Thanks for your insights.

Probably the reason why you've not heard/read about this much in the US recently, is that Bali is not that well known to most Americans as a tourist spot.

True. (Some acquaintances of mine have been there and it was on my wish list, but your observation is probably right). I don't mean to say that the bombing wasn't receiving any attention in this country, but I could perceive it slipping intermittently beneath the tide of sniper coverage and Iraq thumping...

Bali has, for most Australians, been looked on by them for many years as their local version of "Hawaii". [Well maybe Hawaii before it became a state of the US].
The bomb attack, has become a bit close to home and is to a lot of Australians, their equivalent of 9/11 - albeit nowhere near the same scale, but with 300 injured and 200 dead, many of the dead and injured Australians, puts it in perspective a little - when you consider Australia has a population of only 18 million or so.

Yes, that is what struck me. Relative to the overall size of the respective populations, Bali sadly looks like it could be worse in terms of the proportion of families it touches.

I also spare thoughts for the Balinese (natives of Bali) - Bali's population is mostly made up of Hindu (i.e. not Muslims, unlike most of the rest of Indonesia). They were probably the second largest group of fatalities & injured in the Bali blast - both as workers in the bars attacked, and also as passers by on the streets outside when the bombs went off.

.....
The Bali economy is now facing ruin, or at least, a serious economic set back - possibly for many years due to this event. And this is was probably also a parallel target of the bombers - to attack the economy of Bali, which up to now has been a jewel in the economic crown of Indonesia for 30+ years.

My thoughts certainly went to Australia given the very deliberate targeting, but Bali will suffer the harder double blow. I hope, well, that there is hope, but it looks pretty bleak.

I guess what disturbs me most is that this is a sphere in which humorless radical murderers can continue to win on some level. What does it take to wreck a small country? Not much, I'm afraid.


There is also growing anger at the perceived lack of warnings from the Intelligence agencies around the world, in advance of the attack - as there now appears to be growing & credible evidence that some government intelligence agencies [e.g. UK and US intelligence agencies] were aware weeks in advance of potential threats in Indonesia - including Bali, and failed to make this public in time.

It looked like the U.S. State Department issued some sort of warning, but of the type that is almost routinely issued and ignored. News agencies say that intelligence is almost automatically shared b/w the U.S. and Australia, but I am not inclined to trust that assertion on face value given the Keystone-esque track record of some intelligence agencies recently.

[The Indonesian authorities are also coming in for some over due crtiticism for their lack of action on this whole issue to date. While the Indonesian Political leader [Megawati], has just passed anti-terrorism laws to allow them to crack down on terrorists - many Indonesians also remember that similar sorts of laws were abused continuously by the previous Suharto regime for over 30+ years until the late 1990's. As Indonesia has only just begun to get rid of the Suharto legacy it is somewhat understandable why they may have been reluctant to act on the obvious and growing threats of terrorism.

Only time will tell whether the Indonesians have to fear the terrorists or the [abuse of the] new anti-terror laws the most in the coming months and years.

It's a hell of a world, ain't it?

It is indeed a difficult time for many peoples - not least those directly affected.

If any of our empeggers, their friends or families are affected by the Bali bombing, you have our sympathy and thoughts.

Yes, indeed.