Quagmire, Part 2

An unsuccessful suicide bomber from last week's attack in Jordan appeared on Jordanian television today and confessed that she was meant to be part of the attack. Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi appeared wearing the de-activated suicide bomb belt packed with TNT and ball bearings.

Last month I referred to al-Qaeda's quagmire in Iraq. The attack in Jordan is an example of that dilemma. Jordanians appear to be outraged. Thousands of them demonstrated against Zarqawi last week. The Palestinians are putting distance between themselves and al-Qaeda because of the attack. Zarqawi knows he cannot beat the U.S. military head on. So he attacks Muslims indiscriminately in the name of Islam and it appears that this strategy is starting to backfire very badly.

In Iraq, some Sunni insurgents are making overtures to negotiate an end to fighting and begin participating in the political process. The Saudis, who are a powerful Sunni constituency, have committed $1B to the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraqi President Talabani is saying that British troops may be able to leave Iraq in 2006. These are the actions of people who know which side is winning and which side is in the process of shooting itself in the foot. If all Zarqawi can offer is the chance that you are going to be blown to bits at a hotel while trying to plan your wedding, he's in a pretty weak spot indeed.

Obviously, this kind of backlash didn't occur when al-Qaeda was killing Christians and Jews in New York, London and Madrid. If Tuesday's attacks had killed a bunch of Western Christians, I have no doubt that there would not have been such an outcry. That's depressing. Still, if last week's attack in Jordan turns the tide of opinion against al-Qaeda and its mindless slaughter, that's some progress indeed. On top of the grief and anger, I'm sure that many in the Middle East understood the attack in Jordan as a sign that al-Qaeda has no strategy for winning this war.

UPDATE: The Imam of Zarqawi's childhood mosque calls him "kufr," which is about as damning as you can get in Islam.