From the LA Times:
AMMAN, Jordan — Two men convicted of killing an American official were hanged before dawn Saturday in Jordan's first execution of militants linked to Al Qaeda.Salem Saad Suweid, a Libyan, and Yasser Freihat, a Jordanian, were executed for gunning down Laurence Foley, a 60-year-old administrator with the U.S. Agency for International Development, outside his Amman home in 2002. The plot was blamed on Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian who heads the militant group known as Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Suweid was convicted of shooting Foley and Freihat with driving the getaway car.
Jordan, a U.S. ally and the target of Al Qaeda plots such as hotel bombings that killed 60 people last year, has sentenced scores of militants to death in recent years, but those executed were Islamists not linked to known terrorist groups.
About 2,000 people protested in the West Bank village of Freihat's family. Freihat's father is a colonel in the Palestinian security forces. Islamic Jihad and Fatah militants set fire to photos of Jordan's King Abdullah II and chanted, "Death to USA, death to Israel, death to the betrayer Abdullah!"...
I know that Jordan's King Abdullah II would turn his Jordanian country - into one of the most progressive Middle Eastern societies if he could.
But even he is tempered by the clerics - who occasionally issue an edit or two to stop progress.
Though he is at least one leader in the Middle East in which we can all have faith in.
It shows how in some ways, the whole of the Middle East is being held hostage.
So far the Bush Administration has not had the bright idea of extending Democracy (Which Is On the March) to Jordan. And that is good. Not because Jordan is an "ally" or Abdullah already wonderful. It isn't; he isn't. But his regime is better for Infidels than what would follow. And as we are buying time to get the Infidel house in order, and to engage in mass pedagogy about Islam, it is better to have local despots monitoring in their own countries, using their own methods of interrogation that are quite different from ours, and for their own purposes, becuase their power and wealth and positions are threatened, deeling more ruthlessly than Infidels, so far, have permitted themselves.
Iraq has proved to be the Most Expensive Learning Curve in History. One hopes its lessons stick.
Pass It On, it sounds like we have another case of a vast majority of peace-loving Muslims who are just like us, being held captive by a few radical religionists. If we can just get rid of the couple of bad apples, they will turn into "one of the most progressive Middle Eastern societies".
Where have we heard that before? It sounds vaguely familiar, like a half-forgotten fairy tale. Maybe I'm thinking of the girl kissing the frog, who magically turned into a handsome prince. That must be it.
I think Pass it On is correct about King Abdullah ibn Hussein. He has no love for Islamic militancy or the Islamist majority in the Jordanian Parliament. He even remarked to a group of Jordanian and Palestinian Christians that he was a "half-Christian" himself, since his mother, British born ex-queen Muna, returned to Christianity after her divorce.
Then there is this from: http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/Royaltyandstuff/Abdullah.html
outlinig Abdullah's first acts after ascending the Jordanian throne.
"Fayez Tarawneh, the Prime Minister appointed while Hassan was regent last August, was replaced by 60-year-old Abdul Raouf Rawabdeh, a long-time proponent of King Hussein's liberal outlook, an experienced administrator and supporter of Jordan's 1994 peace treaty with Israel, indicated the kings commitment to peace and liberalisation of economy and society.
The new Cabinet included technocrats and liberals, and Abdallah urged it to pursue reform and better ties with the U.S., Israel and Gulf Arabs. A day later Jordan's embassy in Kuwait was reopened after it has been closed since 1990 when King Hussein, following the wishes of his subjects, refused to side with the allied forces gathered against Saddam Hussein.
The influence of both King Hussein's widow American-born Queen Noor and the young Queen Rania, both are passionate champions of women's rights, was evident in the changes.
Jordanian feminists expressed optimism that the first government formed by King Abdallah will give women a higher public profile and amend discriminatory legislation.
They took heart in the appointment of Rima Khalaf as Jordan's first ever woman deputy premier, who also takes charge of the important planning portfolio in the government of Mr Rawabdeh.
Referred to women as ''a basic pillar of the country's development,'' in a strongly-worded letter to Mr and his 22-member team, King Abdallah urged the Cabinet to work hard to boost the role of women by amending any laws that disadvantage women."
I suspect that the Hashemites are the only thing blocking a Hamas style takeover of Jordan. As long as they maintain peace with Israel and protect the Jordanian Christians, I believe that Abdullah deserves our support.