Abu Bakr Al-Ba'shir

Abu Bakr Al-Ba'shir is the spiritual leader of Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya (the Islamic Group) in Indonesia. He was convicted of conspiracy in his group's bombing of nightclubs in Bali in 2002 which killed 202 and wounded 209, mostly Aussie tourists. Consequently, the US Department of State has designated Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya is also probably responsible for the 2003 bombing of the Marriott hotel in Kuningan, Jakarta which killed 12 and wounded 150. That bombing was most notable for tossing the severed head of the suicide bomber to a perch on the fifth floor overlooking the carnage. They went on to bomb the Australian embassy in 2004: 9 dead, 150+ wounded. It was Bali again in 2005 with twenty killed and 129 wounded.

Abu Bakr Al-Ba'shir gave his thoughts on Al-Arabiya TV on October 26, 2007:

"The path taken by many political parties in their effort to establish an Islamic regime is not the right path, because these parties adopt democracy. Democracy is not an Islamic means. Democracy runs counter to Islam, because it emphasizes the sovereignty of the people, whereas Islam emphasizes the sovereignty of Allah. Thus, if we are to submit to the law of Allah, Muslims have no choice but to say: 'We hear and obey.' In democracy, Allah's commands may be open to discussion, and if we agree with them, we accept them, but if we do not agree with them, we reject them. Herein lies the flaw. Therefore, as long as the Islamic political parties endeavor to adhere to Islam by means of democracy, they will not achieve their goal. ...

"I do not accept their concept of independent judgment, unless the bombing is carried out in the countries of the infidels who declared war against the Muslims, such as America. America has declared war on the Muslims, and therefore, we are permitted to carry out bombings there, because they are the ones who declared war against the Muslims. ...

"It is a duty… We are duty-bound to establish an Islamic state, and the Muslims are duty-bound to live in an Islamic country. Muslims are forbidden to live in an infidel country. Sheik Fawzan Al-Fawzan issued a fatwa forbidding Muslims to live in the countries of the infidels. That is why we are committed to establishing an Islamic state. The path that the Prophet Muhammad bid us to take is the path of preaching and Jihad. Waging Jihad is the proper conduct. That is why it is essential to establish an Islamic state by means of preaching and Jihad. We have tried to do this in Indonesia, by committing ourselves to Islamic preaching."

"I support Osama Bin Laden, as long as he wages Jihad for the sake of Allah, in order to implement the law of Allah."

Abu Bakr Al-Ba'shir maintains that the 2002 Bali bombings were hijacked by the CIA, saying that the bombs his supporters planted were not intended to kill anyone, just injure them. He claims the CIA substituted a deadlier "micro-nuclear bomb" for the safer bombs of his organization. Isn't that just like the CIA to pull a stunt like that, ruining a perfectly safe terrorist attack.

Abu Bakr Al-Ba'shir has a simple answer for what America and the West can do to stop terrorism, "They have to stop fighting Islam. That's impossible because it is sunnatullah [destiny, a law of nature], as Allah has said in the Koran. If they want to have peace, they have to accept to be governed by Islam." Everybody's cool with that, right?

Abu Bakr Al-Ba'shir's Islamic terror organization has butchered dozens of innocent Australian tourists but old Abu remains puzzled at Australia's animosity toward him, "But it would be impossible to go to Australia because if I went there I would be arrested and slandered by the Australian Government. The Australian Government still treats me like an enemy for reasons that are unclear."

I confess that I'm a judgemental guy but it's pretty clear that you can't reason or bargain or even have a rational conversation with the likes of Abu Bakr Al-Ba'shir or Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya. You have to crush them like bugs. So let's get to it.