Amman Bombings: More Holes in the Official Story

The "Al Qaeda in Iraq" website which allegedly claimed responsibility for the Amman bombings, states that the attacks were directed against Israelis, members of Western intelligence agencies and their Shiite accomplices:

"[the hotels are] a backyard for the enemies of religion, the Jews and Crusaders, and a dirty hideout for the nation's apostate traitors, as well as a safe haven for the intelligence services of the infidels, where they plot their conspiracies against Muslims."

According to The New York Times (10 Nov)

"The group's statement said the hotels had been attacked because they were favored locations for Western and Israeli intelligence agencies and were used as ''backdoor safe houses'' for the Shiite -dominated Iraqi government."

The attacks were said to be in response to "the conspiracy against the Sunnis whose blood and honour were shed by Crusaders and the Shiites." (quoted in The Statesman, India, 12 November 2005)

Upon reviewing the list of the 57 victims, however, we can confirm that:

1) There was not a single Israeli casualty. According to Haaretz and The Los Angeles Times, the Israelis had been evacuated prior to the blast. (see our earlier report on foreknowledge of the attacks)

2) With regard to the "Western and Israeli intelligence agencies", there were no reported Israeli or US intelligence officials among the victims. In fact quite the opposite: two senior Palestinian intelligence officials were killed in the blast including Maj.-Gen. Bashir Nafeh, head of the Palestinian Authority's military intelligence and Col. Abed Allun, a high-ranking Preventive Security forces official. Both men were firm opponents of the US led war in Iraq.

3) Zarqawi is a Sunni. Al Qaeda in Iraq is described by the Western media as waging terrorist attacks against Shiites, with a view to creating divisions between Sunnis and Shiites. In the words of the NYT (11 November 2005)

If there has been evidence of disagreement between Mr. Zarqawi and the Qaeda leadership, it has been over the question of whether it is appropriate for the Sunni Arab-led movement to carry out attacks on Iraqi Shiites.

In his 2004 letter, Mr. Zarqawi recommended the tactic as a device to incite Sunni- Shiite tensions that might help to broaden the militants' appeal among Sunnis. A letter that American forces in Iraq attributed to Mr. bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, warned that such a tactic might undermine broader Islamic support for the jihadist movement.

But the attacks did not target Shiites, who are allegedly considered by Al Zarqawi as "heretics". The vast majority of the 57 victims of the blasts were Sunni Muslims.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization.

To become a Member of Global Research

The Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) at www.globalresearch.ca grants permission to cross-post original Global Research articles in their entirety, or any portions thereof, on community internet sites, as long as the text & title are not modified. The source must be acknowledged and an active URL hyperlink address to the original CRG article must be indicated. The author's copyright note must be displayed. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: crgeditor@yahoo.com

To express your opinion on this article, join the discussion at Global Research's News and Discussion Forum

For media inquiries: crgeditor@yahoo.com

© Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, GlobalResearch.ca, 2005

© Scoop Media