Bali Bomber Released From Prison

I have a bad feeling about this. A real bad feeling. Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was released from an Indonesian jail after serving reduced time for links to the 2002 Bali bombings. He's completely unrepentant and states plainly:

"I will maintain my struggle to uphold sharia (Islamic law), he added, before getting into a black van.

That would include jihad - the violent struggle kind, not the deeply intense personal kind of struggle.

Seen by the West as the spiritual head of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) regional militant network, Bashir was convicted of being part of a conspiracy behind the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.

In Australia, Prime Minister John Howard told parliament: "I want (Indonesia's politicians) to understand from me, on behalf of the government, how extremely disappointed, even distressed, millions of Australians will be at the release."

Brian Deegan, whose son Josh was one of 88 Australians killed in the Bali attack, told Sky television: "Abu Bashir really is to us what Osama bin Laden was to the Americans."

In Jakarta, U.S. embassy spokesman Max Kwak said: "we were deeply disappointed that a person convicted of a 'sinister conspiracy' was given such a short prison sentence."

His sentence was originally 30 months, and even that was reduced on 'good behavior.' I think his sentence came out to a couple of days per victim killed in the Bali bombings. And JI isn't just a regional terrorist group, but one with significant ties to al Qaeda and espouses the same brand of militant Islam.

Well done Indonesia. As we saw with Zarqawi - revolving door justice is no justice at all. Zarqawi had been released from Jordanian prison in 1999 in an amnesty following the death of King Hussein. Zarqawi proceeded to Iraq where he became one of the most ruthless and bloodthirsty terrorists in the world, with the death of thousands on his head. Will we be saying the same thing of Abu Bakar Bashir in a few years? I pray that isn't the case, but know full well that we may be hearing about how he was the mastermind or inspiration for some other mass casualty attack in South East Asia/Pacific Rim.

UPDATE:
Doing the math, this murderous bastard did 3.81 days ((26months*30 days)/202 victims)of time for each of the 202 people he was found responsible for murdering. Yeah, that's justice alright.

UPDATE:
Others taking note of Abu Bakar Bashir's release and his glorious reception by his followers, which stands in stark contrast to the muted cries of horror from the families of the 202 victims who were murdered by terrorists affiliated with, and who took direction from Bashir: Little Green Footballs, Clarity & Resolve, Global Security, and Don Singleton.