Dowding: Yes, and I wish some people would take a few minutes to think before they post ignorant, insensitive and down right offensive crap across these boards.
Not to mention the child sex industry.
It was you who made yourself look an idiotic loon, so don't try and displace any 'blame' onto those that do actually know what they are talking about.
Everyone makes mistakes. I once taktlessly posted a message about the death tax (inheritance tax) after 9/11 - that was a big issue to me not wanting to profit from the people's misery. To my surprise that was met with outrage on this board as inappropriate at the time, so I appologised.
Sex tourism is an issue and while only a tiny minority of western tourists are such perverts, you can be sure that enemy propaganda zeroes in on them trying to inflame muslims against westerners. I did state that I never believed australians more guilty but just more proactive fighting the filth and I should not have brough that up at all here. Again, I am sorry.
Dowding: You posted like you were the world's authority on Bali and had great experience of the people who went there.
Frankly, I expected replies like "miko, you are stating the obvious", or "miko, it's easy to have 20/20 vision in hindsight", or "of course Bali was dangerous, but where were you before it happened with warnings rather than post-factum explanations" or something along those lines.
To which I would have replied that even without more than a cursory knowlege of Bali's existence I did insist on my friend not going to Indonesia (despite claims of safety) last year - and would have warned each of 200 victims had they been my friends.
Those who had to go to Indonesia for some more pressing reason than entertainment, I would have told to stay away from western crowds, hotel lobbies, embassies and other attack magnets.
Instead I find myself ridiculed as ignorant by self-proclaimed experts explaining why Bali was safe! Hello, people! Bali is not safe! Bali has not been safe for quite a while! There just was a huge explosion there - two in fact. 200+ dead! It did not suddenly become unsafe after the explosions - it was more unsafe the day before they occured or the year before they occured - it became unsafe years ago when some righteous militant decided that Bali was a nice juicy target to blow up. If it did not blow up last week, it would have blown up this week or the next one. Different people would have died but in about the same numbers.
Danger is not what you are aware of or choose to ignore. It kind of exists objectively regardless of your ignorance of it.
What did it matter that Bali was populated by hindus of which fact I shamefully was not aware? It did not make it safe. Muslim terrorists attack places where westerners are, where they feel safe - New York included, not where they are already scared out of.
I did spend considerable effort and money bringing people from unsafe spots to safer ones. I am also on record on this board insisting that all israelis and palestinians who want to live in peace should be granted US visas - rather than wishing for their right to "historical homeland" or "safe recreation in palestine". I do offer a pair of gas masks to my friends going to Manhattan - if only to remind them of danger.
Anyway, I have a problem with a concept "we are in a low-intencity war" or "it's not a war - just terrorism" or "they declared war on us but we will just ignore it", or "the enemy is stupid (they are not) and covardly (they are not) or camel-diddlying goatherds (some have Ph.D.s) and we do not have to take precautions" or "I am not in danger because I am around the corner from hostilities". Or the classic one "If we change our lives and take precautions, we let terrorists win". If you got yourself killed by a terrorist you've let terrorist win!
You, bloody hyppocrites - Dowding, Spook, -tronski-, etc. - the people who perished there may have well been aware of risks and chose to brave them or they may have been ignorant. Not a big deal - we often knowingly risk our lifes in recreational pursuits and skimp on time in library.
But if you did not try to warn them because you were ignorant of danger or did not care or underestimated it - you failed your friends and now are venting your frustration on me for mentioning sex or being undertutored in geography.
The ignorance and wishfull thinking that killed them to which I referred in my post was not theirs but yours and your governments!
I can think of no more idiotic or hyppocrytial remarks than your "western people should not be afraid of being blown up in a night club in a third world country" - it's only valid if it's you who are braving the danger, not when you are sending your hapless "mates" to do so wishing "have a good time" rather than "stay home" or at least "try not to get killed"!
miko
