Zarqawi has in the last few days since the bombing issued a handful of statements in defense of his masterminded attacks on 3 hotels in Amman. His biggest attempt came yesterday in the form of a tape where he took it upon himself to offer an explaination/semi-apology of sorts to the Jordanian people for civilian casualties while at the same time threatening to kill HM King Abdullah II.
On the same day, hundreds of thousands of Jordanians marched from the Grand Husseini Mosque towards the Greater Amman Municipality voicing their protest of the bombings and of Zarqawi, waving flags and pictures of the King in the air.
I don’t believe its a matter of Zarqawi becoming desperate, it’s a matter of suprise at such an angry and vocal reaction from the people he perhaps thought he knew so well, maybe even depended on to stage a revolt of sorts in the midst of the chaos.
This is all opinion…
However what does seem to be apparent is that everytime people protest in Amman, Zarqawi has something new to say, an approach completely absent from all his other acts.
So in my opinion I think the Jordanian response is truly poetic. I wish there would be just one more protest like that of Friday in reaction to Zarqawi’s latest statement. In defense of the civilians lost at a wedding that Zarqawi claims was supposed to be an American intelligence gathering, in the defense of the King and in defense of the Jordanian people Zarqawi continues to threaten. Because a threat against one Jordanian, be they king or civilian, is a threat on the Jordanian people. Because the fact is all Jordanians are being threatened here even though Zarqawi is supposdly giving everyone a “warning” to Jordanian citizens to get out of the way next time. Because the fact is no matter where you work or live in Jordan, specifically Amman, you will be seen as a legitimate target.
And I don’t mean to scare anyone, though there are lessons to be learnt from what is happening in Iraq.
Whether you are at a wedding, a funeral, at home, a hotel or in a mosque…Zarqawi has proven that all of the above can be targets while he’s at the helm. Iraq has been solid proof. On this same day when Zarqawi’s tape is released, when he warns Jordanians, when Jordanians are out on the streets protesting, a hotel and mosques were targeted. No massive American or Israeli intelligence gathering, just journalists and people praying. Today they collect bodies from the rubble along with pages of the Quran torn and scattered.