Australian police mount counter terrorism raids: Update 1

Australian intelligence and security officials are privately concerned that future terror plots might not be halted in time, a leading intelligence analyst says. Professor Ross Babbage, a former senior defence official, says the agencies involved in last week's counter-terrorism raids in and around Melbourne had done an excellent job. The raids foiled a terror plot to attack the Holsworthy Barracks in western Sydney.

But there was "deep unease" amongst intelligence and security officials there might be a future set of circumstances where something could fall between the cracks, Professor Babbage said. "That is, we can't be absolutely certain that in every situation we are going to join the dots and we are going to catch these guys early," he told ABC Radio on Monday.

Intelligence officials believed present structures made it difficult to deal effectively with emerging threats. For instance, cyber attacks against financial institutions were not the sort of threat the agencies had been structured to counter.

"Future Attacks May Not Be Prevented", Sydney Morning Herald, 8/10/09.