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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (68311)	9/9/2004 8:43:27 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793964

Islamists Attempt To Throw More Elections By Captain Ed on War on Terror Islamic terrorists have apparently attacked the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia this morning, killing eight people and again injecting themselves into two election cycles: At least eight people have been killed and about 100 injured in a massive blast outside the Australian embassy in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. Jakarta's police chief said a suicide car bomb may have caused the blast, and linked it to bomb expert Azahari Husin. ... Police chief General Da'i Bachtiar said police believed the explosion was caused by a car bomb, similar to those used to attack the Marriott Hotel last year and the Bali nightclubs in 2002. Mr Bachtiar said it bore the hallmark of militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which is widely blamed for both bombings. The BBC's report notes that not only does this bombing attack one of America's staunch allies in the war on terror but also comes on the eve of elections in both Indonesia and Australia. Indonesians go to the polls on September 20th, less than two weeks from today. While security and terrorism had not been front-line issues for their election, Jemaah Islamiah has long threatened to retaliate for the imprisonment of its leadership following the Bali bombing two years ago. JI wants Indonesians to question whether cooperating with Americans is worth the attention it gets from radical Islamists, although rationally speaking, having nutcases running around with bombs should answer that question rather easily. Australia's elections come two weeks later on October 9 and this attack probably targeted their election more so than Indonesia. John Howard is locked in a tight race for a return to office; last I looked, he was up by 4 in the home stretch. The Islamofascists want Australians to draw the same conclusions as the Spaniards did in March and vote out those who would enthusiastically defend Western nations against the terrorists. My guess is that the Islamists chose their target poorly. Australians may have lost the rage that resulted from the Bali attack, but this bombing will recall it in full. Plus, not to be too insulting, but Australians aren't Spaniards -- they don't take kindly to lunatics bombing their people. Their likely reaction will not be to withdraw, especially given four weeks to think about it.

To: LindyBill who wrote (68311)	9/9/2004 9:00:32 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793964

The vets are honorable men who are trying to stop a scoundrel from becoming President. LOL. You can contrast the two if you want on honor if you like. Or on the girth of their principals, for that matter. There are plenty of differences. But it doesn't negate my point, just distracts from it. Whether there is a disparity in honor between the sides or not, the two initiatives still have the same message, which is that "he" has certain flaws so is not fit to be president, and they still have the same fallout, which is to divert attention from issues and coarsen the debate.