Jordan’s King Abdullah reacted emotionally to a video showing the apparent immolation of a Jordanian fighter pilot shot down over Syrian airspace. The Jordanian leader promised to fight ISIS, who killed the pilot, until his military ran “out of fuel and bullets.” His vows of revenge even included quoting Clint Eastwood to US lawmakers.
When he arrived back in Jordan from Washington, where he happened to be when the pilot was killed, he swiftly executed three prisoners in an apparent demonstration of resolve.
The White House vowed to stand united with Jordan to “defeat [the] scourge” of ISIS.
Abdullah’s strident stance against jihadists fighting to overthrow the Assad government in Syria is, if genuine, quite a turnaround. After all, for the past three-plus years he provided assistance and safe passage for all manner of radical jihadist to enter Syria through Jordan.
Yes, Abdullah had long been an ally of sorts to the kinds of radicals responsible for burning alive Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh. He provided space and cooperation to US and NATO’s rebel training programs on Jordanian soil, with many “graduates” of the program later joining ISIS and al-Qaeda.
In 2013, Syrian president Assad warned Jordan’s Abdullah that he was “playing with fire” by supporting the rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian government. How right he was. Literally.
Burning prisoners alive is breathtakingly barbaric. Providing aid and comfort to the kinds of people would do such things is, in many respects, even worse.
Save the tears, Abdullah, you helped create this mess.
