Walid Phares (Professor of Middle East Studies and Senior Fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies) offers a detailed analysis and explanation of the recent bombing in Bali. Excerpt:

JI [Jemaah Islamiyah] specifically targets the stability of the largest Muslim nation on earth with the goal of establishing a Taliban-like power, possessing full control of Indonesia’s vast oil production and reserves. To do so, the jihadists' aim at what I call "triggering valves." Bali is one of them. Samuel Huntington called such areas in his book The Clash of Civilizations (1996) "fault lines." The jihadists have discovered the importance of these "fault lines" where different religious civilizations meet (and sometimes collide) and turned them into "valves." In simple words, the reason why Jemaah Islamiyah hit Bali for the second time is not only because it was a soft target, but because also it is a culturally and symbolically a "triggering spot." Bali is mostly Hindu (with Buddhist and other influences), and therefore is considered "infidel." Bali is also the center of materialistic pleasures, definitely projected as "infidel." Last but not least, Bali is an international center of tourism, with the high likelihood of attracting Western, Asian, and other foreigners, all "Kuffars," even if Muslim moderates live or work there. Combine these three dimensions, and you’d have an emple "trigger." Until it shuts down or empties, the jihadists will most likely target it again and again. Obviously, they won’t use the same tactics or weapons, but the strategic objective is the same.

Saturday's attack was a surprising step forward in the jihadists' agenda: they have terrorized a moderate Muslim nation in an area with a high concentration of so-called infidels. If the West does not stay on the offensive against terrorists militarily, America may suffer a similar fate.

(Maybe the terrorists didn't know that.)

What annoys me about this is that, awful as events in New Orleans were (many called Katrina worse than war), I wouldn't fear traveling there in the future. But Bali, much as I've always wanted to go there, isn't looking quite as attractive, as friendly, as exotic, or as safe.

I'd still go, but I'm a bit of a nut.

For most tourists, travel is supposed to be fun.