The Political Conundrum!

The three Bali bombers, Imam Samudra, and Mukhlas were executed today by firing squad. To their last day, they were unrepentant, showed no remorse for the bombings that killed 202 people, and expressed their desire to be martyrs.

Sentenced in 2003, the three convicted bombers appealed their verdict multiple times. The government had been criticized for lacking the political will to execute the three. Three Christians who were sentenced to death for their role in sectarian bloodletting in Sulawesi, in mid 2006 were executed almost immediately after their sentence, and given few chances for an appeal. Yesterday lawyers for the three condemned Bali bombers went to the Indonesian parliament to file a clemency appeal. A previous clemency request had been rejected by President Yudhoyono.

Indonesian authorities plan to fly the bodies back to their respective villages so as to prevent a motorcade that could bring out militants. The funeral arrangements have been made by Said Sungkar, the younger brother of the group's founder Abdullah Sungkar. It is reported that JI's other founder, the fiery cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, will give the sermon at the funeral. Already supporters of JI (which is not outlawed in Indonesia) as well as other militant groups, such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), have arrived en masse to Amrozi and Mukhlas' village.

Ba'asyir and other militants have threatened revenge on the Indonesian state, though it is unclear whether they have the means. JI's last attack was a bombing in October 2005. That November its top bomb-maker Dr. Azahari bin Husin, was killed in a shootout with police and his cache of explosives seized. In March to June 2007 several top JI leaders were arrested and an enormous cache of explosives was captured. This summer another plot was thwarted, with members being arrested and bomb-making materials seized. Even under a dragnet, JI still has some capability to plan attacks.

If Ba'asyir is not able to mobilize militants he will really lose much of his credibility.

JI's loss of Mukhlas is important for one key reason: he was the group's leading theologian.

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "So my Administration will work hard to ensure that the next President and his team can hit the ground running. For more than a year now, the White House and agencies throughout the Federal government have been preparing for a smooth transition. We've provided intelligence briefings to the President-Elect, and the Department of Justice has approved security clearances for members of his transition staff. In the coming weeks, we will ask Administration officials to brief the Obama team on major ongoing policy issues, ranging from the financial markets to the war in Iraq. I will keep the President-Elect fully informed on important decisions during this critical time for our Nation. Taken together, these measures represent an unprecedented effort to ensure continuity throughout the executive branch."

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "So my Administration will work hard to ensure that the next President and his team can hit the ground running. For more than a year now, the White House and agencies throughout the Federal government have been preparing for a smooth transition. We've provided intelligence briefings to the President-Elect, and the Department of Justice has approved security clearances for members of his transition staff. In the coming weeks, we will ask Administration officials to brief the Obama team on major ongoing policy issues, ranging from the financial markets to the war in Iraq. I will keep the President-Elect fully informed on important decisions during this critical time for our Nation. Taken together, these measures represent an unprecedented effort to ensure continuity throughout the executive branch."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited this former West Bank militant stronghold Saturday to highlight Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' law-and-order campaign, seen as one of the few successes in slow-moving Mideast peace efforts.

A suspected U.S. missile targeting a Taliban commander killed 13 people near the Afghan border Friday, a sign that America's new general for the region is not heeding Islamabad's pleas for a halt to the strikes. There has been a surge in U.S. cross-border attacks since August, angering Pakistani officials who say the raids violate the nuclear-armed country's sovereignty.

A military investigation into the death last summer of Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Tinsley has concluded that the commander of the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf Air Force Base died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

Officials say they evacuated an Akron, Ohio, elementary school when a kindergartner brought what looked like a hand grenade for show and tell. The teacher looked in his book bag and wasn't sure if what she was a real grenade or a toy.

A general's son testified Friday at a Fort Bragg court-martial that accused murderer Alberto Martinez wanted to ask his father to fire their commanding officer, Capt. Phillip Esposito.

It takes a brave soldier to do what Army Maj. Gen. David Blackledge did in Iraq. It takes as much bravery to do what he did when he got home. Blackledge got psychiatric counseling to deal with wartime trauma, and now he is defying the military's culture of silence on the subject of mental health problems and treatment.

Bouhammer Note- The blog entry and more importantly, the comments that Scott refers to down below can  be found here, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-kesterson/the-other-side-of-paradis_b_141677.html. I encourage you to read the posting below and then come back up here to click on the link above and read through some of the comments.

I need to take a moment to add a few comments about the soldiers I am with. I pride myself in telling the stories of the men and women that are deployed, with as little bias as possible. With a degree in History and a Photojournalist, there is nothing greater in my view than recording the candid and often vulnerable moments that define us as people. The palette I have chosen at this juncture in my life is war, a challenging and at times treacherous environment that offers a view into the human soul in its full breadth of multiplicity and contrast. I enter each of these embeds with the understanding that I am here to record their story, good and bad, as it happens and as they experience it. As part of that, I work hard at holding my own opinions close.

In the past few days there has been a torrent of anger and hate written in response to a blog titled, “The Other Side of Paradise.” I wrote that blog in two parts, showing two dif-ferent reactions to the election. The posts came about from a direct query from Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post, asking for a submission on the reaction of those overseas to the Election Night results.

I let the soldiers know what I wanted to do, and they agreed to let me share their feel-ings with the world. There was no agenda. The blogs were written as snap shots in time, to offer a view of feelings and reactions to what was truly a historic election.

I have become deeply saddened by the hundreds of responses that have been so rife with contempt and character assassinations. What does all of this say about a country I love so much, or the view of the men and women who choose to serve a cause they believe in? Have we fallen to a repeat of Vietnam, lashing out through the internet with the same hatred that was displayed through demonstrations and protests of the late 1960’s and 70’s? What does this say about us as citizens who have voted to embrace a new and better America under the leadership of a new President, that these soldiers who expressed their opinions have now been condemned for holding an opinion that is different than the election results? Have we forgotten the foundations that make our democracy strong… the right to voice what we feel with the freedom and security that we can do so without fear of reprisal?

The soldiers that are in our military are a melting pot of our culture. They come from all walks of life: some poor, some rich, others in between, all making a choice to serve for personal reasons, but ultimately embracing a common set of ideals to uphold and de-fend the values and way of life we hold so dear. I stand by the fact that these soldier’s opinions are theirs to have, even though they may be highly unpopular. Being unpopular does not, however, make their opinion any less valid nor criminal. And regardless of whether one agrees with the motives and ideologies driving these two wars, these soldiers have made a choice to serve this country and are doing so as they are directed to do.

As I write this I find myself reflecting on an incident that happened in Dallas, Texas over a year ago. A man, drunk and lost, began banging on the door of a house late at night. He had apparently mistaken the house for another. The owner of the home felt threatened, and fired several times through the door, killing the drunken man on his front steps. No charges were filed; it was considered self-defense. A soldier in either of the war zones that would dare fire and kill someone in the same manner would be investigated and most probably charged with murder. We hold soldiers to a higher standard than we do ourselves, always quick to send them out to do the dirty work, always quick to condemn them when they fail to meet the standards of perfection that few if any citizen could meet themselves.

So as we enter into this new period of change, I think it is important to recognize that not all will walk in unison to the same beat and drummer. We are a diverse culture and it is our diversity in race, religion, beliefs and values that makes us who we are. As I read through the hundreds of responses, I keep finding myself asking what this new vision of America is about, and where it will take us. Eight years of war has taken its toll, but I truly hope that the scars of war have not blinded us to the fact the we are all still Americans at the core. What that America will look like only time will tell, but through it I would hope that we will remember that being American is about being free to choose, free to speak, and above all, doing so with the respect and courage to honor the range of individuality that is the foundation for a healthy democracy.

Most respectfully,

Scott Kesterson.