IRA-style war?

The Dominion Post appears to have a exclusive scoop, with sources revealing that police documents claim Tame Iti was planning to declare an IRA-style war on New Zealand, demanding independence for Tuhoe.

It sounds like the Police have been very vigilant with videos and photos of the training camp, and intercepted text messages.

The group allegedly included former NZ Army soldiers, and attempts were made to obtain a grenade launcher.

If this is correct, it certainly goes well well beyond a few guys mouthing off after some drinks.  The issue isn’t so much whether or not Iti would or would not have been sucessful.  The issue is how many people were willing to sign up to terrorist attacks on other New Zealanders.

Based on knowledge to date (and it is very incomplete, so hence no final judgements) it seems clear there was at least a small group based around Iti which was planning some horrific stuff. But whether all those arrested were aware of what Iti was planning is quite another matter.

Hopefully more information will come to light sooner rather than later, but the integrity of the judicial process is of course paramount.