Like I wrote yesterday, any country -- Islamic or not -- that associates with the West is now a target for these 7th century extremist radicals. From the Independent:
After the bomb attacks on hotels in the luxury Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, it was only a matter of time as to when the softest of targets would be blown up in Jordan.
Guests entering the main Egyptian hotels have to negotiate concrete blocks at the entrance, taxi drivers are questioned, and car boots checked. Armed guards accompanied by sniffer dogs are on hand. But the lesson does not seem to have been learned in Jordan, a major draw for tourists from around the world who visit the ancient city of Petra and the Dead Sea and follow in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia at Wadi Ram.
Regular travellers to Amman say there are virtually no security precautions, although soldiers sometimes stand around in hotel lobbies, where businessmen and tourists gather.
Although security at the airport has been stepped up, until yesterday there were no luggage checks by hotel management, and no signs of stepped-up surveillance.
Jordan has long been the crossroads of the Middle East. It shares its borders with Israel, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Syria. But, as a major US ally, the same as Egypt, Jordan must have expected to be a prime target of the radical Islamic groups operating in the Middle East. Two American ships were fired on in August in Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba.
Many hotels were built in an economic boom fuelled by the signing of a peace treaty with Israel. The influx of Iraqis since the fall of Saddam Hussein has brought a new wave of prosperity. The arrival of as many as half a million Iraqis caused a real estate bubble but that could burst if ever they return home en masse.
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