 Jordan's tourism industry is likely to take a hard hit after bombs ripped through three five-star hotels in central Amman Wednesday, killing at least 67 people and wounding scores of others.
| Yup. That'll do it. People have the choice of going to the Caymans or someplace where there are bombs going off at the hotels, they'll go with the Caymans nine times outta ten... |
Tourism is a vital source of income for the kingdom that, unlike its oil-rich neighbours Iraq and Saudi Arabia, boasts few natural resources. The blasts targeted three western-owned chain hotels - the Radisson SAS, the Grand Hyatt and the Days Inn. To some extent, the tragedy - the worst attack in recent years in Jordan - was not unexpected. It followed several smaller ones, most recently in Aqaba on the Red Sea. In December 2002, a U.S. diplomat was murdered by Islamic radicals. But what sets this series of attacks apart from others is that it is apparently the first attack in Jordan by suicide bombers.
| As far as Arab countries are concerned, Jordan's a relatively civilized place. But it's crawling with xenophobic Islamists. A Jordanian is active right next door in Iraq, dispatching suicide boomers with wild abandon. Before he was in Iraq, he ran a terror org that was specifically set up to bring down the Jordanian government. It's the same guy and the same group who were responsible for the Millenium plot, that did get broken up. So, no, I'm not in the least surprised. |
The Jordanian secret service has not been idle, having stopped a mammoth attack planned for the millenium turnover to 2000. Officials up to and including Jordan's King Abdullah II have described various terrorist plots uncovered by security officials. From the point of view of Islamic radicals, there are many reasons to attack hotels in Jordan, a close ally of the United States. For one, there is the hatred of the United States and Europe that fits with the ideology of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and provides a motive for killing western tourists. |