More Suicide Bombs

A string of suicide bombings in Amman, Jordan and in Baghdad have killed nearly 100 people and wounded approximately 130. The Jordan suiciding bombing:

tore through the lobby of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, hit a wedding party at the Radisson SAS Hotel down the street, and exploded at the Days Inn Hotel, all within minutes. The largest number of victims were at the Radisson wedding, where numerous Jordanian notables were in attendance.

In Baghdad:

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a restaurant frequented by Baghdad police...The bombers struck at about 9:45 a.m., when officers usually stop by the restaurant for breakfast. Police Maj. Abdel-Hussein Minsef said seven police officers and 26 civilians were killed in the blast and 24 others injured, among them 20 civilians.

Again, if any of you harbor any sympathy for these jackals in a wretched of the earth sort of misplaced liberal guilt sort of way, here's an Al-Qaeda statement claiming responsibility:

Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attacks, and the terror group's Web posting linked the deadly blasts to the war in Iraq.

The Al Qaeda claim, which could not be independently verified, said Jordan became a target because it was "a backyard garden for the enemies of the religion, Jews and crusaders ... a filthy place for the traitors ... and a center for prostitution," according to The Associated Press.

It's telling to look at this quote. It essentially attacks Jordan for being liberal in the Western sense of the word. Extrapolating, the terrorists are pure and we are filthy. I hope the dirt forever stains our hands then.

A good thing could be happening as Al-Qaeda continues to slaughter innocent civilians: resistance to their violence is building. Marwan Qusous put it best: "I never expected something like this to happen to Jordan. This is our Jordan, and I will fight this with my every means." Well said.

The terrorists betray one of the axioms of traditional terrorists: they should want a lot of people watching, not a lot of people dead. Instead, they are interested in mass slaughter. Mass slaughter tends to alienate a terrorists base of popular support. If the West and Middle Eastern governments can steady their hands and not overreact resorting to disproportionately punative methods in an attempt to crush militant Islamism, the terrorists may do it for them. When Al-Qaeda's ideology becomes associated with purely death and not a sort of Islamic, quasi-liberation theology, then we have won our war on Al-Qaeda. Until then, the death and destruction will only draw more adherents to a vicious fighting faith that promises dignity and paradise. In essense, Western violence wielded against the terrorists must always be discriminate and surgical so that the wider Middle East can see the difference between us and them.