Murder is not justified

I would like to refer to Greg Warner's letter published in The Jakarta Post on Oct. 25, titled Muslims should not justify murder.

The majority of Indonesians were shocked by the brutal and indiscriminate bombings in Bali. I agree with you that what has happened in Bali is a terrible atrocity against all mankind, against peace-loving Indonesians in general and the Balinese people in particular.

However, let us consider the simple theory of "cause and effect", that something will not occur if there is no cause. Your statement that Indonesia is a nation that prides itself on its religious tolerance is not wrong. Most of us here heed the Prophet Muhammad's words, that "whoever believes in God (Allah) and the Hereafter, he/she should respect and honor his/her guests and neighbors", which means Muslims or non-Muslims.

Most of the victims of the Bali blasts sadly were Australians, who are generous neighbors (I have many friends there and visited Australia three times) and considered Bali as their "backyard". If, by some awful truth, these killers are "Islamic militants", to use your words, it is highly likely that they belong to a international terrorist network targeting certain countries in allied with the United States.

As a matter of fact, Australian government is a staunch supporter of the U.S. war against terrorism and a possible attack on Iraq. This sort of foreign policy has "irritated", to a certain extent, the international network, which made Bali their safe and soft target.

For this, I assume that Reni Winata's article Australia's punishment for joining U.S. (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 24) contained a rather factual account as to why (your question) the destructive bombings in Bali took place at a site where Australian tourists were concentrated.

As for the eradication of terrorism itself, I'm of the opinion that the root causes must be fairly addressed, namely finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

M. RUSDI, Jakarta