Foreign policy mysteries explained!
We're talking about the bombs in Bali that killed about 170 people:

wendytii:"Abu Bakar Bashir, a Muslim cleric accused of leading Jemaah Islamiyah, denied involvement and blamed the blast on the United States.
wendytii:"'I suspect that the bombing was engineered by the United States and its allies to justify allegations that Indonesia is a base for terrorists,' he told the AP in telephone interview from Solo
wendytii:"Balinese officials said that only 39 positive identifications had been made, listing 15 Australians, eight Britons, five Singaporeans, six Indonesians, one German, one French citizen, one Dutch citizen, one New Zealander and one Ecuadorean."
wendytii:that was a pretty effective attack on most of the countries in the world, with only two bombs
sjerslix: For fuck's sake. Yeah, the US did it. They found us out.
wendytii:yeah, cuz nobody believes us that Indonesia has terrorists
sjerslix: Yeah. You know all the killing and beheading and such that's been going on in East Timor and other provinces? That's Americans too.
wendytii:right
wendytii:cuz we want to take over Indonesia
wendytii:have been wanting to ever since WWII
sjerslix: Well, they do have oil
sjerslix: and great beaches
wendytii:and volcanos
sjerslix: And satay. it's worth taking over for the satay
wendytii:good point
sjerslix: I'm going to write Bush right now and tell him that: We must defeat the evildoers of Indonesia, and take their satay!
wendytii:mmm satay
sjerslix: See? See? A perfectly reasonable justification for the annihilation of a culture.
sjerslix: The UN would have to agree.
sjerslix: Which makes me wonder -- is there an Iraqi equivalent of satay that Bush is hungry for?
wendytii:goulash!
sjerslix: Hungarian
wendytii:kebabs?
wendytii:falafel?
sjerslix: Maybe...
wendytii:kebabs are on a stick at least
sjerslix: True. And therefore are in keeping with the satay
sjerslix: Does that mean that next we attack Iowa for the corn dogs?
wendytii:I think the corn dogs is where we gained our appreciation of food on sticks
sjerslix: Ah
sjerslix: So, evildoers, beware: Wherever there is a tasty foodstuff on a stick, the US will be there, protecting the American right to munch
wendytii:I think we've figured it out.

Can you think of a better explanation?

Wendy also pointed me to a nice rejoinder to the Trib's plans to launch a paper targeting young readers. My favorite line: "Why do young people read newspapers? Two words: not Britney Spears." Huzzah for the youth of America and their math skills!