Posted on 11/10/2005 5:00:07 AM PST by SJackson
After every jihadist terror attack or violent outburst around the world, the mainstream media always advances its myriad theories about the so-called “root causes” of the particular attack in question. Unfortunately, most of the time their analyses are fictions. That was the case last week with the interpretations of the French Intifada. And this is the case again just hours after terrorists struck three hotels in downtown Amman, Jordan.
Some commentators rushed to conclude that Jordan was targeted just because it was an ally of the United States and a backer of the war in Iraq. From al-Jazeera's opinion-makers to mainstream news agencies in the West, the common wisdom overflowed: had the small Arab Kingdom not involved itself in Iraq “regime change,” the angry nationalists wouldn't have shed Jordanian blood. Unfortunately, this equation misses the mark.
So what then is behind the surge of terror in the Hashemite Kingdom?
First, one has to consider the weight of Jordan's. Jordan is ruled by a prominent Arab Muslim dynasty, the Hashemites, who are a serious competitor to the Wahhabis. The Hashemites are not the equivalent of Monaco's princes in Europe. In the Arab world, the ancestors of King Abdallah were the legitimate rulers of Mecca and Medina until the Saudi clan "invaded" Western Arabia in the 1920s. The remnant of the Hashemites established TransJordan with the help of the British as Wahhabism took hold of the peninsula and its religious shrines. Since then, the Saudi Kingdom exported fundamentalism, while the Hashemite Kingdom established a monarchy. The result: two fundamentally opposing views of Islam and the world.
Next, al-Qaeda grew out of the Cold War. While bin Laden pledged to destroy America and the infidels, King Hussein remained a faithful ally of the West and a proponent of a peaceful settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians. After his passing, his son, Abdallah, pledged to resume his father's anti-terrorism stance.
King Hussein didn't participate in Operation Desert Storm, nor did his son, King Abdallah, engage Jordanian troops in the removal of Saddam Hussein. Moreover, the country opened its borders to Iraqi refugees, including many Sunnis, particularly Saddam's family. Despite the protests of commentators offering lightning-quick analysis, Iraqi Sunnis do not resent Jordan's alleged involvement in Iraq's war. To the contrary, many in the West and among the Shi'ites criticized Jordan for being too soft in its support for Iraq. Thus, there is no Arab frustration over Jordanian intervention in Iraq. But there is another frustration for another reason.
The jihadists have many reasons to dislike Amman's monarch, but Iraq does not figure in this assessment. Rather, King Abdallah has endorsed his father's signing of a peace treaty with Israel. But even this is not the main reason for why Islamic fundamentalists have targeted this kingdom.
The “root cause” of Islamist action against Jordan is this: the Hashemites are moderate Muslims, possibly the most successful in distancing their religion from Zarqawi's barbarism. Jordan is modernizing and has become friendly with the U.S., the UK, Europe, and Arab moderates.
The Hashemites have contained radicalism and denied the jihadists safe haven within the country. Amman rejected Damascus’ occupation of Lebanon, Syria's support of terrorism, and al-Qaeda's extremist ideology. Lately, government officials say Jordanian imams were able to reform Islamist militants jailed for violence. The concept of participating in the war of ideas has been tested in Jordan: successfully or not, moderate clerics, supported by the government, attempted to use parts of the Koran to negate the Wahhabi doctrines, allegedly based on a literal interpretation of that same Koran.
There is also a basic personality clash: Abu Massab al-Zarqawi is a Jordanian national. His bloody role in Iraq has reached the zenith of jihad. He wanted to teach the apostate monarch and his Western educated queen a lesson. This takes on added importance for the terrorist, because it is his homeland. Zarqawi wants to attack Jordan, not because he misses the souvenirs of his childhood, but out of geopolitical ambitions. The Sunni triangle’s closest and most natural borders are with Jordan. By striking in downtown Amman, Zarqawi will be opening a Western front, thereby creating more room for his terror network which is under increasing strain as Iraq strengthens its democracy, military and police.
For al-Qaeda, Jordan is ripe for violence. The Islamists inside the country have reached an apex of influence, but they have also reached their limitations. Zarqawi attempted to use biochemical agents two years ago to destabilize the regime – an attempt which failed and exposed Syria's deep role in jihad, since Zarqawi's men came through Syria.
Al-Qaeda believes that a majority of Jordanians are sympathetic to its views. In fact, the Islamists in Jordan make up about 18 percent of the population, and hence, the parliament. The majority of the fundamentalists are members of the Palestinian community in Jordan. They are still a minority, but their community is growing quickly, and the Islamists believe they will have a majority in the future. But the jihadists also believe they don't have to wait to achieve a numerical majority. Their points are based on regional considerations.
Jordan is an ally of the United States and is training Iraqi security forces. Once Iraq securely establishes a pluralistic, democratic nation capable of defending itself, Jordan's jihadist threat will be contained. Thus, al-Qaeda's strategists plotted to strike two birds with one stone: by destabilizing Jordan, they would deprive Iraq of its most serious regional ally. By destroying the Hashemites, the terrorists would serve the interests of the Wahhabis.
Hence al-Qaeda struck downtown Amman against tourist symbols, as it did in Bali. The jihadists expect to start a chain reaction: Jordan's economy dwindles, civil war erupts, its support for the War on Terror vanishes, its potential alliance with Iraq goes down in flames, and eventually an Islamic emirate or caliphate rear its head in the region.
Al-Qaeda is living out a fantasy. Unfortunately, if we do not hold a tough line in Iraq, its fantasy could become Jordan's nightmare.
And so it begins - they're eating their own.
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It's also worth noting that our ally, the Palestinian Authority, is formally committed to overthrow the Jordanian government and establish a unified palestinian entity, aka a bigger terror state.
The Palestinian National Council:
On the basis of the Palestinian National Charter and the Political Programme drawn up at the eleventh session, held from January 6-12, 1973; and from its belief that it is impossible for a permanent and just peace to be established in the area unless our Palestinian people recover all their national rights and, first and foremost, their rights to return and to self-determination on the whole of the soil of their homeland; and in the light of a study of the new political circumstances that have come into existence in the period between the Council's last and present sessions, resolves the following:
1-To reaffirm the Palestine Liberation Organization's previous attitude to Resolution 242, which obliterates the national right of our people and deals with the cause of our people as a problem of refugees. The Council therefore refuses to have anything to do with this resolution at any level, Arab or international, including the Geneva Conference.
2-The Liberation Organization will employ all means, and first and foremost armed struggle, to liberate Palestinian territory and to establish the independent combatant national authority for the people over every part of Palestinian territory that is liberated. This will require further changes being effected in the balance of power in favour of our people and their struggle.
3-The Liberation Organization will struggle against any proposal for a Palestinian entity the price of which is recognition, peace, secure frontiers, renunciation of national rights and the deprival of our people of their right to return and their right to self-determination on the soil of their homeland.
4-Any step taken towards liberation is a step towards the realization of the Liberation Organization's strategy of establishing the democratic Palestinian state specified in the resolutions of previous Palestinian National Councils.
5-Struggle along with the Jordanian national forces to establish a Jordanian-Palestinian national front whose aim will be to set up in Jordan a democratic national authority in close contact with the Palestinian entity that is established through the struggle.
6-The Liberation Organization will struggle to establish unity in struggle between the two peoples and between all the forces of the Arab liberation movement that are in agreement on this programme.
7-In the light of this programme, the Liberation Organization will struggle to strengthen national unity and to raise it to the level where it will be able to perform its national duties and tasks.
8-Once it is estabished, the Palestinian national authority will strive to achieve a union of the confrontation countries, with the aim of completing the liberation of all Palestinian territory, and as a step along the road to comprehensive Arab unity.
9-The Liberation Organization will strive to strengthen its solidarity with the socialist countries, and with forces of liberation and progress throughout the world, with the aim of frustration all the schemes of Zionism, reaction and imperialism.
10-In light of this programme, the leadership of the revolution will determine the tactics which will serve and make possible the realization of these objectives.
The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization will make every effort to implement this programme, and should a situation arise affecting the destiny and the future of the Palestinian people, the National Assembly will be convened in extraordinary session.
Interesting article.
Thanks for the info. That's very helpful. Unfortunately, it's also bad news.
-Non-muslim nations, in locations with high Muslim populations (NYC, DC, Madrid, London, perhaps Paris).
-Muslim nations, inplaces where non-Muslims congregate (Bali, Khobar Towers, Egypt, Iraq, and now Jordan).
As this article states, Abdullah is no friend of the radicals. He's British educated, ethnically half-British, and is even more western oriented than his father. Queen Raina displays zero "traditional" restraint. He's allied with the Israels and supports the PA, not Hamas or IJ.
To say the Muslims are now "eating their own" is incorrect. They have been all along. One of the major points of contention is the nature of relations between the Islamic and non-Islamic world.
Ironically, some here play into the hands of the radicals with their anti-Islam (as opposed to anti-Islamist) rhetoric. I sometimes wonder if some of our more virulent Islamophobes aren't actually Al Qaeda plants.
-Eric
It's also worth noting that our ally, the Palestinian Authority, is formally committed to overthrow the Jordanian government and establish a unified palestinian entity, aka a bigger terror state.That was then, this is now.
Two high ranking PA officials were reported killed in yesterday's bombings.
-Eric
All the islamist troubles appear to be emanating from Saudi wahabbi "clerics" and "imams", with the support of the House of Saud. It seems to me that we need to effect a regime change in Saudi Arabia, rather than Syria or Iran, and take over the Saudi oil fields (that we put in and run, for that matter). Elimination of the wahabbi influence would go a long way toward marginalizing islamism worldwide. In addition, we need to cleanse wahhabism domestically, by monitoring mosques overtly and covertly, closing down those in which sedition is preached and deporting the "clerics' and "imams" who preach it. It would be unpopular, but we need to excise the cancer that we have let take hold in the US. This should be an integral part of the war against islam.
Bookmarking to read later, thanks.
This reminds me of those Biblical stories where God protected Israel by causing her enemies to kill their own.
Carolyn
Those Jordanians had better pull out of Arab lands.
"Their own" here is a Hyatt, a Day's Inn, and a Radisson. I'm sure something in these targets reminds the Islamic Swine of us.
ML/NJ
DU is very concerned that Al Queda would be blamed for this.
These people don't have any goals or specific purposes, outside of using the physical power put in their hands by rogue regimes and echoing the hate of their immams.
In design school, we were given a project to design something using a material at hand, whatever it was isn't important. The point is that, rather than designing to fulfil a need or a market or to meet an ideal or a goal, we were to let the material suggest the use of it.
This is what these dolts with bombs do. After they've blown up a hotel they try to spin a philosophy for the murderous deed. In fact, they don't care who they blow up.
Yep... and I don't think they are. This is just bombing symbols of the U.S. And being willing to bomb and kill anyone that the believe is associated with "the great satan".
They didn't blow up the name of the hotels, they blew up the people in them. Let's see, one was having a convention full of Germans, another had a Jordanian wedding, another bomber killed several of his sympathizers. MSM slipped when they admitted these hotels were fequented by wealthy INTERNATIONAL businessmen, not just Americans.
Excellent thread, thank you for alerting me to it.
I am going to post a link to it on the Threat Matrix.
Yes, I am behind on my pings.........normal for me.
Worthwhile read.
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