Iraq war architect Cheney dead aged 84

The former US vice president played a crucial role in planning and overseeing the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein

Former US Vice President Dick Cheney has died from complications of pneumonia and heart and vascular disease, his family said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Richard B. Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, died last night, November 3, 2025. He was 84 years old,” the statement reads. “His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed. The former Vice President died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.”

Serving under former US President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, Cheney was one of the chief architects of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. He strongly advocated the claim that then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, which was later discredited. Cheney also pushed for the broader ‘war on terror’, approved the use of torture on terrorist suspects, and greenlighted the warrantless monitoring of Americans’ phone calls and emails.

He left office with one of the lowest approval ratings ever recorded for a US vice president, according to major US pollsters, but expressed no regrets over his policy choices, insisting he did what was necessary after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 2,800 people.

“I would do it again in a minute,” he said in 2014, responding to a Senate report that condemned the CIA’s interrogation methods as brutal, ineffective, and damaging to America’s global standing.

Critics argue that Cheney’s aggressive foreign policy and role in the Iraq War had lasting, damaging effects on the US and the world. The invasion, they say, created a power vacuum that fueled sectarian violence, destabilized the Middle East, and helped spawn extremist groups like ISIS. The war left more than 4,600 US troops and up to 300,000 Iraqi civilians dead, with some studies estimating over 500,000 total war-related deaths.

Cheney suffered from severe cardiovascular disease for much of his adult life and survived multiple heart attacks. His first heart attack occurred in 1978 when he was just 37.

He suffered four more, leading to several surgeries, including bypass operations, angioplasties, and the implantation of a left ventricular assist device in 2010 before receiving a heart transplant in 2012.

https://www.rt.com/news/627317-iraq-war-architect-cheney-dead/

Bomb Threats Received in SEVEN New Jersey Counties as People Vote in Heated Gubernatorial Race, Forcing Multiple Polling Site Closures – Trump Admin. Responds

A possible malicious act of election sabotage is underway in the competitive New Jersey Gubernatorial race.

As New Jersey 12 News reported, bomb threats at several polling locations have prompted closures and relocations as people vote in the competitive gubernatorial race between Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

Threats were sent by email to the following seven locations: Bergen County, Essex County, Mercer County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Ocean County, and Passaic County.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin released the following statement:

Voters should continue to have confidence that they can cast their ballot without fear of intimidation, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure a free, fair, and secure election.

Make no mistake: We will not tolerate any attempts to interfere with our elections, and we will swiftly hold accountable anyone who seeks to interfere with the safety or security of our electoral process.

Here is more information on some of the threats via New Jersey 12:

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said polling sites at School 2 and School 10 in Paterson were shut down after threats were received.

Newark Public Safety officials say they are reviewing phishing emails with false bomb threats, but confirmed this morning’s threat on Gotthard Street was unfounded.

Hackensack police say a high school employee reported a safety threat via email just before 6 a.m., prompting a K9 sweep that cleared the site and allowed polls to reopen by 7:33 a.m.

Ridgewood police say a bomb threat at Somerville Elementary led to the closure of all Ridgewood public schools today, though buildings remain open for voting.

In Middlesex County, officials closed Avanel Middle School due to “an active law enforcement investigation,” relocating voters to Woodbine Avenue Elementary School.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba responded to the threats by saying they will ensure all people can exercise their constitutional right to vote.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/11/new-bomb-threats-received-seven-new-jersey-counties/

1984

Voting Machines Down in Three Red Districts of New Jersey as Election Day Heats Up

Voting machines went down in three districts of New Jersey early Tuesday, which is Election Day, according to Early Vote Action’s Scott Presler.

Just before 8:00 a.m., Presler reported via X that three red districts in Cumberland County saw their machines go down.

“In 3 RED districts in Cumberland County, NJ, the machines are down. On the phone w/ legal right now,” he wrote:

Other conservatives on the social media platform highlighted the news and urged people not to skip out on voting.

“Election machines have gone down in multiple locations across CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NJ – where Republicans are outperforming their 2024 turnout by double digits, Scott Presler says. Isn’t that suspicious. STILL VOTE! DO NOT let it deter you!” Eric Daugherty of Florida’s Voice News said:

Turning Point USA Spokesman Andrew Kolvet echoed Daugherty’s statement, writing, “Scott Presler is reporting that voting machines are down in 3 conservative districts in Cumberland Country, NJ. Shenanigans abound but do not be deterred!! Will update as we hear more… Vote Vote Vote.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/11/04/presler-voting-machines-down-in-three-red-districts-of-new-jersey-as-election-day-heats-up/

Battle-Tested on Gaza Civilians, Now Over U.S. Streets: Skydio Drones Fuel Police Surveillance Expansion

A California drone company whose technology aided Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza is now helping police departments across the United States surveil protesters, students, and ordinary Americans—automatically uploading millions of images to centralized evidence databases.

Immediately after October 7, Skydio, once barely a blip on the military-tech radar, shipped over 100 reconnaissance drones to the Israeli military for use in the siege of Gaza. Company leadership promised “more to come.” Since then, with Skydio maintaining an office in Israel and a partnership with DefenseSync—a military drone contractor serving as middleman to the IDF—the actual number of U.S.-built drones exported for Israeli combat missions remains unknown.

Having been field-tested on the bodies and neighborhoods of Palestinian civilians, these AI-powered quadcopters are now being launched by law enforcement agencies in nearly every major U.S. city. Skydio drones are deployed hundreds of times per day in American towns, flying over protests from Boston to Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego, Cleveland, and Jacksonville—with contracts in place with over 800 agencies, more than double the number last year.

In New York City, the NYPD recently bragged about launching Skydio drones more than 20,000 times in less than a year—amounting to 55 drone deployments a day—and revealed a current arsenal of 41 Skydio units. Philadelphia police used Skydio to monitor protesters, while Yale deployed them to spy on students protesting Israeli actions in Palestine. The “No Kings” protests in New York attracted special scrutiny, with multiple deployments logged.

Federal agencies are buying in too: ICE recently bought Skydio’s X10D, which uses AI to autonomously track targets, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection acquired 33 similar units.

Propelling this nationwide surveillance boom is a new FAA waiver freeing police to fly drones beyond line of sight and over city crowds, dramatically increasing remote observation. Cities like Cincinnati predict 90% of police callouts will soon be handled by drones before officers arrive. Skydio docking stations are now positioned citywide so drones can launch, land, and charge without operators in the field.

Unlike older drones, Skydio’s UAVs operate without human pilots and can function in “GPS-denied” urban environments, using Nvidia chips for AI-powered navigation, 3D mapping, and facial imaging—feeding real-time footage directly into the Axon digital evidence system. Axon, famous for its Tasers and police weaponry, is a major Skydio backer with deep Israeli military ties.

https://nationalfile.com/battle-tested-on-gaza-civilians-now-over-u-s-streets-skydio-drones-fuel-police-surveillance-expansion/

How the Federal Government Acquired the Power of Assassination

For over a century and a half the constitutional system of checks and balances prevented the federal government from exercising extrajudicial killings. But now under the national security state government officials wield immense power to kill without due process.

Americans oftentimes forget that the Constitution called the federal government into existence and, equally important, limited its powers to those enumerated in the Constitution itself. In fact, the only reason our American ancestors accepted the Constitution was because they were assured that its powers would be few, limited, and extremely restricted.

Thus, the Constitution did not call into existence a government with inherent powers, like the traditional “police powers” that characterized governments throughout history. If it had done that, our American ancestors would never have approved it. Instead, it was clearly understood that the only powers that the federal government could legally exercise were those enumerated in the Constitution. If a power wasn’t enumerated, it could not legally be exercised.

This is what was meant by the term “limited-government republic.” For the first time in history, a people had limited the powers of their own government by the document that called the government into existence.

If Americans didn’t like that system, they could change it by amending the Constitution, which provided for the means to do that.

Our American ancestors were still not satisfied. They were still extremely concerned about the possibility that the federal government could end up wielding omnipotent, tyrannical powers over them, similar to those that had been wielded and exercised by King George.

They were particularly concerned that the president, even though democratically elected, might decide to use his power, especially in combination with the military, to arbitrarily kill people.

The advocates of the Constitution did their best to put their minds at ease. They pointed out that the Constitution did not give the federal government the power to arbitrarily kill people. Therefore, since such a power wasn’t enumerated, it could not legally be exercised.

Moreover, given the fierce opposition to “standing armies,” it was also understood that the president would never have a large military force to impose that type of tyranny on the American people, a tyranny that would involve the arbitrary killing of people.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/government-corruption/how-the-federal-government-acquired-the-power-of-assassination

>>23810889

true

lines his own pockets while facilitating the DS takeover

So it was just fraud to steal land and ethnically cleanse the Palestinians

Now the UN is in on it too.

https://www.antiwar.com/

Investigation of sweeping Histadrut corruption case extends to Likud ministers

Ministers of foreign affairs, culture, justice among those expected to be questioned as police trace alleged bribery network linking labor union, municipalities, and government

Police investigators are expected to summon several senior Likud ministers for questioning as a sweeping corruption probe into Israel’s main labor federation, the Histadrut, continues to widen, law enforcement officials confirmed to Hebrew media late Monday.

A senior officer from the Lahav 433 anti-fraud unit told Channel 12 news that the investigation is now examining possible ties between the alleged bribery network within the Histadrut and figures in the government.

According to testimony collected in recent days, the names of several ministers — all from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party — have surfaced, including those of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem, and Energy Minister Eli Cohen.

Police said the ministers may soon be summoned to provide testimony, though not currently as suspects, Hebrew media reported.

Investigators in the Lahav 433 unit reportedly described the unfolding case as “the largest we’ve ever handled.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/investigation-of-sweeping-histadrut-corruption-case-extends-to-likud-ministers/

Communist dictatorship

Likud minister’s contentious media regulation bill passes first reading in Knesset

Legislation to give the government significant control over broadcasters and other media advances despite AG’s objections, with ultra-Orthodox parties lending support in trade-off

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s bill that would dramatically overhaul Israel’s media landscape passed its first reading in the Knesset early Tuesday, with 54 lawmakers voting in favor and 47 against.

The legislation would give the government significant control over broadcast media, news sites and other media, by establishing a new regulatory council, with a majority of members chosen by the communications minister, that would have an array of authorities over broadcast media, including the ability to issue hefty fines.

The attorney general, opposing the legislation, has advised that it presents “real concern of severe harm to freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”

Karhi, one of the most far-right members of the Likud party, has claimed that the law would increase competition in the media market and reduce costs for content consumers. Critics say it would give the government considerable control over broadcasters and other media outlets. It requires two more votes in the Knesset plenum to become law.

According to the bill, a new Broadcast Media Authority will be established, along with a Council for the Regulation of Audio-Visual Content — to replace the Second Authority for Television and Radio, which currently regulates commercial channels, and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, which oversees cable and satellite television providers Hot and Yes.

Under the new law, the communications minister would appoint four of the seven members of the Council for the Regulation of Audio-Visual Content, while the director-general of the Communications Ministry would also appoint a member.

The council would manage and control the registry for broadcast content and news content providers, with power over registrations. All content providers, such as television channels, news websites, and streaming websites, would be obliged to register.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-ministers-contentious-media-regulation-bill-passes-first-reading-in-knesset/

This is how one-party rule begins and America’s political balance may never recover

Adelaide Stone Van Gessel says she doesn’t agree with partisan gerrymandering in practice.

But she voted yes on Proposition 50, a California ballot measure that would allow the state’s Democratic leaders to temporarily bypass California’s independent redistricting commission and enact a more Democratic-friendly congressional map ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Van Gessel and others who back Prop 50 told NPR the proposal provides the Democratic-leaning state a rare opportunity to directly counteract President Trump and Republican efforts to redraw political maps in their favor in other states.

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/03/g-s1-96207/california-redistricting-prop-50-trump

To gerrymander or not to gerrymander?

That will be the question facing Californians on Tuesday in a special election that could reshape the balance of power in the state and the country for years to come.

Proposition 50, backed by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, would temporarily redraw the state’s electoral maps in a way that could help Democrats flip five Congressional seats in the 2026 midterms.

https://nypost.com/us-news/what-is-california-prop-50/

Voting Rights Act faces a near-death experience at US Supreme Court

Supreme Court has a muscular 6-3 conservative majority

Landmark law was passed in 1965 during civil rights era

Having gutted one provision, court targets a second

Trump administration backed Voting Rights Act challenge

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) – The Voting Rights Act, a landmark law barring discrimination in voting, was a product of the U.S. civil rights era, sought by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Martin Luther King, passed by Congress and signed by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson in 1965.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/voting-rights-act-faces-near-death-experience-us-supreme-court-2025-10-18/

North Carolina’s legislature formally began redrawing the state’s congressional district map Monday, plainly stating their intent to help Republicans gain another U.S. House seat under President Donald Trump’s push to retain his party’s grip on Congress next year.

The state Senate gave initial approval along party lines to new boundaries for two eastern North Carolina districts in a move aimed at thwarting the reelection of Democratic Rep. Don Davis, one of the state’s three Black members of Congress. That followed a committee meeting in which dozens of speakers from the public sharply accused Republican lawmakers in the ninth-largest state of bowing to Trump.

https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-legislature-congress-redistricting-55512714a072fcecad912ee5c6817f84

As they look ahead to next year’s fight to control Congress in the midterms, Republicans and Democrats are scrambling across the country to revisit the congressional district lines that will shape political battles ahead.

Redistricting is usually performed only once a decade after the release of data from the U.S. Census.

Texas Republicans, at the urging of President Donald Trump, passed a new map in August packing together Democratic voters in major urban and suburban areas and drawing new borders around Democratic seats to include more Texans who voted for Trump last year.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mid-decade-redistricting-midterms-redrawn-maps-impacts-battle/story?id=126909158

When one party redraws the maps to wipe out the other side completely, that’s not just politics. That’s the end of real competition. Once no one can lose, there’s no reason to listen. Oversight fades, voices disappear, and democracy starts running on silence.

https://citizenwatchreport.com/this-is-how-one-party-rule-begins-and-americas-political-balance-may-never-recover/

Israeli Troops Advance Into Southwest Syria, Infiltrate Multiple Villages

Tanks and armored vehicles surround home in border village

Israeli troops have been launching operations in southwestern Syria on a fairly regular basis of late, and on Monday they carried out multiple incursions into both the Quneitra and Daraa Governorates, entering multiple villages therein.

Israeli tanks and vehicles raided the village of al-Mushayrifa and searched several homes. They went on to the village of Umm Batna and surrounded a house. It is unclear what they were doing, and the IDF has not commented.

Israeli armored vehicles operating out of the village of al-Hurriya moved against the village of Ofaniyah, also in Quneitra. There were no reports of any incidents in this operation, though again the IDF did not comment.

Further south, Israeli forces advanced into the Yarmouk Basin, in Daraa Governorate. The forces briefly entered the village of Ma’araba, though reportedly they withdrew back to the occupied Golan Heights shortly thereafter and seemingly didn’t do anything while there.

A lot of the Israeli operations of late have involved creating checkpoints along major roads, searching locals that try to pass by before packing up and leaving the area. There are sometimes detentions, though seemingly most of the detained are released shortly thereafter and their detentions are for no apparent reason.

In Quneitra Israel is also reportedly expanding the number of military outposts they are operating from. Unlike most of their other military engagements, for which they tend to offer some narrative of what they’re hoping to accomplish, most of the incursions into Syria come and go without official comment, leaving open the question of how the Israel-Syria negotiations, aimed at reducing tensions and returning the situation to 1974 levels, can be accomplished amid these operations.

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/11/03/israeli-troops-advance-into-southwest-syria-infiltrate-multiple-villages/

Trump just dropped a video featuring a Sheriff revealing how Gavin Newsom rigs elections.

It’d be a real shame if this went viral…

You know the drill 👇

https://twitter.com/i/status/1985342786170745332

Definitive Evidence of DNA Adulteration in the mRNA Vaccines

An international congress hosted by Artsen Collectief (Netherlands Doctors’ Collective) was convened on October 25 and 26, 2005, in Driebergen, Netherlands, and was attended by both an international panel of invited speakers and a sold-out audience.

On October 25 & 26, professionals, thinkers, and changemakers gathered for Back to the Future—two dynamic days of bold ideas, unexpected connections, and forward-looking dialogue. From keynote talks to breakout sessions, the congress explored how technology, trust, and transformation shape our collective future.

A sculpted Hippocrates opened the congress with irony and urgency. Wearing “funny glasses” to mock modern tech dependence, he challenged the audience to embrace high-tech hygiene—a call to remove pollution from our bodies, environments, and information streams. His timeless message echoed through the room:

“Let food be your medicine” and “First, do no harm.”

Among the many consequential and informative talks presented at this meeting, the one that I thought stood out as most significant was the rather data-intensive presentation from Kevin McKernan, titled DNA contamination in the mRNA vaccines, decentralizing Peer Review. Both Kevin and the conference organizers have kindly authorized the distribution of a video record of that talk, as well as PDF copies of the slides that he presented (see links above and below).

Kevin McKernan has over 30 years of experience in the genomics field starting his career as the Team Leader for Research and Development at the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research. Kevin’s team designed novel magnetic bead chemistry for the DNA purification of plasmid DNA for the Human Genome Project.

In 2000 he founded Agencourt Bioscience Corporation which became the largest commercial DNA sequencing company in the US and an NHGRI funded Genome Center.

In 2004 he founded Agencourt Personal Genomics to bring the SOLiD sequencer to market. Both companies were acquired by Beckman Coulter and Applied Biosystems respectively in 2005 and 2006.

He worked for Applied Biosystems commercializing the SOLiD sequencer for Cancer sequencing and in 2011 founded Medicinal Genomics to sequence the Cannabis genome and investigate the use of Cannabinoids in Cancer. Medicinal Genomics was acquired by Courtagen Life Science, which focused on the sequencing of Epilepsy, mitochondrial disease, and Autism patients.

In 2016 Medicinal Genomics commercialized various PCR and DNA sequencing assays for the Cannabis safety testing market.

In 2023, McKernan’s lab discovered DNA contamination (adulteration) in the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines and has been exploring the impact of the Endocannabinoid system in vaccine injury. Medicinal Genomics has also been exploring the use of Bitcoin to decentralize Peer Review and crowd fund scientific investigation of important but controversial public health matters.

Kevin has over 60,000 citations and a dozen patents in the genomics field and helps organize the annual CannMed conference focused on decentralized medicine.

https://www.malone.news/p/definitive-evidence-of-dna-adulteration

This is Jane Doe15 and she was only 15 when she was preyed upon by Jeffrey Epstein and she is also one of the victims that deserves to have the Epstein files released!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1984814683442856103

Fed adds another $24B to banks, $125B in five days. Banks are borrowing like it’s 2008 again

The Fed’s recent repo injections, like the ~$29B on Nov 1, aim to ease short-term funding pressures amid declining bank reserves (down to ~$2.8T). Implications include stabilizing markets and boosting assets like stocks/crypto, but they may signal underlying liquidity stress or potential policy shifts. Over $125B in days could fuel inflation concerns if sustained, per reports from CoinDesk, Economic Times, and Fed notes.

https://citizenwatchreport.com/fed-adds-another-24b-to-banks-125b-in-five-days-the-silent-rescue-keeping-the-system-alive/

The Nastiest Warmongers Are Trump’s Biggest Fans Now

https://youtu.be/yP3KgZpw3a8

U.S. Threatens Iraq Following Israeli Reports Claiming Iran Is Planning Large Attack From There

Iraq received a direct threat from the United States following Hebrew media reports accusing Iran of planning a large-scale attack on Israel in cooperation with Shiite armed factions, in what appears to be an attempt to fabricate a casus belli for an operation in the country.

These claims started from Walla. The Hebrew news outlet reported on October 31 that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Mossad spy agency are preparing for a “developing threat” against Israel from pro-Iranian factions in Iraq.

The report, which cites sources from the IDF’s Northern Command, says that the Iranians have been investing significant resources in “pro-Iranian militias and terrorist infrastructure in Iraq,” so that, on the day of command, they can attack Israel from the air and by land.

It was also reported that recently, Esmail Qaani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, the external operation branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC), visited Iraq and met with senior leaders from these factions.

The main method of attack would likely involve launching missiles and drones from Iraqi territory, according to Walla, which said that a secondary option could be a ground maneuver beginning in Iraq, moving through Syria, and potentially reaching the Israel-Jordan border.

Iraqi factions engaged in a lengthy confrontation with Israel following the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip more than two years ago, launching missile and drone attacks against targets in the country.

Threatening messages were conveyed from Israel to Iraq through the U.S. and other channels last year, and a ceasefire was reached.

Following the release of Walla’s report, Iraqi Defence Minister Thabet al-Abbasi disclosed that U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth directly warned the country of imminent military operations in the region, urging it to restrain pro-Iranian factions operating within its borders.

Speaking in a televised interview late November 1, al-Abbasi said the phone call, made via the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Baghdad, marked the clearest warning yet from the White House since renewed tensions with Tehran and its regional allies.

“Hegseth told us clearly that operations are coming and that we must ensure no faction in Iraq interferes,” al-Abbasi said. “He concluded the call with, ‘This is your final notice — and you know very well how this administration will respond.’”

https://southfront.press/u-s-threatens-iraq-following-israeli-reports-claiming-iran-is-planning-large-attack-from-there/

Most US Voters Say Rich Have Too Much Influence in Elections

Wealthy donors and corporations have too much power in elections, according to Americans in a national poll. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision remains unpopular with two-thirds of them.

The vast majority of Americans — no matter their partisan identification — say unlimited political spending weakens democracy and wealthy donors have too much power in elections, a new national poll indicates.

And they’d like the government to do something about it.

Nearly 8-in-10 respondents agreed with the statement that “anti-corruption rules strengthen our democracy and constitutional rights by ensuring everyone has equal political representation, regardless of money,” according to the YouGov poll commissioned by the political watchdog group Issue One, which advocates for stricter money-in-politics regulations.

Just 1-in-10 respondents in the poll conducted from Oct. 7 to 15 agreed with the statement that “anti-corruption rules weaken our democracy and constitutional rights by infringing on free speech protected by the First Amendment.”

Nearly 8-in-10 also said they either “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” that large independent expenditures by wealthy donors and corporations in elections give rise to corruption, or the appearance of corruption.” Just over 1-in-10 said they “somewhat disagree” or “strongly disagree” with the statement.

https://consortiumnews.com/2025/11/04/most-us-voters-say-rich-have-too-much-influence-in-elections/

This fucking idiot just parrots what mossad tells him too

ASIO boss Mike Burgess warns at least three foreign nations willing to kill on Aus soil

There are at least three foreign nations willing to carry out assassinations on Australian soil, ASIO boss Mike Burgess has warned.

At least three foreign countries are willing to assassinate political dissidents on Australian soil and are capable of carrying out ­“lethal targeting”, the nation’s top spy has warned.

In a dark speech to the Lowy Institute at Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday night, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess did not name those nations that posed a threat, but said foreign governments could try to cover their tracks by using “criminal cut-outs”, just as Iran did when it directed recent anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Given the degrading trajectory of our security environment and the growing willingness of regimes to conduct high-harm operations, ASIO assesses there is a realistic possibility a foreign government will attempt to assassinate a perceived dissident in Australia. This threat is real,” he said.

“We believe there are at least three nations willing and capable of conducting lethal targeting here.

“It is entirely possible the regimes would try to hide their involvement by hiring criminal cut outs, as Iran did when directing its arson attacks.”

The head of Australia’s domestic intelligence service also warned that the country’s social cohesion was “fraying” from “multiple, cascading and intersecting threats”, with intolerance and anti-authority beliefs now spreading and rising at an unprecedented scale.

“What we are seeing today is on a different scale, with different dynamics,” he said.

“Grievance is growing. Intolerance is rising. Inflammatory rhetoric and behaviour is being normalised. Anti-authority beliefs are spreading.”

He singled out three categories of actors ripping at the country’s social fabric, which he labelled the “aggrieved”, the “opportunistic” and “nation states”.

“Angry, alienated individuals are embracing anti-authority ideologies and conspiracy theories,” he said in describing the aggrieved cohort.

“Engaging in uncivil debate and unpeaceful protest. Some are combining multiple beliefs to create new hybrid ideologies.

“It is important to understand there is significant diversity in this cohort. Suggesting all the aggrieved are ‘sovereign citizens’, for example, is neither accurate nor helpful.”

The “opportunistic” are exploiting fissures in social cohesion to advance extremist politics, he said.

“They are skilled at exploiting gaps or fissures in social cohesion, at harnessing and harvesting grievances,” Mr Burgess said.

“The way nationalist and racist violent extremists attempted to leverage the so-called March for Australia rallies is a case in point.

“The biggest neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist Network – or White Australia as it is rebranding itself – identified the demonstrations as a vehicle to raise its profile.

“It strategically and opportunistically exploited the organisers’ complaints about immigration and the cost of living.”

https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/security/lowy-lecture-asio-boss-mike-burgess-warns-australias-social-cohesion-is-fraying-from-multiple-threats/news-story/0ed5e2814f974b3ae88af9c7779103a8