by Khaled Abu Toameh. HUDSON NY
Facing growing protests at home, Jordan’s King Abdullah has embarked on a policy aimed at appeasing radical Muslims.
King Abdullah’s decision to woo Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood is seen as a no-confidence vote in the US President Barack Obama’s policy toward the Arab world, as leaders there are beginning to realize that they can no longer rely on Obama, especially after his hasty decision to abandon Egyptian President Hosni Mubabrak.
King Abdullah also sees how the Islamists are gaining power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and the Palestinian Territories, and has apparently decided to appease them as a pre-emptive measure.
In the past few months Jordan has been hit by a wave of weekly anti-government demonstrations. For the first time, former senior security and civilian officials have joined the protests – a move seen by many as a direct and unprecedented challenge to King Abdullah.
Most recently, reports indicate that the Jordanians may approve a request by Hamas to move its offices from Damascus to Amman. Relations between the Syrian regime and Hamas have been strained as a result of the movement’s refusal to support Bashar al-Assad’s ruthless crackdown on his opponents.
The improvement in relations between Jordan and Hamas comes more than a decade after the Jordanians closed down the Hamas offices in the kingdom and deported the movement’s leaders.
Relations between Hamas and Jordan reached their lowest point a few years ago when the Jordanian authorities announced that they had foiled a plot to smuggle weapons into the country for launching terror attacks against the kingdom and Israel.
In recent weeks, however, there have been countless reports about a rapprochement between Jordan and Hamas. Last month, the Jordanian authorities permitted Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to visit Amman to see his ailing mother.
It was the second time that the Syrian-based Mashaal had been allowed to enter Jordan since he was deported from the kingdom a decade ago, In 1999, he was allowed into Amman to briefly visit his dying father.
Other Hamas representatives have since visited Jordan. One of Mashaal’s top aides was the first to phone the newly-appointed Jordanian Prime Minister, Awn Khawasneh, to congratulate him on his new job.
In addition to Hamas, the Jordanian monarch appears also to be wooing the Muslim Brotherhood organization in his country. His new prime minister last week invited the Muslim Brotherhood to join his new government – an offer that the radical group rejected. The prime minister would not have dared to talk to the Muslim Brotherhood had he not received a green light from the king.
The king’s gestures to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are a clear attempt to absorb growing discontent in the kingdom over his failure to implement major reforms that would limit the role of the Jordanian security forces in civilian and political matters.
The king is afraid of an “Arab Spring” in his country. But the only way to avoid a larger revolt against his regime is by embarking on real and comprehensive reforms in all walks of life — not by engaging radical Islamists who in the long run pose an even bigger threat.
Actually this makes no sense because Iran is in no position to target America.
This would be great news for the Hamas guys – but bad news for Israel which would most likely be attacked simultaneously.
Actually I believe the real target of Iran is America.
Electronic Armageddon
EMP – Segment from “33 Minutes”
FIFY
Gafny on emp
America could be transformed from a 21st Century superpower into a pre-industrial society almost instantaneously. A blue-ribbon commission created by Congress confirmed this danger in a report submitted in August 2004. Thanks to the almost unimaginable power of an EMP wave unleashed by a properly configured nuclear weapon – approximately a million times as strong as the most powerful radio signals on earth – the devastation caused could make the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina look modest by comparison.
Given the magnitude of the danger it is astonishing that EMP is hardly ever mentioned when threats to this country from Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) are discussed. This might be considered the ultimate WMD – yet practically the only people aware of its potential for harm are our enemies. In fact, the congressionally chartered commission discovered that knowledge about EMP is widespread in such places as: China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia. Several of these nations, and perhaps terrorists that they sponsor, could launch a nuclear-capable ballistic missile from a ship – the sort of attack that poses an especially grave threat to the United States. Iran today has set up foward bases in Venezuela, in easy range to hit the BIG SATAN. Practically it might be easier for Iran to successfully attack The BIG SATAN than THE LITTLE SATAN. We do have some ABM defenses while America is Vulnerable depending mostly as with the Soviets to depend on MAD. MAD is useless against ideological terrorists or Mad ideological states like Iran.
This is why all Israeli leaders and military elites have always stated that Iran is not just Israels problem. They are right but we shouldn’t wait for America to act, they won’t until it’s too late.
Report of the Commission to Assess the
Threat to the United States from
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack
Critical National Infrastructures
Empact America
There is money for stupid useless wars like Libya not not for spending 20-30 billion to shield the Electrical grids. This is why America will eventually be destroyed.
Nothing is going to change until Israel is forced by its own survival needs to re-set their enemies – probably starting by returning Iran to its pre-civilization era. This must be done in such a decisive way that it re-sets the entire middle-east at the same time – at least the ones who want to live. Sometimes it takes two attempts as we saw when the US decided to re-set Japan and one time was not enough.
If you can’t lick ’em, join ’em. That is the decision of the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Turkey and now Jordan. All no doubt weighed the options Toameh speaks of and they chose Islamism.
The neighborhood is getting much more dangerous for Israel and that danger is a real threat to spread well beyond the region.