Bombings in Bali

[Kaylara]

http://www.witchvox.com/wren/wn_detail.html?id=5162

[Sequoia]

. . . *just sort of shakes her head*

they have my sympathy, and my prayers. And sometimes I really fsking hate being American.

edited to add: I mean, in the way that. . . on the whole, the culture of America is pretty damn self-centered. I don't think it's quite the same thing that happened. . . but I still don't think the only mention should be "oh, and a few foriegn folks died but we don't care 'cause we're all okay." Does this make sense?

[Annika]

According to the news article I read this morning, one American did die, and his friend was seriously injured. They were in Bali celecrating the deceased 41st birthday. It's all very sad.

[flar7]

all cultures are self centered. they interact with their nieghbors
for war, or if it helps them somehow.

America on the other hand, sends help to people all over the
world....we even have volunteers helping nations that hate us.
maybe we do this cause it makes us look good, maybe it favors
us some other way(when its government aid) or people just
feeling sorry for others. And our aid come and goes in waves...
depends on how sympathetic we are to certain people at certain
times.

We used to send more aid to Africa than we do now. Their civil
wars seemed to turn off the american voting public. A lot of the
aid to Africa(on a national level) ceased when Aids was determined
to have originated in Africa...not fair I agree, but public opinion is
what sways the government.....

[silvermoon]

From the outset, PLEASE FORGIVE ME...... for anything I may say 'cos I'm an australian.

It happened early Sunday morning here, so all day sunday we watched the cable news (ie. CNN, FOXNews, Sky and BBC). The two that are british based (Sky also is austaralian based during much of the day time), Sky & BBC, was covered quite well. But the the american news channels, did not mention it all Sunday, it was all about the sniper (which has been covered here extensively and who has killed or injured only 11 or 12 people)which is a tradegy and I hope the sniper/s are caught and punished (my sympathy to those affected). And the ameriacn cahnnels were fixated on possible war in Iraq. My family was getting quite frustrated, angry, hurt and disillusioned with the (non)reaction from the american media and government after we were quite vocal in support with our CLOSEST ally after Sept 11.

On the next few days it was covered by the american media but only glossed over. The President, it seemed to have a mixture of annoyance that the focus was off Iraq, sorrow at the loss of life and anger that this happened (maybe as a result that he had taken his eye off the ball in respect to the war on terrorism to concentrate on Iraq). After all our Prime Minister was in Washington when the attacks on Sept 11 happened and was swift, supportive and heartfelt in his response.

The terrorist attacks, were in BALI not australia i know, but I don't believe that americans realise that it so popular for australians (to a lesser extent, kiwis and europeans) that at any given time there can upwards of 20,000 aussies there. At the time of the blast there were many sport teams there celebrating end of season trips and these teams range from the high profile Professinal teams to the small amateur community teams, all of which were comprised of the young ie. the future of our nation. The balinese whom I feel sorry for as they rely on the tourists from australia to survive.

At the moment there is 30 confirmed dead and at least another 89 missing, feared dead, australians. There are also many missing and dead british, kiwis,north americans(americans and canadians for whom the australian consulate are responsible for), europeans and many local balinese. To all those who have lost or missing loved ones as well as survivors and their families, and all those health care workers, volunteers my sympathies to you.

As an Australian I am feeling numb, hurt , alone(ie. with relation to the country and our ties to america), violated, angry and proud of us as a nation in the way we have pulled together to help others and each other. It is Australia's Sept 11 as there could be well over hundred australian dead from an Australian population of around 19 million when compared to America with a population of 250+ million and 2000-3000 dead from the Sept 11 attacks.

Again apologises to those who I may have offended.

silvermoon

[Danustouch]

I can understand Australia's feelings on this. I think America gave them a pretty crappy deal in our media, too. On the other hand, I'm not quite so sure we can call it "Australia's September 11th" either. The death toll was far greater, on Sept 11th, taking lives from ALL over the globe. Plus, it happened on our own soil. On a bright, cloudless day, when none of us even believed, that such a thing could happen. September 11th struck fear in the worlds heart, on such an incredible level, because to most of us civilians, it was SO unexpected. After September 11th, people KNEW that another hit could happen, anywhere in the world. You're never REALLY prepared for tragedy, such as these two...however, the level of absolute "Shock" probably wasn't as great, world wide, because after September 11th, people KNEW that the world was on greater terrorist alert than ever before. People knew it could happen again, anywhere, at any time. There had even been specific warnings about Islands in the South Pacific, Indonesia, in fact. So..maybe we had a level of subconscious "knowledge" That something like this could happen again, so the shock wasn't as great. It doesn't excuse the lack of media coverage. Not a bit, but I think it might explain, part of it. The truth is, America since Sept 11th, has been bombarded by "warnings" of one sort or another. Times of heightened security publicized to such an extent, that we've almost become immune. Not to mention, immediately following the Sept 11th attacks, we were so DRENCHED in media coverage, both of this specific attack, the bombings in Israel, etc, That I think many of us have just develloped this sort of "shell" around ourselves. Desensitization, so to speak. Most people have a threshold for grief....a threshold for sympathy, so to speak...subconciously. We'd like to believe that we don't. But..let's face it, grief is utterly exhausting, and all consuming. After SO much grief in the year since Sept 11th, I think most Americans kind of built a wall against that sort of pain...in order to be able to carry on. Think of how incredibly volatile the entire world has been since Sept 11th. The bombings in Israel, Sharon's response with going into Palestine, the Indian/Pakistan conflict, The sniper, the continued warnings of our own safety, the anthrax, Iraq., our economy, ... I think most Americans right now, are just so overwhelmed with everything that has happened in this past year, that we've almost "froze" in the face of it all. That's how I feel, at least. Even with these latest Sniper Shootings here in the US...i'll admit..I haven't been following it all that closely. While some have been glued to their TV screens watching all of this, I have to admit, the fear hasn't struck home for me. I feel compassion for the victims families, but ..not on the same level I did for the families of Sept 11th. And since a death is a death, and a tradgedy a tradgedy, I've been examining WHY this is. And the ONLY thing that I can come up with, is that wave after wave of bad news, and tragedy, fear, and worry, has crashed upon myself, and most Americans in this past year. There comes a time, when most people will simply shut themselves off to it, because it becomes so overwhelming, if we didn't..most of us would be hiding under our beds by now! Is it a proper spiritual attitude, is it completely healthy? Probably not. Is it "common" for human beings to feel like this? I believe so. It doesn't totally excuse it...in fact, I think our Australian friends have damned good reason to feel so angry. However, I do hope that in time, they will direct that anger toward the appropriate target. The bastards that bombed that place. The Bastards that took their friends and families from them. And at the issues which created this whole mess in the first place. And that in time, they'll try to understand, that Americans aren't "SuperHuman". We're ONLY human. And avoidance, tuning out, desensitizing, etc, is a very human response in light of all of the tragedies, and fears we've witnessed in this past year.

Incidentally, this isn't the FIRST time that America has gone through this self-isolating behavior. Not the first time, that Americans have put up a wall to emotion, because of the sheer number of horrible tragedies, and the level of horrible news. Think of the Sixties. At how incredibly turbulant that time in America's history was. America went through SO many years of incredibly horrible things during that era. EVERYTHING reflected the turmoil, and terror that America had gone through. From music, to movies, to art....those years were all about pain. When the seventies rolled around, you saw a gradual "shift" in society, from the Sixties Rage, Sorrow, Grief, Anger, and Confusion, to the Seventies time of Drugs, Dancing, Disco, Partying, Glamour, etc. America has a history of "Escapism" after times of great turmoil. When the sixties ended, and the seventies rolled in, America was looking for something, ANYTHING to distract them from their pain, and move them beyond the state of perpetual unease that they experienced in the Sixties. My point is, I think that that is what is beginning to happen ...NOW. And the worst part about it, is this was all in ONE year. And we KNOW that it isn't going to end, soon. We know, that we will probably be going to war with Iraq. Many fear a draft. We know that biological attacks are very possible. We know that more Bombings, explosions,and hijackings, could occur, ANY day. Perhaps we're trying to "escape" those fears, as best we can, WHILE we can. Again, not an excuse, but..perhaps an explanation.

My heart does go out to all of our Australian friends. May they find healing, and may the souls of their departed, find justice.

[materra]

The news media is so fickle...and we, as American's can be such clods sometimes. I personally am very worried about what this means that we cannot see other's pain and loss. Is this the results of our own over exposure to this type of televised tragedy? Are we now unable to have empathy? Do we have national PTSD due to this?

What happened on 9/11 was so specificly targeted, and so deadly....yet American's forget how many other countries were represented there. As in Bali, all the people present represented many nations. It is world terrorism.

My condolances to the families and countries of the all the victims.

[Danustouch]

Materra..you managed to sum up my thoughts in one word...PTSD. I think that is what has happened, indeed. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

[silvermoon]

I apologise in advance again.......so bare with me

I'm not so much angry at the american public as the cannot feel sympathyfor things in which the media do not report. As with many Australians, I'm guessing that most americans rely on the media for information on the rest of the world. The coverage of the Bali bombings is not an isolated incident as many things of signficance that happens outside the US is treated much the same (ie. on FOXnews or CNN) unless it affects american interests.

After Sept 11, we had wall to wall coverage of the aftermath. Every step of the way, we were with america through the grieving, anger and defiance aginst terrorism. As the attacks on Sept 11 were targeted at mainly americans and many of the victims were foreigners(10 were Australian), The bomb blasts in Bali were probably aimed at australians as Kuta Beach was like a main street in any Aussie city there were so many aussie tourists. Especially the Sari nightclub where the bomb was denoted, was the place to go for aussies to have a good time and was the place that many aussies knew well. While the bomb blast may not have been on Australian soil but Bali was almost considered such ie.we felt so at home there it felt safe.

What really has shaken us as Australians is that we revelled in our isolation and looking at the world from afar, even after Sept 11 which affected us deeply, and now that is no longer so. We have unfortunately lost our innocence. As we are a peace loving democratic society who become a nation without a shot fired. We have never had a civil war and we have welcomed peoples from many nations with open arms. We are having trouble comprehending how people could delibrately target innocent people. We were blissful in our ignorance.

I feel for every person, dead, missing, injured or survivor and their families and friends no matter what their nationality.

silvermoon

[Danustouch]

I understand that feeling of lost innocense, Silvermoon. I think we all felt the same way, after September 11th. It really bothers me, too, that these terrorists targeted Australia, being that Australia is not known for military aggression, or for dominating economy and politics, which has been a major beef with these Terrorists about America. I don't believe that America deserved what it got on Sept 11th. However, when they detonated the bomb in Bali, it felt more like a hostage situation. It was like.."Hey...mr. Terrorist. You're not really pissed off at these Australian Tourists..You're pissed off at us! So why are you picking on THEM?". Even though the whole concept of targetting civilians is something which is completely beyond my comprehension, anyway.

As for the lack of media coverage...specifically, I think that the American Media is motivated by public interest. If Right now the American Public is "Tuning Out" because of Post Traumatic Stress, or just sheer overdrenching of tradgedy coverage, the media is going to go along with that. The media today is based on ratings. And if America is going through all this post traumatic stress.. they're probably going to give less coverage to the topics which will "restimulate" that depression, and stress.

The sniper shootings, as horriffic as they are, are almost a distraction of sorts, for the American Public, I think. Serial Murder Cases have always attracted a mix of horror, and fascination. They've been around for a LONG time. As discomfiting and scary as these murders are, they're a fear that we've DEALT with in our society before. A fear that we can identify with, and reason about. "This guy WILL be caught. After all, son of sam was caught, manson was caught, dahmer was caught", etc. While the looming international warfares, and terrorist attacks are something that we are NOT familiar with...at least not in this generation. For so long, we Americans, Like you Australians, thought we were safe. We thought this sort of thing, couldn't happen on our soil. Then it did. It's completely unreal to us, completely unbelieveable, and it's a fear that we have yet to come to understand. We've no familiarity with it. So...while it's easy for the public to tune into the serial sniper coverage, tuning into bombs going off in civilian territories such as Bali, or Israel nightclubs, is probably a little harder for us to deal with, to come to terms with, to confront. And the Media is probably very aware of this...through such things as rating polls, they know what America will and will not tune in for. And they probably know why.

Your anger is justified. But..being on the other side of the spectrum, as an American who has tuned out more often than she would like, recently, I can see "Why" America, and thus, the American Press, seems reluctant to cover these issues. Too much damned tragedy in this world. Too much pain, too much grief. And on TOO grande, and unexpected/unfathomable scale....

A serial sniper...we can deal with. We know he will be caught, we know it's one guy...we know pretty much where his attacks are going to be located, we know his M.O. But these terrorists, are so unknown to us, that it is beyond frightening.

That's just my opinion, and analysis of why the America seems to be tuning out.

((((((((((((((((((SILVERMOON)))))))))))))))))) ((((((((((((((AUSSSIE FRIENDS)))))))))))))))))))))

Goddess be with you all.

[Scarlettvixen]

I bow my head in grief not just for the tourists killed in Bali,
but for the Balinese people who have died in this horrid attack (unfortunately the media tends not to mention them.)

rocks in grief for those killed
prays that none of her friends were there

[shnen]

I have an acquaintance that is there, the bombing made a roof collapse onto him. He will be ok he is banged up, but the most outrageous part of it is Canada isn't trying to help him leave sooner, and Air Canada (airline) won't let him get a sooner flight back home. :(

*lights a candle for everyone over there*

[Scarlettvixen]

that sucks Shnen!!
how come he didnt get evacuated with the injured to australia?? i know that there are many nationalities scattered throughout the hospitals in australia where they dispersed the injured.


air Canada needs a boot up the b##m

[Semele]

I don't think that you can look at the lack of media coverage as a fair representation of how the American people feel regarding this attack.

When I first saw the news of the attack in Bali, the cable man was here messing around with our digital box and the news came on. He and mol and I just kind of watched it for a minute. Apparently the cable guy had heard about it and he was telling Mol about it...I just sat and watched with tears running down my face. I cried not because of the AMERICANS that were there and killed, but because of the HUMANS who lost their lives and for their families. This is a very tragic time for the world. The last time I checked all of us share the world, no matter what we call our corner of it.

It does make me a little ill for people to speak so passionately about Sept. 11 and make comments that, "no this cannot be compared to Sept. 11th...that happened on our own ground on a beautiful day..blah blah blah" (not picking on you intentionally Danus, as you are only one of several hundred I have heard make similar comments) It is almost as if the American people hold tightly to Sept 11th like it is some kind of trophy to show how we have suffered as a nation and how we are still suffering. Maybe we are...but the entire world is hurting in this time of terrorist attacks. How many times did you catch news of terrorist attacks before Sept. 11th...all over the world. Now we are just more aware of what has been happening for way too long. For such an advanced country, sometimes we are the last to fully grasp situations and we have to have it shoved in our faces.

[Danustouch]

Ya know, I think you and I are seriously getting our wires crossed lately Semele :) I'm not saying that the tragedy wasn't as great. As I said, a death is a death, and a tragedy a tragedy. What I'm saying is that I think for MOST Americans, the SHOCK of the whole situation, was the sheer numbers of people killed in the WTC tragedy. It's not that I don't think the Australian Tragedy as great. It's that I think that "numbers" have a great effect on human psyche. And that most of us felt such numbing shock because of the HUGE numbers of people killed that day. Remember, the original death toll was over 6,000. That's a pretty huge number to the average human mind. When was the last time 6,000 people were reported dead in ONE day? I'm talking about the psychological effect that "Numbers" have on people. It's not that the 200+ Deaths in Bali were any less tragic, than the 6,000 deaths (initially) reported on Sept 11th...it's that the Human mind uses numbers as symbols. We're taught from the minute we can count, that 4 is greater than 1, that 10, is greater than 5, etc, etc, etc. So when we hear the words, "Death" and "6,000" in one sentence, of course it triggers absolute shock, and terror. Because America is SUCH a large country, and so Vastly populated compared to Australia, the death toll may even out statistically. However, the mere effect that those initial reports had on the American Psyche is STILL something that is under alot of study. I mean, if you think about it, America didn't even respond as powerfully to the Oklahoma City Bombing, as it did the World Trade Center bombing. And yet that happened on our own soil too, by one of our own people! So, this suggests to me, that somehow, the mind hears terms such as 6,000 + Deaths, and it somehow creates a far more terrifying reaction than 300, 500, 600+ deaths. And even though now we know that the death toll is below 2,000, those intial reports, those initial responses are the ones which stick most vividly in peoples minds. "First Impressions are the most important"...etc. Death is Death, Tragedy is Tragedy. Of course every single life lost in ANY tragedy is just as horrible, and just as sad.

I'm simply trying to analyze the psychological reasons behind why Americans, and American Media haven't seemed to respond, for the most part, as seriously to the news of the Tragedy in Bali, as the Tragedy on Sept 11th. Not to excuse it, but to understand Why. Maybe I need to figure out "Why" for myself, so that I can try to figure out where I am as far as my own mental state, after Sept 11th, are at, a year and a month after.

[Semele]

Yeah Danus, I guess numbers do stand out in the minds of folks!

As for the OKC bombing not getting this much attention...you have to remember where I live! It was on 24/7 here for at least 2 years!

[Illuminatus]

Islamic "freedom fighters" have been ravaging Indonesia since about 1918. It's rare that the violence is ever this sudden or bloody - usually it's just a few murders here and there, and a handful of hostages every few years. It's not news, it's been going on for a long time.

[Scarlettvixen]

Bravo Semele for yr statements.
Every death that is senseless makes me sad, wether it is from terrorism, accident or disease.


The OKC bombing received extensive coverage here in Australia - it pre-empted normal TV coverage for at least 12 hrs.

[Milly]

Today was our national day of mourning. I guess one of the worst thing about it was Bali has always been "paradise" i'd never thought of it as a target. A close friend of mine left the day before it happened, another was there her father is still missing and some one else at my school has cuts all over her face and two fingers cut off her stepfather is missing also. It is such a horrible thing that happened.

[gunner]

sadly you're right in a way, the american news media didn't give that the coverage it deserved, i've got mates in oz, johnno, who has a good friend in hospital looking like a patchwork quilt, lynne who is a nurse in an emergency room and charlie who has friends missing, and now you, so no apology for letting off steam wanted or needed. australia has never been slow about lending a hand when us yanks needed one. dinkum cobbers you are and whatever our news types say or don't say you're in our hearts just as you cared about us 13 months ago.