(Daily Star-Lebanon) Oraib Al-Rantawi - Jordan sees both challenges and threats in post-Saddam Iraq. Iraq is increasingly being transformed into an arena of Iranian influence and power. Jordanian officials are watching with concern the Iranian double game in Iraq. It supports fundamentalist elements and armed groups in the Sunni areas with the aim of confusing and threatening the American military presence in Iraq. As a result of a "constructive chaos" policy, Iraq has become a stronghold and a vanguard of international terrorism that spreads "destructive chaos" and seeks to export terror to neighboring countries, particularly Israel and Palestine. This is a new strategy al-Qaeda adopted shortly after the Afghanistan war. From its point of view, Jordan is an appropriate testing ground for the strategy. Since the fall of the Iraqi Baathist regime 33 months ago, tens of terrorist cells have been discovered in Jordan - more than a cell a month. The writer is director of the Al-Quds Center for Political Studies in Amman.
2005-12-28 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive