The bombings in Amman

The bombings in Amman are less surprising than they should be. There have
been numerous attempts to carry out attacks in Jordan, many that have been
prevented, mainly because the Hashemites have a very efficient security
service (the Mukhabarat) to protect them. They also cooperate with the US
and Israel. But, with a population consisting of 60% Palestinians and some
very extreme views represented, it was only a matter of time.
Abu Musab al Zarqawi who runs the al Qaeda affiliate in Iraq, is from Zarqa
in Jordan, and no doubt has his own contacts there. Note that Zarqawi is a
Palestinian Jordanian - when the Palestinians fled Israel in 1948, the only
country that gave them citizenship is Jordan (so how can they still claim to
be refugees, officially they are not). So there is a clear point of contact
between al Qaeda and the Palestinian terrorists. Anyway, Zarqawi has been
trying to score a blow against the Hashemites for some time. A few weeks ago
there was a rocket attack on Akaba in which a Jordanian soldier was killed
and on the airport in Eilat, not a very serious attack, but nevertheless
potentially very dangerous.
Attacking western Hotels in Amman would seem a good idea from Zarqawi's
point of view, but it has to some extent backfired. Of the 59 killed in the
three bombings at the Hyatt, Days Inn and Radisson Hotels, most were
ordinary Jordanians, many of them attending a wedding. Demonstration held
the next day in Amman was notably antagonistic to al Zarqawi.
Also, 6 Palestinians were killed, three of them officials in the PA
including the General in charge of security on the West Bank (talk about
doing Israel's work) and the brother of the Chairman of the Palestine
Legislative Council. The PA officially condemned the bombings. Two Israeli
Arabs were also killed, one of them a businessman from Umm al-Fahm.
It is strange to hear Jordanians complain about the bombing of innocent
people attending a wedding, they didn't say the same things when it happened
in Israel (in Hadera). But, the nature of the terrorist threat is now
clearly international, in Madrid, London, Bali, Casablanca, Taba (Egypt),
and now Amman, the attacks bear an uncanny resemblance to those in Israel
that have been going on for more than 5 years now. Even in Australia they
recently arrested 18 people involved in a plot to carry out a bombing
campaign there. The uprising (intifada) in France and the suicide bombing
attacks in Amman, as well as the continuing attacks in Iraq, are all
basically part of the same movement, of extremist Islam spiced up with some
elements of gangsterism and anti-western animosity.
One place where you won't hear about such attacks is in Syria, because many
of the terrorist organizations have offices and infrastructure in Damascus,
passing on arms, money and information, from Iraq and Iran. Terrorism will
not be defeated until the regimes in Syria and Iran are destroyed. This is
an unpalatable fact that Americans and many Israelis in their tendency to
want to look on the bright side are bound to ignore or dismiss. As Bush has
said many times, it will be a long and hard struggle. Nevertheless we are
all in it now and can't back away.