Suddenly everybody was on message. On November 10, the mythical al-Zarqawi, via the internet, claimed responsibility for the bombings in the “moderate Arab nation” that “has fought a long-running battle against Islamic extremists opposed to its 1994 peace deal with Israel,” according to the Bush Ministry of Disinformation, Associated Press division. Of course, in a monarchial police state run by Hashemites, accustomed to wielding dictatorial power through hereditary emirs, there is no such thing as moderate rule, but never mind. On the same day, thousands “of Jordanians rallied in the capital and other cities shouting ‘Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!’” and the corporate media imparts the impression these “protests” were spontaneous when in fact—again in a monarchial police state—such independent action is impossible and is in fact organized by the government (thus the display of “Jordanian flags and posters of King Abdullah II” by citizens we are expected to believe love their corrupt king and his freedom-hating retinue). It is nearly vomit-inducing to witness the length the corporate media has gone to portray average Jordanians as kowtowing citizens of a “moderate” Arab country when in fact they are oppressed subjects ruled under a “semi-constitutional” monarchy installed by British invaders in 1921 as they went about carving up the Middle East after defeating the Ottomans. But then tribal and chieftain-based monarchy (especially the Hashemite version) is precisely what Israel and the United States have in mind for the Arabs and Muslims of the Middle East, so this compliant behavior by the corporate media is to be more or less expected.

Now, with the ceiling story far behind us—and the evacuation of the Israelis prior to the attack story all but extinguished—we are told these al-Zarqawi suicide bombers included a “husband and wife team” and the terrorists “carried out the Amman attacks with explosive belts after carefully staking out the hotels for a month,” according to the Associated Press. Once again, all of this is absurd on its face—Iraqis staking out hotels in a police state as if they were casually walking around Cleveland, Ohio, staking out the local Red Roof Inn—and no doubt the “husband and wife team” bit was thrown in for shock value, a gruesome stick-to-the-wall detail that tells us the Iraqi resistance (under the sway of the dead cretin al-Zarqawi) is brutal, cold-hearted, and above all nihilistic. “It was believed to be the first time a married couple has carried out a suicide attack. The couple bombed the Days Inn after the woman ‘chose to accompany her husband to his martyrdom,’ the statement said.” Of course, we can expect more married couples—soon followed by fraternal and identical twins—to engage in such horrific violence against “filthy Jews” (according to the deceased al-Zarqawi) who are evacuated, leaving behind not only innocent Arabs attending a wedding party but also a number of important Palestinians and Chinese business partners.

“In its latest statement, Al-Qaida said the bombings were carried out in response to ‘the conspiracy against the Sunnis,’ referring to the Muslim Arab group favored under Saddam Hussein’s regime and now believed to form the core of the Iraqi insurgency.” Of course, this makes absolutely no sense—Sunni Muslims comprise a full 92 percent of Jordanians and it makes less than no sense to attack them to defend the honor of Sunnis in Iraq. But then we are expected to believe al-Zarqawi the black op team attacks Shia Muslims in Iraq because it is more important to kill heretics than defeat the American occupation.

Obviously, the attack in Amman was carried out by seasoned experts—almost certainly Mossad (the attacks fit their modus operandi)—with the complicity of Jordanian and U.S. military intelligence. It was engineered to reverse the support of average Sunni Jordanians for the Sunni-led resistance in Iraq, kill important Palestinians (and send a message to the Chinese, who support the Palestinians), and also dovetail with Bush’s desperate speech in western Pennsylvania earlier today. “We must recognize Iraq as the central front in our war against the terrorists,” said Bush. No doubt Bush and his neocon handlers believe the images from Amman of blown up hotels—very westernized hotels and thus striking a cord with mostly somnolent Americans—add the appropriate spin to his speech, which is in fact a act of desperation as the Bushcons circle the wagons to fend off growing criticism of the obvious fact Bush lied as he prepared to attack a sovereign and defenseless nation.