(Washington Post) Jim Hoagland - While Abdullah, the Jordanian monarch, seizes every opportunity to see and be seen with the U.S. president and his senior aides, he works against U.S. interests in Iraq and elsewhere while pretending otherwise. A few senior U.S. officials point to the nasty public row between Iraq and Jordan over a suicide bombing and to the apparently protected presence in Jordan of key operatives in the Iraqi insurgency. When Iraqis heard on March 14 that the Jordanian family of Raed Banna had thrown a huge party to celebrate their relative's "martyrdom" - which consisted of killing himself and 125 Iraqis in the Shiite town of Hilla - angry crowds sacked the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. Former Baathist lieutenants who are now key operatives in the Iraqi insurgency still move themselves and money around Jordan without interference.
2005-03-28 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive