I dont no why da British gov. is more afriad of Muslim terrorist den IRA (irish republican army) dey hav been conducting terrorist attacks more den 100 yrs nd killed thousands of innocent ppl nd even 4 da sake of argument if we agree dat da 2005 london bombing was by Muslims, its nothing compared to IRA. IRA will put dis attack to shame and surpringly dey r never called as Catholic terrorists? Jesus man. God make some justice. I dont want to offend any1 but y dis double standards?

WA says: There are some pretty major differences.  For starters, the IRA have ceased violent activities.  While they were conducting terrorist attacks, they were a major concern of the British government.  Also, the IRA were often regarded as Catholic terrorists - and Catholics were significantly victimised in various counter-terrorism operations in Britain.  And in any event, the IRA was probably more an ethno-nationalist militant group than a globalist, overtly-religious one like Al-Qa`ida.

Well, I can't see them dropping the alert now that they just arrested was it 9 people in Indonesia for making 19 bombs which were meant for western targets. Yep I think they have the travel warnings just where they should be. And yes I think that the UK should also be a high risk as well. With the number of terrorists being monitored there, and all the crazy extremists preaching their hatred of the west, Britain is off my list of places to go, especially east London.

WA says: Yeah, it's interesting isn't it?  I cannot imagine them ever raising the warning for the UK, no matter what happens.  Hope I'm wrong, but I just find it hard to imagine.

I'd rather Australians be aware of the risks of travel to a destination (and potentially not go in light of the danger), than see Australians die in attacks overseas. I'm sure the families of the Australians that were murdered in the Bali attacks would agree with me. I think your article tries to politicise the matter unnecessarily, and you should have better sense.

WA says: If that's how you feel Damien, wouldn't you also prefer the warning to be raised for the UK?  I don't think I'm politicising the matter unnecessarily at all.  It's a live issue for the Indonesians and it is hampering relations between the two countries and making it harder for (especially) the Australian education sector to do work there.

I sit & stare listening to OM KALTHOUM ,giving you all muslim bastartds exit visas The Sphinx is still waiting for his.WA why did your parents leave Egypt.WARNING THE BROTHERHOOD IS LOOKING FOR YOU .NASSER!!!!!

WA says: They came out (separately) for education for a couple of years and never quite got round to returning.

just visit onther parts of Indonesia, away from Bali. As I know, Bali is another Oz'state... too many Oz there.

WA says: Exactly.  And you'd think the travel advisory could reflect that clearly, rather than having a general "reconsider travel" statement for Indonesia as a whole.  It would make a big difference.

America dropped its travel warning in the hope of getting back in jakarta's good books after the Indo out cry over the paternalism of US anti-piracy offers. Indo police have quietly killed off many budding indig terrs, but the inflo of battle hardened int jihadists means inevitable high profile bombings. Indo gov trys to send blood hungry jihadists to Irian jaya or moluccu where their crimes wont make tv news but the beast will eventually turn back on them.

WA says: The question is not whether or not there is a terrorism risk in Indonesia, but whether or not it is substantially less present in places with lower-level travel warnings.  Given that there seems to be a general feeling that terrorism is on a downward curve in Indonesia, and an upward one in Europe, that surely should be critiqued.

Indonesia is terror central. mnlf and abu sayef from the PI, malaysian and Thai from Patani, home grown lashkar jihad & JI. All types of Indonesian half breeds with racial links to Yemen. All types of muslims terrorists from chechnya and Bosnia living in java. Add to that Indonesias impossible border control and you have the governments motiv for the rather pointless travel warnings.

WA says: That's actually a fairly broad statement that isn't backed up by the Indonesian researchers I know, or the US government's decision to drop their travel warning.  There seems to be a prevailing view that the terrain in Indonesia is improving remarkably.

Ha ha ha ha! Are you aware that the 'smarttraveller' website is advertising on the salam cafe website, just under last week's episode. Funny, given your post!

WA says: That's brilliant!

Fair suck of the sand shoe! This issue is WAY too complex for a 500 characters response. Comparisons of this ilk are meaningless and a wee bit disingenuous if not mischief making. There are travel warnings for Zimbabwe and non Muslim countries too because of terrorist activity. WASP(C)s, ( incl. Aussies) are STATED targets of terrorists in Indonesia. WA. I’m disappointed with your myopic thinking here.

WA says: Your point would stand if the travel warning was specific to certain parts of Indonesia.  It isn't (except to make some specific areas no go areas).  And I'm not sure why you're saying it's a Muslim non-Muslim thing.  I haven't said that. 

Susan Carland can be thankful she lives within a tolerant society, established with a Christian heritage. If she lived in Iran she would be forced to wear the hijab. If she lived in Turkey, as a student, she would be forced to not wear the hijab. Some more questions for next week's Muslim quiz.

I think the reason why we put more emphasis on Indonesia is because its population is predominantly Muslim, in which statistically it makes it more of a higher risk to have extremists. It’s unfortunate but the reality these days is that people have lost the plot and a lot of them seem to be from a Muslim background.

WA says: Not sure it really works that way.  It's about the threat profile of each particular country, not the demographics of the population within it.  And as we've seen plenty of times, the fact that a country is a non-Muslim country doesn't mean it won't face terrorist attacks.