Terror attack claims 7 American lives

VFW Magazine, Dec, 2002

The Indonesian Islamist terrorist attack on the Sari Club on Kuta Beach on largely Hindu-populated Bali Island on Oct. 12 killed at least seven U.S. citizens, all civilians. Most of the 181 dead were Australians. That death count makes it one of the worst acts of terror on record.

Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic extremist group allied with the al Qaeda network, reportedly perpetrated this act. Known as al Qaeda's "branch office" in Southeast Asia, its goal is to create an Islamic super state in the region. An indigenous ally in indonesia, Laskar Jihad, seeks the expulsion of all Christians.

Indonesia is "the only place in the world" where radicals tied to Osama bin Laden "aren't being hunted down," Rohan Gunaratna told Time magazine. Gunaratna is a terrorist expert at Scotland's St. Andrews University and author of Inside al Qaeda.