(Miami Herald) Frida Ghitis - Observers have rushed to describe the targets of the Amman attacks as ''Western.'' But anyone who has witnessed the wedding receptions in Amman hotels knows the guests are almost all Muslim Arabs, probably Palestinians, who make up the majority of Jordan's population. The bombers who killed at least 57 people knew they were not killing scores of Americans. The reality is that, as with most operations by al-Qaeda and its affiliates, the overwhelming majority of the victims were Muslim, and that was not a fluke. Killing other Arabs, especially Palestinians, is no way to make friends in the Muslim world. But al-Qaeda is not waging a popularity campaign; al-Qaeda has no democratic aspirations. The real objective is to undermine and ultimately depose the secular Jordanian government of King Abdullah II.
2005-11-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive