It is no comfort for the victims, but the three suicide bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali at the weekend will do nothing to advance the muddled Islamist and anti-western causes of the militants who killed themselves and murdered more than 20 people.

That does not mean they will fail to have any impact at all. The latest bombs are a blow to the Indonesian tourism industry, which was recovering from the terrorist attacks on nightclubs in Bali three years ago in which 202 people died. They may also have a wider effect in south-east Asia; Thailand, grappling with insurgency in its mainly Muslim southern provinces, yesterday put its tourist resorts on full alert. Globally, the attacks are a reminder of how easy it is for a suicide bomber to wreak havoc with a belt or a backpack stuffed with explosives.