Bali carnage

Yet again, violent thuggery has proved itself to be a blunt instrument. We should not forget that Indonesia is a democracy (albeit a fledgling one) and those who turn to violence for their cause are those that cannot win in the battle for hearts and minds. For Indonesia's sake, JI should finally be criminalised by the archapelago, and authorities ought to ruthlessly crack down on those involved. Spare us the 'root causes of terrorism' argument, please.

The Australian media have been squeamish about naming the victims, but not so the Indonesian media. I don't speak Indonesian, but I have a fair idea of the fate of those who appear on this list in the Bali Post.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The problem with this form of terrorism is that it is almost impossible to prevent. Whilst it is one of the most unsophisticated forms of destruction, it could slip under the radar of the most sophisticated intelligence.

News broadcasts showed an amateur video of the bombing with a young man walking into the restaurant then the explosion when he reached the back of the restaurant.

Whilst it is horrific and incredibly unjust, this type of terrorism could happen in almost any city of the world.

Crack down on these criminals. Criminalize JI. But hang on, isn't that what the UK, who have tougher laws than Australia had done prior to the London bombings.

As shown by these bombings and the similar scale bombings in London, 'cracking down' doesn't have the desired affect. These are complex problems, and the simple solutions simply do not work. Unfortunately.
4 October 2005 at 10:36
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thanks for all the fish

After 13 years with Blogspot, I've shifted blogging platform. So (drumroll, please), you can find my new blog here . Ari on the Web will stay online, so you can scroll through the archives for all sorts of embarrassing tidbits. To make it easier to find some of my writing on particular themes, I've grouped some pieces together under a few labels: Cancer Fatherhood Indonesia travels North Korea travels United States travels Undergraduate days   So as they say here in my new home of Japan, so long, and thanks for the all the fish.
Read more

Welcome to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

North Korea is a place that is shrouded in mystery and conjecture, much of it of its own creation. For so long it has chosen to close itself off from the rest of the world that little information flows in or out of the place. In the absense of hard facts, rumour and speculation run rife. I plead guilty as one who has engaged in plenty of rumour-mongering in the past (and, let's be honest, will probably try my hand at it in the future), but to really come to grips with the place it is necessary to see it first hand. Much of the speculation is not meant in a harsh, negative way - although there are elements of that - but is instead meant in the same way that people watch the bearded lady at the circus. Curious, but not necessarily critical. Perhaps they could but those on the number plates - DPRK: The Bearded Lady of Asia. Since there are so few who have seen the place but so many who speculate, I think it is worth publishing a few thoughts after my trip. It's important
Read more

Can conspicuous consumption save the news business?

Image
It’s a dire time for the news industry. Readers are flooding to social media for content, advertisers are moving with them and costs are being cut at a brutal rate in a desperate bid to meet falling revenue. It is increasingly clear that business models that depend on amassing large audiences in order to provide a forum for advertising will always struggle against the “niche of one” audience that social media platforms can provide for advertisers. There’s been lots of talk lately about ways to fund public interest journalism. One idea is to tax the online aggregators – Facebook and Google, primarily – that sell advertising against the news content of others to support news organisations. Another is to make news subscriptions or donations to its producers tax deductible.  Both ideas are worth considering, but they do not abrogate the need for news organisations to seek better ways to draw revenue from consumers.  (It is alarming that discussion of efforts to build a
Read more