"Terrorism strikes home." "Victims of war." "Evil." "Terrorism on our doorstep." These are all front-page newspaper headlines. But, not from Sept. 11, 2001, as most Americans may expect. Rather, these are headlines from major Australian newspapers, following the Oct. 12, 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia.While major American newspapers, such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post have covered the bombings in their international sections throughout the past week, the coverage in Australia is as extensive as our Sept. 11 coverage was here. I encourage all of you to go to the Sydney Morning Herald's website, at www.smh.com.au in order to see how, 10 days after the bombings, the Australia media is still understandably obsessed with this story.

To understand why the Australian press is so fixated on the Bali bombings, you must comprehend the extent to which this tragedy has affected our Antipodean ally. Out of an estimated 180 people killed at the two nightclubs bombed, 103 of the dead (or those still missing, but presumed dead) were Australian citizens. Australia is not a large country, population-wise, especially in comparison to the United States. Australia has just over 19 million citizens, while America has over 280 million. While Australia lost a few citizens in the World Trade Center blasts, this is their largest loss of life in a terrorist attack ever.

Some Americans may feel that because the suspected Al Qaeda-planned attack was made on Indonesian soil, Australians were not specifically targeted. Yet, if a bomb went off in Cancun while American college students were partying at a nightclub during spring break, would these critics argue that Americans had not been targeted? Bali is one of the top tourist destinations for Australians, and many of those killed were celebrating their vacations from school. I myself studied abroad in Sydney during spring 2001, and I cannot remember a good Australian friend of mine who had not mentioned having visited Bali at some point. If you were a typical university student backpacking or vacationing in Bali, you would most likely have been visiting the stricken Sari Club and Padis Irish Club that night.

Australia lost mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends and even a large number of professional Australian Football League ("Aussie rules") sports players. Most bodies are so burnt that it is doubtful if some will ever been identified. Hundreds of others are still in hospitals, many in critical condition and dying. Families are being told they will have to wait weeks in order to have remains of loved ones sent home.

The average American does not seem to realize the extent of Australia's relationship with the United States. Since the ANZUS (Australia-New Zealand-United States) security treaty was signed in 1951, Australia has actually been more closely allied with the United States than with Great Britain. During World War II, Australia was a large base of U.S. troop operations, and a contributor to Pacific campaigns, in both manpower and ships. Australians fought with us in Korea and in Vietnam, a fact often overlooked in our country. Prime Minister John Howard has been a leading proponent of Bush's plans to fight Iraq. Whenever we have needed assistance from Australia, she has been there. Now, it is time for us to recognize her contributions, and return the favor.

What can Americans do? At the very least, they can learn more about the facts of what happened, and take an interest in this incident, just as they did in regards to Sept. 11. Australians watched as the World Trade Center was destroyed on early Sept. 12, 2001, in their time zone. They wept and placed Australian and American flags next to each other in an international display of solidarity. But, where are the Australian flags here? Most Americans do not even know the capital of Australia (Canberra, not Sydney), let alone any significant amount about the country's culture. Take time and educate yourself about Australia - the more research you do, the more you will discover the extreme similarities between Australia and the United States.

Within Australia, there is understandably a growing blame movement, as placing blame is a natural reaction to the shock and confusion surrounding such a horrible event. Some feel this attack is revenge for Australia intervening in the East Timor freedom movement in 1999. Others feel that more travel warnings could have been put in place. Many blame Howard's close alignment to U.S. policies. Yet, the more supportive the United States government and public are of our closest Southern Hemisphere ally, the more willing Australians will be to stay closely allied with us in the future.

Australia is the key point of Western influence in the Asia-Pacific region, and is vulnerable to even more Al Qaeda attacks. Indonesia, its neighbor, is population-wise the world's largest Muslim country. Security preparations, meant to prevent attacks on Australian soil, are now underway. Since the Japanese bombings in Darwin, part of the Northern Territory, during World War II, Australia has never felt so vulnerable. Just like the United States had not felt as vulnerable as it did on Sept. 11 since Pearl Harbor.

We all wept for America last year. Now, unfortunately, it is time we share our tears and heartbreak with one of our greatest friends. Rebound, Australia Fair.

-- Jamie Freed '03 submits a column to the Justice.