Steven Emerson: "One or Two" Bombers Possibly Identified; "Jordan's 9/11" Might Backfire on Al-Zarqawi (updated)
By Andrew Cochran
Steven Emerson on NBC "Today" this morning: The Amman bombings are Jordan's 9/11. Video tapes from a hotel and the wedding party, and info from an eyewitness, enable Jordanian security to tentatively identify 1 or 2 bombers. Eyewitness spoke to one of the bombers ahead of the blast and reported that the bomber spoke "with an Iraqi accent." Also, the website on which Al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility will probably name the bombers eventually. But the bombings might backfire, since almost all of the victims are Muslim - the bombing at the Muslim wedding will especially cause a backlash. Jordan has stopped almost all prior attacks, starting with the millenium attempt in 1999, but a "walk-in" terrorist was not anticipated. The bombings might dry up terrorism funds flowing from Jordan, which has been a major funnel, but will also hurt Jordanian contacts with the West. This is Al-Zarqawi's first major operation outside of Iraq - if he is moving operations beyond Iraq, he might try to more directly U.S. targets and maybe the U.S. itself. You can see Steve's interview on CNBC on Wednesday night about the bombings, and the "Today" Show interview here. UPDATE: MSNBC reported at 2 pm that intel indicates that Iraqi-based terrorists came across the border one or two days ago to conduct the attack.