BLASTS IN INDONESIA - AT 7:55 A.M. ET:  There has been a coordinated terror attack in Indonesia, although it could have been much worse:

JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 17 -- Eight people were killed Friday in two separate explosions at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in central Jakarta, just over a week after the world's most populous majority-Muslim nation saw a peaceful presidential election.

The Jakarta police said that "low explosive" devices were used to set off the blasts. The first was heard at the Marriott around 7:45 a.m. local time (8:45 p.m. Thursday in Washington). The Marriott also was targeted in 2003 by the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, when a bomb set off by the Islamic terrorists killed 11.

The second explosion happened shortly afterwards at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, less than 100 meters away. That bomb was believed to have gone off in the Airlangga restaurant.

And...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, en route to Asia as part of a pre-scheduled trip, said the bombings reflect the viciousness of violent extremists, and remind us that the threat of terrorism remains very real. We have no higher priority than confronting this threat along with other countries that share our commitment to a more peaceful and prosperous future."

COMMENT:  We don't yet know if the attack was timed to coincide with Clinton's trip to Asia.  Indonesia, of course, is where President Obama spent some of his younger years. 

July 17, 2009