lekki, are you seriously defending the right of terrorists to free spreech? Allowing the unfettered flow of information may be desirable by liberals such as yourself, irespective of the message it carries. However others more astute than yourself have found that if you don't give the radicals or troublemakers a forum with which to spread their ideas, then it limits their influence and gives greater opportunity for the conservative voices and leaders to hold the hearts and minds of the masses. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in different circumstances and remained a symbol throughout, but can you imagine what a force he would have been if journos were allowed to regularly interview him and publish his latest thoughts. There are many circumstances where we accept that information may be witheld, be it during confidential negotiations during a takeover, or details of our SAS operations. So why are you so keen to see the terrorists being allowed to continue to make their point through the world media. Is it that you actually believe that what they say is important and we have a right to know what they are thinking, or is it you that believe that we need to listen to them to understand them? The more publicity the terrorists get, the more they win, stop being their accomplice. Bashir has been elevated to a higher status by the western media than anybody else. Rather than being a serious threat to Indonesian security he is little more than an annoyance. By him being linked to the various attacks it has not improved his support within Indonesia nor overly alarmed the government. Think about it for a change, who has suffered the most, ordinary Indonesians are bearing the brunt of the violence and economic repercussions caused by the attacks. The beneficaries are the government themselves as the population increase the expectation that something must be done. One day he will step over the line and the government will crack down heavily to put him out of business once and for all and the response will be all positive from all sectors of Indonesian society. In the meantime continue to be alert, but not alarmed.
