Thursday, 17 October 2002

You may have heard about the October 12th car-bombing of a nightclub in Bali. Bali is an island in the Indonesian chain, a little northwest of Australia (see map), and until now it was a popular vacation spot for Aussies. As of this morning, there were 30 Australians confirmed dead, 180 still missing, and they're still sorting through the charred remains of the dead and trying to identify bodies that were burned beyond recognition.

Australia has a population of 19 million, compared to America's 285 million. This is their 9/11.

Bali didn't have much in the way of hospitals, so Oz is flying in doctors and flying out burn victims. Australian newspapers and television are filled with horror stories of children without parents, families searching the makeshift morgues for loved ones, and the "lucky" burn victims and amputees who escaped with their lives. Most of the victims were students, or families on holiday; unlike the 9/11 attacks, the terrorists in Bali killed Australians from every city and every part of the nation.

Australia is often our overlooked ally. I didn't realize this until I came here, but Australia fought alongside the U.S. in every war of the 20th century, a record that not even the British can match. In World War II the U.S. Navy stopped the Japanese advance on Australia, and the Australians haven't forgotten that. Oz sent troops to Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait and Afghanistan, and even before the Bali attack they were supporting our Iraq plans.

Australian reaction to the Bali attack has been equal parts of shock, anger, and grim resolve. They're a little miffed at the lack of American attention and sympathy; the ever-vigilant U.S. media reported "foreigners die in foreign car-bomb attack; film at 11," and you'd have to read closely to realize that someone just murdered about 200 Australians. Dubya issued a statement that expressed our sympathy for almost two whole sentences before it turned into a public service announcement about the War On Terror; again, you could read it and not even realize.

Sorry for the not-so-upbeat update, but it's a grim topic.

- Posted by Scott Forbes at 12:05 am. comments.