Travel warnings

Having been in Indonesia for over five years and observed the riots of 1998 as well as what happened in Bali, I can only wonder why western countries like the United States and many in Europe issue travel advisories warning their citizens not to come to Indonesia and also Bali.

In Israel, for example, there are bombings and killings every day. Look at the U.S. Not only the terror of the attacks on the World Trade Center, but snipers all over the country.

Do these countries say, "Do not come to the U.S. as we are targets for terrorists? Do not go to Israel as we have terrorist attacks every day? No, they do not.

I am curious as to why they do not. I would like to hear one good reason as to why it is safer to go to the U.S. or to Israel than to Indonesia.

Why is it that governments warn their citizens not to come here but issue no warnings against going to Israel or even the U.S.?

I have not seen this question addressed in the media here. Is this because no media enterprise has the guts to pose this question?

MIKE POULOS, Jakarta