Terrorism Stops here
71group
Originally uploaded by Fata Al-Janoob.
I have to say that i am shocked and sad due to the news that is comming out of Amman. My day at work has stopped and i am just going from one site to another searching for any new piece of news.
A very dear friend of mine was visiting amman and was in the Hyatt hotel, and it was very dfficult for me to reach him, but finally i got to hear from him, and he's doing ok. He'll add this to his numerous near death situaions.
I would like to wish all the best for Hrh Prince Hashim, the acting regent, who is leading the efforts taking place right now , and i hope that our security forces find those who are responssible for what happened.
We also need to stick together as people and citizens of Jordan and not forget that the threat is always there and that we need to combat this cancer they call terrorism, and exted our help to those who combat it.
The picture attached is of a group of soldiers from the 71st Anti Terrorist Battalion in the Jordanian Special Forces. We need not forget what these men go through every day in order to make Jordan a safe place. A lot of their work happens behind the scene and is very secretive, and thats why i felt the urge to put this picture and pay tribute to the hidden soldiers of our war with terrorism.
May Allah bless the souls of those who died today, and may he be merciful on their souls.
انا للاه و انا اليه راجعون
posted by Laith at 1:32 AM
6 Comments:
thank you laith for pointing that out. well said.
Yes nobody is doubting our abilities. I am vexed as to why you posted this. I thought the goal of anti-terrorist units is to pre-empt this sort of thing. Ofcourse we all know that no matter how well organized or trained an A/T unit is, this kind of thing will not cease...atleast until mentalities change.
May our families be safe.
-Dimah
The recent terrorist attack in Jordan is a horrendous act that must be condemned by all ethical standards. Targeting civilians, regardless of the reason, is an unjustified act. Yet a mere condemnation will do us (those who oppose the act) no justice. We must attempt to understand how such an act could be imagined, come to be, and tolerated. Unfortunately, theories of conspiracy (Israel or the United States are behind the attacks), do not assist us in such an analysis. They are always brought in to help fill the gap in an already flowed political understanding of the crisis itself.
Also, the ambiguous calls for “national unity” as put forward by the Arab regimes, in this case the Jordanian, become ever more attractive, as we fail to direct our understanding at how the regime itself, via its notion of unity against the “greater threat,” is implicated in giving birth to such violence.
It is not conspiracy neither a “Jordanian Sept 11”
The government in Jordan is trying to pitch the attacks as a "surprise" attack, or sort of "Jordanian Sept. 11." Others talk about some “Mosad” conspiracy theory. However, this sort of action was widely expected in Jordan, given the increase in similar attempts during the past year or so. The government kept a led on their imminence, bragging about the superiority of its own security apparatus so not to disturb the burgeoning financial markets.
But why is Jordan targeted in the first place? 1) The track record of the Jordanian official policy of “cozying with the US,” assisting it in its war and other terrorizing campaigns; 2) next to Israel, Jordan is now the second largest country that receives US foreign assistance (per capita), also higher than Egypt, and higher than Pakistan in absolute terms; 3) the support the Jordanian government is lending the US in its war on Iraq; 4) the continued visits of US high military ranking personnel being welcomed by none other than the king himself; 5) the almost full cooperation between the Jordanian and the American security apparatuses in pursuing, interrogating, and torturing the presumably members of "Islamic terrorist organizations.” As LA Times describe Jordan in a recent articles as a hub for “extraordinary rendition!” All of these factors might help explain, not justify, such attacks, and why recently these groups have been adamantly targeting Jordan.
Jordanian public sentiment:
Curtailing political freedom has enjoyed a long life under the Jordanian regime. This practice has been intensified during the drum up for the last US war on Iraq, and more so afterward. The Parliament was dissolved early on way before the war. The government rebuked a public demand for a new democratic elections law, as well as parliamentary elections, several times before the war. Only after the occupation of Iraq, and when the defeated mood reign supreme did the government agree to parliamentary elections in June 2003. Jordan has a long history of state attacks on independent democratic institutions, mainly labor and professional unions, political parties, student organizations. Electoral laws for the Parliament and the municipal councils are habitually changed to ever more absurd ones (e.g. the government assigns half of the members and the presidents for the municipal councils and for the students organizations in the universities, the rest are elected!) The state denies as a matter of daily practice permit requests for marches, rallies, and public meetings.
All of this fosters sentiments of despair, while deepening the political apathy of a wide margin of the Jordanian public. In this atmosphere of highly contained and suppressed political dialogue and mobilization, the highly publicized horrendous deeds of "Zarqawi's" and his likes -- presumably against the US forces or who cooperate with them -- began to make sense to some Jordanians, as the only possible political action to vent one’s frustration, if not to avenge US terror bestowed on Iraq, and the Iraqi people, with implications to the entire region.
The aftermath
The regime is riding on an ephemeral tide of popularity on the attacks aftermath. However, The reaction on part of the people is already being differentiated n different divides, though the main contentious issue is the regime’s relations with the US administration and the way he abides by the later definition of terrorism.
What the government is vowing to do now is to attack not just these extremist organizations but also whomever talks or expresses any justifications for them. So they are expanding the level of repression to further suppress the freedom of thoughts and expression in Jordan, in a way only the government has monopoly on the definition of what is considered a condoning expression or justification for terrorism.
So, definitely they are going in the wrong direction again. Much so they are not questioning their attitude toward the bigger terrorist and source of destabilization in the region and the world, I mean the US administration. Not to do so and continue with their political repression and manipulations will not do any help but provide for the same ingredients that got us to this point in the first place, if anything Egypt is a good example in that regard.
لا اله إلا الله وحمد رسول الله و الرحمة للشهداء و الدعاء للجرحى بالشفاء
ما حصل مساء ألامس كان متوقعا بأي وقت و أي مكان فهذا البلد مستهدف منذ قيامه و عدد العمليات الفاشلة و التي تحبطها الجهات الأمنية كثيرة إن لم تكن يوميا و بشكل خاص منذ العام 1990
و من هنا كان على الجميع أن يتوقع مثل هذا الأمر المشين من قبل من يدعي الجهاد باسم الإسلام و الدين و لكن للأسف الكثير منا يحلم و لا ينظر للواقع كما يجب لذلك نرى الكثير منا يتذمر إذا ما صار تشديد أمني هنا أو هناك و نبدأ بالكلام عن الحرية و الديمقراطية و نشكو و نكتب بان هذا أمر ليس ديمقراطي و به تقييد للحريات و ما إلى هنالك من الكلمات التي اشهد أن الكثير منا لا يعلم معناها أصلا.
منذ الآن علينا أن نكون اليد التي تساعد أجهزة الأمن و العين الأخرى للأمن في بلدنا و علينا أن نتحمل أية إجراءات استثنائية قد تتخذها الأجهزة الأمنية لأن هدفها سلامتنا و أمننا و أمن أطفالنا.
و أكون صريحا و قد يعتقد البعض أنني قد أكون قاسيا بما أقول و لكن الحقيقة أننا ابتعدنا كثيرا في توقعاتنا و حلمنا بما فيه الكفاية بالأمن و الآمان في الأردن و تناسينا واجباتنا و البعض من الأجهزة المعنية ركبت رأسها و اعتقدت أننا بعيدين عن مثل هذه الأعمال الحقيرة من قبل هذه المجموعات الجبانة اجل حلمنا كثرا و ابتعدنا عن الواقع و عما يحيط بنا من أخطار و قد عزز البعض من المسؤولين للأسف مثل هذه النظرة و الاعتقاد و كم من مرة سمعنا بواحة الآمان و بلد الأمن و الآمان و غير ذلك من التعابير التي أدت إلى عدم الاكتراث من قبل الكثيرين و ما تم مساء الأمس إنما كانت الصفعة التي نحتاج لنعود إلى الواقع و نعلم إننا كما غيرنا في هذا العالم مهددون بأمننا داخل بيوتنا و ليس في الفنادق فقط أو الشوارع.
المطلوب منا أن نكون واقعيين و أن نتقبل ما نحن به و لا نيأس بل نعمل بجد و اجتهاد و تعاون و حب للجميع فيما بيننا و نكون العين الساهرة على أمن بيتنا الداخلي الذي هو الأساس لأمن الوطن ، و ما حصل إلا تنبيها لنا عما يمكن أن يحصل و عما يخطط ضد هذا البلد الحبيب.
انزعوا الألم اقتلوا الحسرة و باشروا بالعمل و ليكن الأردن الوطن هو حبكم الأول.
salam all,
sorry i post the arabic comment without putting my name at the end.
abo laith
Well said Abo Laith,
Not to over-simplify what you said, but you described a harmonious symbiotic relationship between the civilian and his security agencies, from intelligence to army - something to aspire to really.
Living in the US for the past few years, I have seen the American populous attempt to live/communicate with their security (comparing pre and post 9/11) in a way which is close to what you described. From what I observed, this seemingly new 'awareness' translated into nothing less than mass xenophobia, paranoya and an overall facade of fear. Talking to people as an 'ethnic'guy, you feel as if the attacks happened last week as opposed to 4 years ago. Lets hope that Jordan does not follow the same path, but is it inevitable?
-Dimah
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