Bali bombings

[ssra30]

Pilot_Fish, each to his own, if you don't want to go there, fine. If you don't have sympathy for the local, fine. I am sure there are more people who will cancel their plans to go to Bali than people who will adhere to their plan to support the local community.
I was in Bali a year after the first bombing when Bali just started to recover. Then Jarkarta bombing happened and everybody left Bali again. Now another bomb, I feel sorry for all the locals. I have no idea how long it will take them to recover from this one.
Bali is unique in Indonesia. It does generate a lot of tourist income and job for the local but the local residents there, as I understand is mostly Hindu rather than Muslim. Would this be another reason why it is targeted... may be!
I tentatively plan to go to Bali next year and still have not changed my mind and they can certainly use our support. If you feel that you don't want to help them, that's fine but there is no need to tell other people that they should not either.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Folks,

I have merged two threads into this one since they were discussing the same event. In addition I will reprint my warning as follows:

Some of the posts in this discussion have been edited or deleted by me.

Discussing the current dangers of diving in Bali, and the pro's and con's of going there or not is acceptable.

Discussing politics on this Board, no matter what your political leaning, is not allowed according to the TOS, which you should have read.

Incidentally, calling terrorists what they are does not come under the heading of political statement. I know of no political party that approves of murder.

Please PM me if you wish to discuss the above actions.

Rob Davie
Scuba Board Staff

 

[scubajoe]

On the advice of pilotfish...lets boycot New York City.....more innocent people have been killed there in one event then anywhere else in the world.

Joe

 

[vladimir]

Truly stunning posts there Pilot!!! I tell you, if these tuk-tuk drivers, tank porters, waiters, massage ladies, etc, don't band together soon and kick the terrorists out of Bali, no one should go there. You've hit the nail on the head. BTW, we should boycott New York too. Haven't they had a few terrorist attacks? When will those lazy New York taxi drivers get off their butts and do something? Don't forget southern Thailand. And the Philippines. And Israel? Why do people continue to go there when we can't get those settlers off their fat asses to take up arms in order to get rid of the bombers?

Does anyone know where the rolling eyes smilie is?

Hilarious, thank you.

I was in Bali a few weeks ago, on my sixth visit. I took precautions that I would not have in the past, avoiding crowds, especially of foreigners. I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Bali, which had pretty tight security, including bomb checks on vehicles entering the resort. I guess I could have stayed home, but you need to pass a security checkpoint and a bomb-sniffing dog to get to my apartment here in NY, so I don't feel that much safer here. And the diving here sucks.

 

[Zippsy]

Boy, now I feel bad.:sad: I just heard the statistics. At least half the dead and more than half the injured were Indonesians. Now I know why those lazy people were just lounging around on their holidays or waiting on tables instead of kicking out the terrorists. They were too busy getting killed. I still think we should punish them though, eh Pilot:fish:? They must have done something wrong in a previous life to deserve this. :icon_roll (thanks Ed:wink1

 

[Kim]

And yet consider how the legal system there treats these terrorists. In the last bombings the sentances were insanely short, something like 2 tears for killing a bunch of people. But the Australian woman who was accused of smuggling pot in her luggage, with a very real possibilty the stuf was planted & she was being used as a mule without knowing about it, faced the death penalty for it.

I'm not sure why you post something like this - the bombers from the first Bali bombing all received death sentences.

As for some of the other comments - people seem to think that Bali is a Moslem island. It's not. It's Hindu. It also receives 90% of it's income from foreign tourism. Without that it will revert back to an approximation of the stoneage - and the terrorists will have won. Considering how many people have been killed vs how many people go there, if it really worries you then maybe you should simply stay in bed. You have more chance being killed crossing the road than in any kind of terrorist attack anywhere....period.....and diving?....ha...how can you even consider it!!

 

[Bali-Freak]

"Frankly, I think it is a major, major mistake to travel anywhere in Indonesia at this time."

Why? Because terrorists want to target us? Therefore isn't it a "major, major" mistake to travel on public transport in any major Western city (London, Madrid, NY etc) or fly on any plane operated by Western airline? Their targets are endless ...

I gave up smoking recently because there is something like a 30 - 50% chance of it causing my premature death. I can't caculate the percentage chance of me being in the exact spot a terrorist bomb explodes at the exact split second it explodes, but I can't imagine it is statistically significant.

Along with two cancellations I received this email this morning from somebody who had already booked with us (a Londoner);

"Dear Simon,

Hope all your staff and friends are ok.
They tried to blow us up in the City in July (twice) so no big deal.
See you in Bali."

I won't reply to any posts in this thread. I'm too angry, and too depressed.

 

[chip104]

I'm not sure why you post something like this - the bombers from the first Bali bombing all received death sentences.

I also read in Time this week that the Iwan Darmawan that helped planned the australian embassy bombing last year got the death sentence.

But I think Wayward was referring to the 2002 bombings where they really screwed up the legal proceedings of Abu Bashir. He only got about 2 years. But most of the suspects captured got the death sentence or life imprisonment.

 

[Kim]

I also read in Time this week that the Iwan Darmawan that helped planned the australian embassy bombing last year got the death sentence.

But I think Wayward was referring to the 2002 bombings where they really screwed up the legal proceedings of Abu Bashir. He only got about 2 years. But most of the suspects captured got the death sentence or life imprisonment.

The case against Abu Bashir is somewhat different. He is suspected of being the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiah but the authorities have not produced or seem to have enough hard evidence to convict him. He received his 2 and a half years for other charges - not involvement in the Bali bombings. Indonesian courts seem to want proper evidence before they convict people. The point is though that all of the terrorist bombers that have actually been convicted in Indonesia have all received the death sentence, so it's ridiculous to deny this or compare their treatment with someone caught with a bag full of pot.

 

[Zippsy]

....A government that views pot smoking as a more serious crime than terrorism and murder is not a place I'd like to go. ....

Actually, they don't. You get the death sentence for terroism and murder but they usually give a pretty light sentence or kick expats out of the country if they are caught smoking pot.

Now, if you are referring to the Corby case, that's a tad different. She was convicted of drug smuggling (nine pounds of pot). They do give the death sentence for that. I'm not saying I agree that the sentence fits the crime but I do accept that other countries get to make their own laws. Further, on the Bashir case, he got two years for conspiracy to commit terror because he is the "spiritual adviser" to JI. I think they ought to hang him too but I figure they better get some evidence first so that we can have a proper hanging.