Target Centermass

Day: November 9, 2005

  • Jordan: 57 Killed in Triple Suicide Attack

    Today was yet another bloody day in the Middle East. The only (slight) surprise in that is that the crimson flowed in Jordan rather than Iraq or Israel.

    Three suspected suicide bombers struck at three international hotels in Jordan’s capital, Amman, last night, killing at least 57 people and wounding an estimated 115 others.

    The explosions hit the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels just before 9pm local time. The blast at the Radisson occurred during a wedding party with at least 300 guests.

    Reports suggested many of those killed in the blasts were Jordanians. The dead also included three Asian victims, possibly from China.

    In the aftermath, officials said they suspected suicide bombers were responsible for the explosions.

    While security officials said the attacks carried “the trademark of al-Qaeda,” authorities said it was too early to say for certain who was behind the atrocities.

    Jordan’s King Abdullah blamed a “deviant and misled group” for the atrocity: “The attacks targeted and killed innocent Jordanian civilians.”

    Last night suspicion was pointing at al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is from Zarqa, near Amman.

    With the death toll expected to rise further, world leaders expressed outrage at the bombings. A White House spokesman said George Bush, president of the United States, condemned the attacks and had offered assistance in the investigation.

    […]

    The bombs – which came on the day of Mr Blair’s Commons defeat – were nearly simultaneous. The explosion at the Grand Hyatt completely shattered the stone entrance.

    One witness saw at least seven bodies removed and many more wounded carried out on stretchers. A US businessman said the bomb exploded in the lobby.

    “Several of my friends have died. The people who carried this out were cowards,” he said.

    […]

    Jordan, a key US ally, has long been regarded as a prime target for attacks by Islamic militants.

    […]

    Amman is a major centre for the United Nations in the area, but Jordan has been spared major attacks on foreigners, despite its proximity to Iraq.

    Jordan may have been spared up until today’s murderous terror, but it should be remembered that Jordan has been targeted before today. Well, the luck ran out and the Islamist terrorists have apparently succeeded in expanding their bloody march against humanity.

    Some may talk about rights and protections and civility and atrocities, but I’ll be honest — whether involved in today’s carnage or not, I wouldn’t mind seeing Zarqawi’s head on a pike. Call me primative, but I believe it’s a matter of speaking a language that the target audience understands.

  • Reciprocity XIX and Valour-IT Update

    It’s been quite a while since I’ve done this again. Every so often I like to take an opportunity to express my gratitude to those who have blogrolled or linked to Target Centermass.

    First, thanks to the following fine blogs for adding TCm to their blogrolls:

    Second, thanks to the following for somewhat recent links to TCm:

    Third, I would especially like to thank Matt at Blackfive for his work in the MilBlog fundraiser for his work as the Army team lead in the Valour-IT fundraiser. I gave, but not for the link from Matt. Check out the cause if you want to know the real reason. Tonight, Matt brings an especially pleasing update – the Army team has hit its goal of $21,000, two days before the drive closes on Veteran’s Day and ahead of the other branches. Hooah!!! Don’t let that stop you from giving throught the Army team at Blackfive or through the graphic link below.


    Feel free to give through the branch of your choice (hint … Army). Just please give. The troops deserve more than magnets on cars as signs of support.

    As always, if you’ve linked or blogrolled Target Centermass and I haven’t found you, please send an email or post a comment. No good deed should go unacknowledged.

  • A Must-Read

    Simply that, a must-read essay, courtesy Stephen Green, the VodkaPundit. If you want to know why I have started an “Our” Media category (which still needs older entries added) here at Target Centermass, Mr. Green sums it up better than I could:

    So what does matter? What is the postmodern arm of decision?

    Previously, I wrote that in order to win the Terror War, we must “prove the enemy ideology to be ineffective,” just as we did in the Cold War. In that conflict, we did so in three ways: by fighting where we had to while maintaining our freedoms, but most importantly by out-growing the Communist economies. I argued that similar methods would win the Terror War. We’d have to fight, we’d have to maintain our freedoms, but the primary key to victory in the Current Mess is taking the initiative.

    What I didn’t see then – but what I do see today – is what “taking the initiative” really means.

    It means, fighting a media war. It means, turning the enemy’s one great strength into our own. Broadcast words, sounds, and images are the arm of decision in today’s world.

    And if that assessment is correct, then we’re losing this war and badly.

    Go. Read it. Seriously.

  • Texas NOV 05 Election Blogging

    I hereby yield the floor to the Swanky Conservative, Down Deep in Texas and In the Bullpen.

    Although I didn’t feel that I had a dog in any of the involved hunts, JohnL at TexasBestGrok had certainly made a case against the apparently-successful Prop 2. If anything, he played a role in keeping me undecided on the matter, or at least the verbage of the matter.