Indo 1011 Essay 2 Paulson

Bali Bombings Brooke Paulson 810143603 Essay #1: Indonesia 1011

On October 12, 2002 Bali suffered from a series of terrorist bomb attacks. Bombs exploded in the tourist district of Kuta, located on the southern side of Bali. As a result, 202 people lost their lives and 209 people were injured. Although devastating, these bombings did not only impact the people and families of those injured or killed, they also severely affected the economy of Bali. Tourism was and still is heavily relied upon to support the lesser-developed island of Bali. Although the island has seen its economy return to what it once was, many locals say the bombings have forever left a scar. The attack involved the detonation of three bombs. The first bomb exploded in a backpack-mounted device carried by a suicide bomber inside the nightclub Paddy’s Pub causing many patrons to run out into the street. Just fifteen seconds later a second bomb exploded from within a white Mitsubishi van. The car bomb was reported as being far more powerful than the first bomb and was detonated by a suicide bomber outside of the Sari Club, just across the street from Paddy’s Pub. Both of these businesses were known as some of the most popular nightclubs in Kuta, an area highly populated by tourism. It was later discovered that the bomb within the van had been rigged by remote control detonation in the event that the suicide bomber changed his mind. Neighboring buildings were destroyed from the car bomb that left a one-meter deep crater and many people realized the damage was too large to count. The third bomb was a much smaller

device and was detonated outside the United States consulate in Denpasar, which caused only minor damage. The local Sanglah hospital was not prepared or equipped to deal with the size of this disaster and it was noted that victims were placed in hotel pools to ease the pain of their burns until further help could be reached. The death toll reached a remarkably high number of 202, 164 of whom were foreign nationals and 38 of which were Indonesian citizens. Horrific burns were found on many of the 209 injured victims. Among those killed, was a group of 88 Australians who had traveled to Bali for holiday. Although the devastation was sobering, several acts of heroism were seen throughout the island. One particular couple created a makeshift recovery center in the lobby of the hotel where they were staying. The compassion and love exuded from the people of Bali and the island stood together as a team attempting to make it through this tragedy. Bali accounts for roughly 40% of Indonesia’s earnings from tourism, which had earned a total of 5.4 billion USD in foreign exchange on average per year. Tourism, clothing, textiles and petroleum are the biggest products for sources of income for Indonesia. The Bali bombings reinforced negative sentiment about the country amongst prospective investors and caused the economy to take a downfall. Not only was tourism diminishing, but investors were reluctant to commit to Indonesia because they feared political

instability and poor economic prospects. Three individuals were convicted in relation to the bombings and were known to be members of the Jemaah Islamiyah. This group was known to be a violent Islamist group existing within the area. On November 9th, 2008 three members convicted for the bombings were executed by firing squad on the island prison of Nusakambangan at 00:15 Local time. In 2006 an Indonesian feature film about the bombings was released called, Long Road to Heaven. It tells the story during three different periods of time: the planning a few months before the bombing, the execution of the plan in 2002 and the trials in 2003 through the viewpoints of both the victims and the bombers. Furthermore, a permanent memorial was built on the site of the demolished Paddy’s Pub, just off of Legian Street. The memorial consists of carved stone set with a large marble plaque,which bears the names and nationalities of each of those killed. The memorialPerhaps this doesn’t bring justice to the situation, but it did provide a bandage to the gaping wound found within Bali.

Work Cited Parliamentary Library (2002). Retrieved March 15, 2009 from, http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/CIB/2002-03/03cib04.htm. BBC News (2002). Bali loses its innocence. Retrieved March 15, 2009 from, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspon dent/2342495.stm. BBC News (2002). Death toll set at 202. Retrieved March 16, 2009 from, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2778923.stm.