You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Down Under
Australia Urged to Kill Baasyir
2004-12-20
A former Australian diplomat has called on his country to assassinate radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir, the alleged spiritual leader of regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah. Duncan Campbell, a former Australian ambassador to Rome and Vienna, says Baasyir would be a legitimate target for a state-sanctioned but "deniable" poisoning.
... or even a simple case of "heart failure."
I can suggest one poison they shouldn't use ...
"Can you imagine how easy it ought to be in a prison such as the one Baasyir is in, to persuade someone for a lump of money to doctor his rice? That wouldn't involve Australian hands at all, except perhaps the passing by someone to someone of a little lump of chemicals of some sort," Campbell was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald daily on Saturday. Baasyir is currently on trial in Jakarta on charges of plotting and/or inciting terrorist attacks. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and even claimed Jemaah Islamiyah does not exist. Campbell said Australia should adopt a policy to assassinate key members of regional terrorist networks, because killing them would be more effective and cost fewer lives than going to war.
To me, that makes perfect sense. There are those who say there's something wrong with the concept, but their number is decreasing daily, as we kill them off one by one...
Campbell criticized Australia for willingly joining military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan that have claimed the lives of innocent civilians, but being reluctant to assassinate known terrorists.
Give it time. It'll come.
Posted by:Fred

#4  He may be an ace in 100 different ways, but he's a fool in this one.

Agreed. While it also is fully agreed that “those who incite and exploit [the dull, docile, stupid masses of jihad volunteers] . . . [should not be allowed to] continue to live in luxury,” broadcasting these sentiments only serves to inflame the “the dull, docile, stupid masses of jihad volunteers” to further violence and mayhem should anything befall the inciters and exploiters. A few months back, I think, there was a thread discussing the need for black ops to stay black . . .
Posted by: cingold   2004-12-20 11:03:14 PM  

#3  I have been pushing this Gideon/Phoenix approach for some time, usually in response to "nuke 'em all" ravings at LGF. A few hundred well-aimed pistol bullets, combined with such ad hoc methods as telephone bombs and things as simple as a well-timed push down the stairs, could do as much good as all the firepower we have unleashed so far.
In fact, I think it could win the war and revive human progress if leaders were willing to think far enough outside the box.
Imagine:
A terrorist banker/bagman falls down the stairs in Rome.
A notorious propagandist is killed when his Bentley unaccountably leaves a British motorway at 100 mph.
A safehouse in rural France burns down, together with the collaborators inside.
A Saudi-registered Gulfstream vanishes over the Indian Ocean, taking a prince of the realm with it.
A revisionist professo-liar is found hanging from a tree on an American campus; an apparent suicide, but there is no note.
Heinous? Unlawful? Cruel? Sure, but is it really worse than endless war with the real enemy exempt from attack? If the dull, docile, stupid masses of jihad volunteers can be slaughtered till hell won't have it, and justly so, should those who incite and exploit them continue to live in luxury?
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2004-12-20 10:40:56 PM  

#2  "An obvious suicide - he beat the back of his head in with a billy club..."
Posted by: mojo   2004-12-20 5:22:11 PM  

#1  His ideas aren't wacky or wrong, IMHO - we should repeal such Church Committee turds - but talking to any sort of reporter about them?

Now, if anything happens to poor little old Bashir (typical - there are 5-6 different spellings of this shithead's name) - well now, Mr Campbell has pointed a finger already, hasn't he?

He may be an ace in 100 different ways, but he's a fool in this one.
Posted by: .com   2004-12-20 12:13:33 PM  

00:00