A couple of quick thoughts about the Fiji tragedy . . .

[jlh]

thalialuna was asking if there was any coverage of it here in the US. I hadn't brought it up mostly because none of you all had.

*hugs the Aussies*. Sadly, I actually do have some sense of how you're feeling. Yes, it has been all over the news the past few days, lead story as a matter of fact. For this American, it was surprising to think that there is much dislike of you guys; you certainly don't have your fingers in as many weird pies as the US does.

If it is Al Quaeda, and I know there's some dispute about that, then this reminds me of something that happened back around the time of the bombing in Oklahoma City. The Unabomber was still active at that time, and Oklahoma City sort of stole his glory and his headlines for a while, and he got jealous and sent a few more mail bombs and then sent that infamous manifesto. I wonder if Al Quaeda was annoyed that the War on Iraq was stealing their thunder?

It's certainly true that no one has done anything about Al Quaeda. I think the Iraq thing is partially a diversion. How typical.

Comments

[ex-thezeppo783.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

It's most likely due to our intervention regarding East Timor a few years back. That caused a lot of bad will.
Or the place could have been attacked simply because it was a locus for foreigners. *shrugs*

And Iraq? Iraq is such a diversion for Bush right now. And he needs to keep it there, otherwise people might start asking why he didn't put more pressure on AQ.

[thalialuna.livejournal.com]

Thanks honey. ::hugs:: They were saying on the news last night that proportionally, Australia stands to lose more of its citizens than America if those still missing are amongst the dead. Very sad. I don't know any of the victims or their families but watching the news at the moment is very hard.

As for who did it, the bottom line is that no-one knows and everyone is just guessing. Bin Laden has made threats to the allies, there is the Timor thing to consider and really, Indonesia has been considered Australia's biggest threat for over a decade.

My sister's interview to join the RAAF:

Interviewer: Which country is the biggest threat to Australia?
My sister: (who had been coached) Indonesia!
Interviewer: Right!

I'm buggered if I know why they've hated us for so long. It started long before Timor. However, the impetus may not be from Indonesia anyway, it could be the first allai attack. Only time will tell.

I do think its suspicious that Indonesia, who we have had uneasy relations with for so long, has done nothing before now but with the allai threat hanging over us - now something has happened. I tend to think it points us back in the direction of the Muslim extremists who live in Indonesia.