Posted on 10/14/2002 12:08:52 AM PDT by Dundee
Editorial: We must remain firm in face of terror
AUSTRALIA is in mourning. The sense of sorrow mixed with disbelief, outrage and fear that followed the September 11 attacks last year in New York and Washington consumes us again. Except this time terrorism has come to our doorstep, to the holiday home away from home that is Bali.
The tourist destination familiar to most of us as a safe, cheap and friendly island of tolerance and fun has been turned into a charred graveyard. Horrifying images of bodies burned beyond description, seriously injured young men and women, and the street scenes of utter devastation recall a war zone.
What the Indonesians are calling the worst act of terrorism in their country's history is an international tragedy that is especially painful for us. And we are only just beginning to grasp what has happened. Many Australians were in the nightclubs or nearby when they were bombed and casualties will be very high. Women and men from around our large country, scores of them, some of them footballers enjoying an end of season break, are dead or missing. Certainly more Australians have been killed in Bali than in any other international disaster.
Authorities are still counting the cost to human life, and will be doing so for some time. The race is on to save the lives of those injured by the bomb blasts; however, many tourists are unaccounted for. Families and friends are desperately trying to get in touch with loved ones. But it is clear that Australians, along with French, Germans, Swedes, Britons, Americans, Canadians and other foreigners as well as Indonesians have lost their lives. The death toll could rise above 200. Hundreds more have been injured, some of them critically.
The search is on for the murderers who planned this brutal attack. We cannot yet be sure whether Australians were specifically targeted. But we do know this was a terrorist attack that killed and injured mainly foreign tourists. It occurred in a non-Muslim enclave of Indonesia that is a magnet for fun-loving young Western holidaymakers.
Another bomb went off near the US consulate, adding to the sense that this was a co-ordinated attack motivated by the same kind of indiscriminate anti-Western rage that drove the murder-bombers into the World Trade Centre.
Already our own Government, some Indonesian politicians, Bush administration officials and academic experts are making the obvious connections with the same radical Islamic terrorist networks that masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks. As Clive Williams argues in The Australian today, al-Qa'ida-linked terrorist groups are the likely Bali bombers. Jemaah Islamiyah heads the list of suspects.
The sadness is overwhelming, yet we must steel ourselves for the struggle ahead. This is a wake-up call to Australia, to our region, and to the entire civilised world to unite more strongly than ever to defeat terrorism. The Bali bombings expose the lie that the act of war on September 11, 2001, was simply an attack on Americans and American values.
Bali proves that all freedom-loving peoples are at risk from terrorism, at home and abroad. We cannot let national rivalries, domestic political differences or cynical anti-Americanism divide us. The Bali bombings should serve as a lesson to the waverers who have let their distaste for George W. Bush or knee-jerk isolationism blind them to the realities of terrorism.
No one is safe from the terrorist threat. Many have warned since September 11 that terrorism strikes innocent civilians as they go about their ordinary lives. As John Howard said yesterday, the young Australians partying at Kuta Beach's club strip were doing what young Australians will often do at this time of year: "mark the end of the sporting season with some fun in another place". Yet they were seen as legitimate targets of the terrorists.
We must resist the pressure that is already building for Australia to withdraw from its alliance with the US against terrorism, to "protect" ourselves from future attacks. This would be both disloyal and against our national interests. We are involved in a war against terrorism not because we are the US's allies but because we are a Western democratic country.
There is no coward's safety in retreating from what unites us with the Americans, the French, the British, the Canadians and the vast majority of peace-loving Muslims living in Indonesia and other parts of the world. The terrorist threat is widespread and the various fronts cannot be separated. The sickening reality is that al'Qaida has moved from Afghanistan into southeast Asia, and as far as Australia.
It is not an overstatement to say we have entered a new and dangerous phase in the war on terrorism. This is a phase that has necessarily drawn Australia and our region in to the centre of the struggle. The warning signs were coming. Days before the Bali attacks the Americans warned of signals that al-Qa'ida was regrouping.
The attacks on US Marines in Kuwait, the French tanker in Yemen and the release of an Osama bin Laden video, as well as US intelligence, pointed to this fact. Australia and the US had been pressing Indonesia to get tougher on terrorists. Clearly not enough was done.
We need to be ever more determined to root out the terrorist curse. Our anti-terrorist agreement with Indonesia is already in place. President Megawati Sukarnoputri is making the right moves and the Australian Government is drawing the right moral by refusing to back down on its anti-terrorist commitments. One focus of Australia, the US and the region should be to stabilise Indonesia. This event will be catastrophic for the world's most-populous Muslim nation.
The first consequence is economic. Bali is the centre of the nation's tourist industry, and it has remained a steady source of income as Indonesia has battled years of financial and economic instability since the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s. Indonesians over the short and long term will pay a heavy price.
However, the Bali bombings will damage the cause of the fundamentalists even more in the eyes of ordinary Indonesians. One positive may be that Ms Megawati will be emboldened and have the political and public support to clamp down once and for all on Islamic extremists within Indonesia linked to terrorism.
The naysayers are using this terrible event to try to talk down Australia's openness to involvement in any military action against Iraq. But we must keep the focus on terrorism and al-Qa'ida. The terrorists in New York and Washington had planes. In Bali they had car bombs. The destruction would be unthinkable if these same terrorists had weapons of mass destruction courtesy of Saddam Hussein. We cannot not lose our nerve. Instead we should continue, and even intensify, our program to eliminate terrorism.
The naysayers are using this terrible event to try to talk down Australia's openness to involvement in any military action against Iraq. But we must keep the focus on terrorism and al-Qa'ida. The terrorists in New York and Washington had planes. In Bali they had car bombs. The destruction would be unthinkable if these same terrorists had weapons of mass destruction courtesy of Saddam Hussein. We cannot not lose our nerve. Instead we should continue, and even intensify, our program to eliminate terrorism.
As an Australian, as an officer of the Australian Navy, I can say the horror and anger we all felt on 9/11 is burning anew in our hearts.
In peace, we are a friendly and relaxed people.
In war, we are these bastards worst nightmare.
Is this enough for world to realize that we are all at risk and we must join forces to defeat the terrorists?
Anti-Americanism? In Austrailia? Why would anyone in Austrailia be anti-American? I don't think anyone is anti-Aussie here?
ML/NJ
Pinging those from Down Under. The united call against Terrorism must go out after the grieving is done:
Let's Roll !!
My apologies to all for the misspell on "Australia".....
Excerpt:
The sadness is overwhelming, yet we must steel ourselves for the struggle ahead. This is a wake-up call to Australia, to our region, and to the entire civilised world to unite more strongly than ever to defeat terrorism. The Bali bombings expose the lie that the act of war on September 11, 2001, was simply an attack on Americans and American values.
Bali proves that all freedom-loving peoples are at risk from terrorism, at home and abroad. We cannot let national rivalries, domestic political differences or cynical anti-Americanism divide us. The Bali bombings should serve as a lesson to the waverers who have let their distaste for George W. Bush or knee-jerk isolationism blind them to the realities of terrorism.
No one is safe from the terrorist threat. Many have warned since September 11 that terrorism strikes innocent civilians as they go about their ordinary lives. As John Howard said yesterday, the young Australians partying at Kuta Beach's club strip were doing what young Australians will often do at this time of year: "mark the end of the sporting season with some fun in another place". Yet they were seen as legitimate targets of the terrorists.
We must resist the pressure that is already building for Australia to withdraw from its alliance with the US against terrorism, to "protect" ourselves from future attacks. This would be both disloyal and against our national interests. We are involved in a war against terrorism not because we are the US's allies but because we are a Western democratic country.
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.
In America we have our own anti-Americans. The "just pretend it's OK and they'll go away" crowd. But most know we have to deal with Muslim world-wide terrorism because it will only get worse otherwise. Funny how we didn't give a flip about Islam until they so forceably brought themselves to our attention.
bali hai
most people live on a lonely island lost in the middle of a foggy sea most people long for another island one where they know they would like to be
bali ha'i may call you any night any day in your heart you'll hear it call you: "come away, come away."
bali ha'i will whisper on the wind of the sea "here am i, your special island! come to me, come to me."
your own special hopes your own special dreams bloom on the hillside and shine in the streams
if you try you'll find me where the sky meets the sea "here am i, your special island! come to me, come to me!"
bali ha'i bali ha'i bali ha'i
"someday you'll see me floating in the sunshine my head sticking out from a low-flying cloud you'll hear me call you singing through the sunshine sweet and clear as can be come to me here am i come to me!"
bali ha'i will whisper on the wind of the sea "here am i, your special island! come to me, come to me."
bali ha'i bali ha'i bali ha'i
original lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II original music by Richard Rodgers from the musical, South Pacific (1949)
This song to me is about the beauty of Bali, the wonder of life and the promise of everlasting life.
"We must remain firm in the face of terror" to protect and preserve the wonder of life in our country and around the globe. We've got a lot of praying to do, meek.
May God welcome those young souls home and may he give comfort to their families.
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