Voice from the Commonwealth Commentary, World Views and Occasional Rants from a small 'l' libertarian in Massachussetts
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams
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I have been completely out of the news loop until this very moment. I don't expect to write anything again till Monday. But, I will give a quick thought on the bomb in Bali.
Bali is, except for maybe North Sulawesi, the most stable region in Indonesia. It is overwhelmingly Hindu. So, this is not your average separatist (like Aceh) nor is it sectarian violence (like Ambon), this is a deliberate strike, probably Lashkar Jihad, at Western interests. It may have been in Indonesia but Bali is almost all Hindu and tourists. It may also be related to the Lashkar leader now in prison. We will have to wait for claims before making any firm decisions.
More importantly, I think this may actually move the Indonesian government to action. They cannot afford to lose the billions of dollars in income that Bali brings in. If they must choose that tourist income or upsetting the Islamists, I think they will choose the money. There will be a lot of military actions and some cleaning up of the camps that are known to be on nearby islands. Central Sulawesi has a number of Lashkar Jihad camps, I expect there will be sweeps.
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