NOT many people know that Frederick B. Burks is one of the few who are familiar with the dark side of the United States, his own country. The 47-year-old Burks was once a translator at the White House, which recruited him to translate documents on Indonesia during classified meetings at the office of the president.

He knew how the US kept track of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, leader of the Al-Mukmin Pondok Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) at Ngruki