The Americans and Australians have expressed dismay that the sentence passed on Abu Bakar Bashir relating to the terrorist outrages in Indonesia was so light.

The interesting fact about this case is that the Americans refused to allow the person known as "Hambali" (who is in their custody) to give evidence.

This parallels the case in Germany of Mounir el Motassadeq where the Americans refused to allow people in their custody to give evidence.

In the Indonesian case, Abu Bakar Bashir claims that the organisation of which he is alleged to be the leader, Jemaah Islamiyah, does not exist, and says that he believes that both Jemaah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda are creations of the US. Whether or not there is any truth in that claim, it is very strange that the Americans both complain about the leniency of his sentence and fail to co-operate fully in his prosecution.

As always, the question of "who benefits" is hugely important in the case of the Bali bomb - it got the Australians on side to support the war against Iraq at 'just the right time'. Indeed it was described as "the Australians' 9/11" a description which should give pause to anyone who doubts (as I do) the official story of 9/11.

See also:
http://kurtnimmo.com/blog/index.php?p=596.