Bali attack Final

Running head: 2002 BALI CLUB BOMBINGS 1

2002 BALI CLUB BOMBINGS 5

2002 Bali Club bombings

Shawnette Howard

SNHU

4/1/2022

The 2002 Bali bombings happened on 12 October 2002 on the common Indonesian island of Bali, specifically in Kuta a region popular with tourists (Phoenix Australia, 2015, May 31). The incident claimed 202 lives, 38 Indonesians, 88 Australians, 23 Britons, and members of about 20 other countries (Phoenix Australia, 2015, May 31). Two hundred and nine persons were injured during the tragedy. Members of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, a terror group indicted in connection to the bombings, including three persons who were later condemned to death (Phoenix Australia, 2015, May 31) carried out the attack. The attack entailed the detonation of 3 bombs: a bag-mounted device that was to be detonated by a suicide bomber; a huge car-bomb that was both triggered in or near prominent clubs in Kuta; and a third somewhat relatively small device that exploded just outside of the United States consulate in Denpasar, leading to minor or superficial damage (Phoenix Australia, 2015, May 31). An audio cassette supposedly holding a taped voice message from AL Qaeda terror group leader Osama Bin laden mentioned that the Bali bombings were carried out in direct reprisal to Australia's involvement in the freedom of East Timor and the United States' War on Terror.

The attacks were carried out as a response to Australia's involvement in the liberation of East Timor. Indonesia had invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed the nation where few nations, including the United States and Australia, recognized the annexation. The cold war events during the time were seen as the main reason why most western nations accepted the annexation. Indonesia was barely a decade old since the overthrow of communism, which the united states had aided in 1965 (Bevins, 2017). Suharto, the Indonesian military leader, led the massacres of Indonesian Communist party members (Bevins, 2017). America feared that if it condemned the annexation, Indonesia would gravitate toward the soviet union, which would see Indonesia used as a launching pad for communism. The Australian defense forces arrived in East Timor in 1999 to return order and peace in the region as the Indonesian military withdrew. The INTERFET operation of 1999-2002 was one of the major reasons for the bombings. Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Bashir formed Jemaah Islamiyah, the terror group responsible for the attacks, in 1993. The two were hiding from the persecution of the Suharto led government at the time of the bombings. The group started its violence in regions of Poso and Maluku before shifting and targeting western interests in the wider Southeast Asia region and inside Indonesia.

The terror group was formed in Malaysia at the time; the nation was facing a significant terror threat from terror groups within the nation, some of which were fighting the government under the pretext of being persecuted. The two leaders, Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Bashir, were in Malaysia (Rourke, 2019). They may have been radicalized during then, although Bashir is said to have been involved in bombings inside Indonesia as early as 1985. At the time of hosting the two terror leaders, Malaysia was facing a significant terror threat from the Malaysian communist party, a group responsible for bombings, skirmishes, and assassinations inside Malaysia. This history of violence is becoming a suitable launching pad for other terror groups in the Southeast Asian region.

The invasion of East Timor by the Australian led INTERFET operation of 1999-2002 was the catalyst of the attack. The invasion was seen as a support of infidels, in this case, the East Timorese, who were devout Catholics. In 1999, East Timor voted 78.5% for its independence and autonomy from Indonesia (Rourke, 2019). Islamic terror groups in the region stepped up the attacks after the referendum killing over 2,600 people (Rourke, 2019). Australia led the INTERFET operation to restore order in the region. Gusmao and other exiled leaders were supported by the United Nations and led a three-year operation in the region in 2002; Gusmao was voted in as the leader of East Timor (Rourke, 2019). The terror groups retaliated by attacking Bali's popular Australian holiday region in Indonesia as a reprisal for the support of Gusmao and East Timor autonomy.

Reference

Bevins, V. (2017). What the United States Did in Indonesia. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/10/the-indonesia-documents-and-the-us-agenda/543534/

Phoenix Australia. (2015, May 31). Bali Bombing. https://www.phoenixaustralia.org/about/paying-our-respects/bali-bombing/

Rourke, A. (2019). East Timor: Indonesia’s invasion and the long road to independence. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/30/east-timor-indonesias-invasion-and-the-long-road-to-independence