Australia: Abu Bakar warns PM against Iraq war

A cleric of the extremist Islamic group labelled the prime suspect for last weekend's Bali bombings has warned Australia against becoming involved in any attack on Iraq.

Considered to be the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, Abu Bakar Bashir said he thought the blasts were the work of the US.

When questioned whether he, or his group, had anything to do with the bombing, Abu Bakar replied: "No, indeed I condemn the bombing and I'm sure this is nothing to do with the Indonesians. I'm certain that it was engineered by foreign intelligence - which means I deeply suspect the Americans."

In an interview on ABC's Foreign Correspondent program, he said: "My main reason being that it is justification by the Americans that Indonesia is the centre of terrorism even though this never happened before in Indonesia.

"They engineered such a huge bomb blast in Bali ... to prove that in Indonesia there are terrorists. This is to justify the issues being pushed by America and its cronies."

Abu Bakar, who denies he is the leader of Jemaah Islamiah, challenged those who had accused the group of carrying out the Kuta attack to come forward with proof.

He also sounded a warning to the Prime Minister, John Howard, on becoming involved in a war with Iraq. "Tell your Prime Minister that's a stupid thing to do - supporting America in attacking Iraq is a stupid thing to do."

And asked if the group had links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, Abu Bakar said he had trouble defining it. "I don't understand what al-Qaeda is. Al-Qaeda is a fictional organisation. It's been blown up by America. I'd never heard of al-Qaeda before."

Abu Bakar, 65, runs a religious school with more than 2000 pupils about 500 kilometres east of Jakarta. He returned to Indonesia in 1998 after 13 years exile in Malaysia following the fall of former president Soeharto.

I wouldn't laugh too much on the subject of Indonesian Muslims invading Australia.

Australia was a US ally in Vietnam, precisely to block the possible spread of comminism in the region.

Wise analysts have compared the threat of Islamist fundamentalism, to nazism and communism. It is NOT just "religion;" rather is seeks world domination.

The Islamists took terrorism right out of the communist manifesto. Remember "guerrilla warfare" in Vietnam, across Latin America (Cuba)?

Arafat trained in Cuba in the 1960s

The islamists know they cannot win by conventional means, so they will use guerrilla warfare, which we now call terrorism.

Every nation facing the threat must have a strong military, and the resolve to kill and capture the insurgents.

Ironically, islam was once an enemy of communism.

Iran with 23 years experience knows what an "islamic republic" is like, under dictatorial mullah rule. The majority probably don't like it, but as an opposition they are currently fragmented.

After only ten years, in 1956, Hungarians had seen enough of Soviet dictatorship, but their revolt was brutally smashed. The voices of 200,000 Hungarians who got out in 1956, told the truth. It crumbled of its own failures in 1989.

So 23 years for Iran is about right on schedule. The people living in these dictatorships DO WANT the governments to be toppled, and DO WANT outside help.

The problem now is the same as before for the US--namely that the opposition is often another dictator. It will test America's power, to see how well we weather the troubled waters.

I heard that RV sales are UP, and a California hotel operator told me that European vacation travel was down. Travellers were scared by WTC 2001, and now by Bali. On the islamist terrorists' scorecards, they are "on plan."

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