February 10, 2003
Bali blast purposefully targeted Aussies
Bali attack 'targeted Australians'
Australians were deliberately targeted in last year's Bali bombings, according to transcripts of suspects to be aired on Australian television.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) Four Corners current affairs programme said it had obtained records of confessions made to police by several of the alleged bombers, which it would air on Monday.
The programme said it had a transcript of suspect Imam Samudra telling police that Australia was punished for its close relationship with the US, and for its involvement in East Timor's transition to independence from Indonesia in 1999.
Eighty-eight of the 190 or more victims in the 12 October bombing were Australian, but it has previously been reported that the bombers' target was simply Westerners.
Imam Samudra listed 13 reasons for the attack, including revenge for what he called "the barbarity of the US army of the cross and its allies England, Australia and so on", and their role in the war in Afghanistan, Four Corners said.
He added that: "Australia has taken part in efforts to separate East Timor from Indonesia which was an international conspiracy by followers of the (Christian) Cross," according to the ABC transcript.
There was a confession by one of the Bali bomber suspects a few months ago wherein he said that they were really targeting "Americans" and hit Aussies by mistake, which was implausible.
Everyone who knew Bali well enough to bomb these targets knew that most of the clients in these nightclubs were Australians.
I think the reference to Christians is telling, too.
They're still waging jihad on "infidels," only they've expanded that term to encompass Christians as well as Jews and if you're from an English-speaking country, even better.
The Islamists mainly want to kill us because we're not Muslims and we have free, open and tolerant societies and it has very little to do with our support of each other or East Timor (although both are things that we do, because we support Liberty).
Australia, I like being lumped together again with you guys.
Hope you don't mind, even though I regret it meant the deaths of 88 of your citizens.
You've been a faithful ally and a true nation friend for a very long time and I hope and pray that never changes!
Good on you.
