I have been keenly reading everyone's reasons for going and not going to bali over the past few days,including thorstens which I must add was very well written.
As a resident in Bali for the past 15 years I feel that I should add my thoughts.
I also lost some very close friends in 2002 and felt nothing but utter contempt for the perpetrators,whom I feel should have had there sentences carried along time ago.
I still have a problem understanding that when something like this happens in Bali,travel warnings start flying around immediately,did the Australian government put one out against travel to the UK and Spain with the same severity,just look at the amount of arrest that happened in Spain,there was an enormous cell of extremists living there,plotting and planning attacks in different countries.
As people have commented nobody can forsee where or what suicide bombers are going to do.The Balinese hate these people as much as anybody,look at the targets they hit?they were soft targets frequented more by local people,please remember the local people have suffered just as much as the foreigners.How many young children and babies have become orphans overnight,if you put things into perspective probably 98% of Bali is as safe as anywhere in Australia,I am not asking people to ignore the threat of what could or might happen,and I completely understand there concern for there families,but Bali really is not that dangerous a place and the beautiful people of this island deserve all our support,and I know that the Balinese will be doing everything in their power to protect the tourist visiting Bali.
Security levels will be rising all over the Island from the police to the local Banjars,all I ask is that you try to keep things in perspective,the people of Bali need your support at a time like this.