Jordan has accused Israel of trying to block its bid to become a regional nuclear power generating nation. The United States finds itself caught in the middle between two Middle Eastern allies.
Jordan is getting support from a prominent Israeli: Yossi Beilin — see his Op-Ed piece “Let Jordan Enrich its Own Uranium,” New York Times, June 29, 2010.
With Ted, Tassos, John, and I all departing for Jordan in several weeks, this article caught my eye simply by the name “Jordan.” However, the content of the article itself was found to be quite interesting, as well as somewhat troubling.
Katya Adler, the author of the article, begins by discussing the recent bombing by a Jordanian Al-Qaeda double agent and subsequent death of seven CIA agents. The reporter’s contact, referred to only as Abdullah, says, on the attack: “America’s policy in the Middle East is to blame.” He continues to illustrate the concept that he, as well as many other Jordanians, would happily take the opportunity to martyr themselves.
The article then discusses the relationship between Jordan and the United States in regards to security and intelligence, showing how for many years, Washington has being Jordan’s chief donor, and intelligence has been shared between the two nations. General Ali Shukri, past advisor to the Jordanian royal family, says that he believes the bond is unbreakable. This being said, the connection does not bring about all good effects. By being very pro-Western and cooperating with the United States to such an extent, Jordan has placed itself in Al-Qaeda’s sights. This is very concerning, for it seems as though if more and more countries and governments align themselves with Western ideologies or nations, they will be targeted by terrorist groups. Could the “War on Terror” perhaps be transformed into a war engulfing the entire Middle East, in which the combatants will be of the same race, religion, and culture?
Max Png
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/world/asia/05cia.html?ref=global-home
It has been revealed that the bomber at the CIA base was a double agent for Al-Qaeda. What makes this even more interesting is that the Jordanian intelligence services provided the CIA with the bomber, Humam Khalil Mohammed, and he probably was not screened thoroughly because of the close relationship between the CIA and the General Intelligence Directorate. This, like the Nigerian airplane bombing attempt, raises serious questions about the failure of intelligence services. Would the CIA respond the way we did to the attempted airplane bombing, by profiling passengers by race and forcing all those from ‘countries of interest’ to go through extra screening?
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/will-profiling-make-a-difference/?ref=global-home
On one hand, this could step up security, yet at the same time this would jeopardize the relationships between the CIA and its allies’ intelligence services, as all non-US agents would be treated with a much higher level of scrutiny.
Personally, I feel that agents who are not directly recruited by the CIA should always be put through heavy screening. In an military information is key, we should not take any risks. What if Humam Khalil Mohammed had taken the opportunity to hack into the CIA database while he was in the base and extracted all the information or corrupted it? Not only would Al-Qaeda know exactly what the US knows, providing them with countless opportunities for laying trap and ambushes, years of hard work by intelligence services would be wasted. In this aspect, we should take no chances.
King Abdullah II of Jordan has dissolved Parliament midway through its four year term and has called for early elections. Tensions between the government and Islamist groups have been on the rise.
Source: The Economist, Nov. 28, 2009, p. 7.
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