The World According to Americans...

nuff said?

Noordin M. Top Claims Recent Jakarta Bombings

Noordin M. Top has allegedly signed off on an internet message that was posted on behalf of Top. As has been suspected, Top claims the bombings on behalf of a splinter group linked to Jemaah Islamiyya (or Jemaah Islamiyah), Tandzim al-Qaeda.

Interestingly, the message claims that the American business community, and presumably anyone remotely associated with that community, for stealing Indonesia's natural resources. Therefore, this would give some credence to the idea that James Castle's round table breakfast function was in fact the intended target and not a target of opportunity.

The message was written in Arabic and Indonesian. It was posted on Sunday to a website that had not be known previously, Bushro. Top and his band of terrorists have only claimed one previous Indonesian bombing, and by all accounts it seems that this message is in much the same manner as the previous claim. The previous claim of responsibility related to bombings in Bali in 2005.

Whether the claim is legitimate and issued on the orders of Top remain to be seen and investigated more fully. I have recently heard that some experts are starting to question its authenticity as it contains some errors. These experts are questioning the authenticity because Top is a renowned perfectionist. Time will tell I guess.

The note mentions some of Top's closest confidants that have been killed by anti-terror forces during the pursuit of Top. However, these confidants were killed in 2005 and 2006, so this suggests that the planning and execution of the plan were a long-time in the making. So long in fact that it has been reported that the police had intelligence to suggest that a bombing was a possibility.

Noordin M. Top is Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist. He hails from Malaysia but has honed his bombing skills in Indonesia. He has become a real merchant of death in that he is allegedly responsible for the killing of almost 250 people since his bombing spree started.

The sooner anti-terrorism forces catch this man the better. Otherwise, Indonesians can be assured of one thing; he will continue to build bombs designed to kill as many people as he can for as long as he can. He, and his group, might be targeting foreigners, but history shows he is not adverse to killing Indonesians as acceptable collateral damage in the pursuit of his goals.

Violence is not the answer. It will never resolve our differences and it will never allow us to move forward to a place where we all live in peace and harmony with one another. People of all faiths must denounce violence as a legitimate means to an end; violence is not legitimate and it never ends.