Lindt Cafe Aftermath !

It was inevitable that every aspect of the Lindt Cafe siege would be sifted through and carefully evaluated to see what could have been done better.   It was a "pressure cooker "situation and unfortunately two hostages met their death as well as the perpetrator.

The police were the first on the scene and they cleared the area and evacuated buildings.  This was the correct response because there was the threat of bombs - and a claim that a number of bombs were placed around the city.  A police sniper was positioned with a view of the cafe windows but an actual shot through toughened glass would have been a last resort because of collateral damage to the hostages.

The main criticism seems to be on who should take control during the sixteen hour siege that followed.  Siege response was part of police training, but they had little actual experience of live situations and it may have been better to call in the Army's Tactical Assault Group  ( TAG ).  The TAG has taken down sieges in other parts of the world where the army has been operating and they carry special weapons suited for such missions.

Attention is being concentrated on the actual assault immediately the terrorist executed one of the hostages.  The police raiding party fired twenty-seven rounds and this is being compared to the response that would have been expected from the TAG.    The police were equipped with assault rifles while the TAG would use Heckler and Kock MP7's and are trained to fire just two rounds - the famous "double tap " that kills hostage takers.

Considering that one of the hostages died of a ricochet from police fire and several others sustained minor wounds this is valid criticism.  It is essential to clearly define who has the ultimate decisive control in hostage emergencies to ensure that the best action is taken to bring the matter under control with the least risk.  Sometimes, taking that decision may cross traditional command boundaries.  It is absolutely essential that loyalties do not lead to commanders making the wrong decisions.

The lindt Cafe siege was a timely warning.   It is quite possible that Islamic terrorists may strike again and that could happen in other states and even in other that capital cities.   We need to establish command protocols that ensure that the response is both timely and adequate - and that it cuts through command structures to achieve the best result.

In this instance it was clearly handled well, but with a little fine tuning there could have been improvements.    It was a valuable learning experience and from that we should be able to coordinate both the police and the military to combine in a joint operation that uses the special skills available to get the best result.