In Reply to: Not True posted by WorldTraveller on Sunday, 2. October 2005 at 16:55 Bali Time:
What possible benefit could there possibly be for Indonesia to let Hambali go?
If they are soft on terrorism, why are they going to shoot three of the men involved in the last bombings? Why have they convicted more than 40 terrorists?
There is no double standard with the Corbee case. The penalty she got was similar to those given to Indonesians and citizens of other countries convicted of similar crimes. The difference between her case and Bashir's is evidence. One was caught red handed and couldn't prove her innocence, the other was in hospital at the time of the crime, and any evidence of previous involvement required testimony of other people which proved not to be forthcoming. The whole reason the West pressured Indoesia to go after Bashir was because Hambali apparently dobbed him in. But would they let the Indonesian judges verify this? Nope.
Thank God we live in a world where the hearsay of CIA agents doesn't override all other evidence in court. For now, anyway.
Any notion you have of the Indonesian Government, court system or citizens being on the side of terrorists is just plain weird.
It's not all about tourist dollars. It's about kinship with fellow humans. The people on this forum who are determined to return to Bali have bonded with people in Indonesia, and Bali in particular. This attack affects both groups of people. As they have suffered together, so should they heal together, and unite in defiance against the forces that try to separate them. Including you.
Plenty of other people see Bali as just a place to surf and buy cheap stuff. They'll probably go somewhere they believe is safer. Fair enough.
But for those of us who see our friends in trouble and share their grief, and desire to help them in their time of need, your repeated uninformed posts are not only annoying, but insulting in that you seem to think we are foolish for not joining you in further punishing the victims.
We know about the dangers. We know a hell of a lot more about them than you do. We have weighed the dangers against our longing to support our friends, and the many other benefits of going to Indonesia. And we have decided the risk is worth it.
You don't have to go to Indonesia if you don't want to. Since all your information on the country seems to have come from the back of a Cornflakes pack, I'm not sure you've been there before, or if you have any interest in Indonesia at all. You certainly have no understanding at all of the people who live there.
There's no shame in being afraid to spend a holiday in a place that has been bombed twice in three years. Everybody can understand that. But there's no point rationalising that fear with misinformation that borders on racism. And certainly no need to spread that misinformation.