Zen acting by not acting didn't work this time We all know about the Bali explosion now. In a country where Islamic radicals are waging a jihad against the Christian minorities in the eastern islands this shouldn't surprise us. Megawati Sukarnoputri has been keeping her hands off the radicals for fear of aggravating them. Islamist parties are a strong minority in the parliament, and though fundamentalists are not numerous, santri, or orthodox observant Muslims, are now approaching half of Indonesia's population (and growing). Mega allowed the fundamentalists relative freedom because she is already suspect in their eyes: her political party was originally a vehicle for Christians, and still reflects a far greater proportion of that faith than the general population (~10%), she is a woman head of state and her paternal grandmother was a Hindu from Bali. But appeasement didn't work. 200 people are dead, and Bali's economy, a nice source of foreign exchange in a period of economic troubles is probably going to be diminished. The Indonesian military will probably be pressured to get involved, and crack down on thuggish groups like Lakshar Jihad. A lesson that appeasement doesn't work, and that Islamic governments are simply putting off the day of reckoning when the big green Islamist bomb explodes in their face. Update: Check out Jason's main blog for updates on the Bali situation-he's Ozzie so he'll probably have more information.