Killing Time

News from a different land...oh hold on it's our land.

The American colony, Jordan, tends to be ignored in the Western media. However, here is a piece that not only mentions but but draws attention to some salient facts that are rarely noted in our wonderful free press.

'Although the Mukhabarat (note: Jordan's Gestapo) may (note: or may not) be less brutal than its counterparts in Ba'athist Iraq or Syria, it has been accused of abuses, harassment and torture. "Half the country is working for the Mukharabat," said Naim al-Haddad, a Palestinian mechanic. "People are afraid to talk." Thus the anxious faces at the sight of strangers asking questions in Irbid.

There are suspicions too, despite the bombings, that the terrorist threat is exaggerated. Jordanians and foreigners remain sceptical about the official version of an al-Qaida plot in 2004 to attack Mukhabarat and other government premises, and the US embassy, with toxic chemicals....

(Jordan's) links with Washington are a fact of life for the political elite - the Mukhabarat works closely with the CIA and Mossad, as well as MI6 - though increasingly unpopular with ordinary people....

Jordan, population 5.6 million, is often described as an uneasy kingdom, caught in the crossfire of conflicts involving Israel, the Palestinians and Iraq. King Hussein lost a large chunk of his most fertile territory to Israel in 1967 and crushed Palestinian guerrillas in "Black September" 1970 but gave up Jordan's claim to the occupied West Bank in 1988.

He abandoned his pro-western instincts in 1990 by backing Saddam Hussein over the invasion of Kuwait. In 1994 he made peace with Israel. King Abdullah, right, in power since 1999, allowed US special forces into Jordan and Iraqi police now train on his territory. Real power resides with the monarchy, though some dissent is tolerated. He declared a "war on extremism" after the Amman bombings.'

'War on extremism'? Don't you mean a 'war on terror'?

posted by Brendan @ 3:09 PM