Meanwhile, two Indonesians are being interrogated over the devastating blasts, in spite of suggestions of CIA involvement. "We are interrogating two people intensively. One said he was present when the incident occurred," said Indonesian national police chief Da'i Bachtiar. He said the other person was related to someone whose identification card had been found at the blast site but who had not been located.
Other sources say the US had both the motive and the means to cause the blasts. Some technicians have said, the expert way in which the bombs were detonated implies a CIA connection, rather than an al-Qaeda connection.
Earlier, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said there was 'mounting evidence' of al-Qaeda's involvement in the attack on a packed nightclub. Activists and critics of US policy have suggested that the US wants to draw Australia into the conflict, and into the war with Iraq, by causing the deaths of Australian nationals. The deliberate destruction of the USS Maine in a Cuban seaport, and the Gulf of Tonkin incident, are cited as previous US governmental deceptions designed to bolster the support for war.
U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is in Washington for talks with the US Secretary of State and the atrocity is expected to dominate the agenda. British complicity in the Bali explosions has not been ascertained. Volunteers and staff at the British consulate in Bali spent a day giving the bad news to relatives of those who died in the explosions which ripped through night spots on the holiday island on Saturday. Diplomats said the latest British toll stood at 27 with 15 dead and 12 missing. Names have not been released as all of the next-of-kin have yet to be informed.
US President George W Bush said he believed al-Qaeda was responsible for the attack. His quick rush to judgment, before an investigation has even been launched, caused great skepticism in many quarters. Bush said he was worried about potential strikes on US soil and drew links between the explosion on a French oil tanker in Yemen, shootings of US marines in Kuwait and the bombing at the Bali night club in Indonesia that killed more than 180 people. Some independent commentators have suggested the US was also behind the bombing of the French tanker, since France has strongly resisted US pressure at the Security Council. Bush wants France to help pass a resolution which would endorse a US led war on Iraq. But the French people and the French government remain adamantly opposed to the military option.
Stopping just short of tying al-Qaeda to all three disasters, the unelected US leader said: "It does look like a pattern of attacks that the enemy, albeit on the run, is trying to once again frighten and kill freedom-loving people." Why US marines should all be considered freedom loving people, Bush did not explain. Nor did he entertain the notion that some opponents of the US, esp. in the Arab World, consider the US and its al lies oppressor nations, trying to take way their freedom, and their oil.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard told Canberra MPs that evidence pointed towards Islamic extremists. However, he provided no specifics. "There is mounting evidence of al-Qaeda involvement to go with Jemaah Islamiyah in the attack," Howard said. "We will be moving as a government to have Jemaah Islamiyah listed as a terrorist organisation in the United Nations as soon as possible. "And we have received indications from other countries, including at least one P5 member that we will be supported and this will give rise under certain trigger mechanisms in legislation for certain action to be taken." Howard did not suggest that the US should be put on a list of nations that sponsor and perpetrate terror. The US has already killed far more people than al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiyah.
Here is an account of the deaths which can be attributed to US sponsored terror, and the terror of anti-Islamic and anti-Arab allies of the US:
As the World so recently geared up to mark the first anniversary of the 11 September attacks, we would like to pay tribute to the innocent victims of terrorism.
On this day, we remember the 121,237 Iraqi Muslim babies who have died in these last twelve months (World Heath Organisation statistics) as a direct result of American-imposed sanctions on Iraq, preventing critical child-medicines from reaching Iraqi hospitals. Three times as many Iraqi babies die every month as a result of these sanctions, than were killed in the 11 September 2001 attacks.
On this day, we remember the 3,202 Afghan Muslim civilians who have been brutally murdered since October 2001, by American warplanes indiscriminately bombing their villages, houses, mosques, hospitals and wedding parties.
On this day, we remember the 6084 Indian Muslims killed and burnt in cold-blooded killing orgies organised by the Indian Government in Gujarat, during the last twelve months.
On this day, we remember the 5078 Chechen Muslim civilians who have been killed by Russian aerial bombing during the last twelve months, having been given a green light by the American 'War on Terror'.
On this day, we remember the 3039 Palestinian Muslims who have been murdered by Americans (via weapons held in the hands of Israeli soldiers) since September 2001.
On this day, we remember the 2170 Uzbek Muslims who have been taken away from their homes by the American-backed Karimov Government in the middle of the night, never to be seen again.
On this day, we remember the 1473 Chinese Muslims who have been executed in public after having been forced to drink alcohol and the flesh of swine, in the East Turkestan (Muslim) region of China.
On this day, we remember the 1399 Kashmiri Muslims murdered and the 852 gang-rapes carried out by Hindu and Sikh soldiers in Occupied Kashmir.
On this day, we remember the 1261 Indonesian Muslims massacred by Christians in the Maluku region of Indonesia, having been supplied with M-16 assault rifles, rocket launchers and funds by the Netherlands.
On this day, we remember the 598 Muslim, Mujahid prisoners being kept in small cages in Guantanamo Bay, after their beards were forcibly shaved, their hands and feet were bound and their eyes and ears were covered, in conditions where they are subject to malaria, heatstroke and other tropical diseases.
15 Oct 2002
Bali Bombs Blamed on U.S. Intelligence Agents
by N.N.
Posted on the Independent Media on 16 October 2002 Ref: www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=209777
