Sydney Morning Herald: “We are ... being buzzed by huge noisy helicopters flying probably only about 20 storeys up. [Five] times in an hour—we can’t hear TV, we can’t talk on the phone.”

More
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/chen-f23.shtml
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