All In the Family

Drudge is reporting Jordanian authorities said Tuesday that Safaa Mohammed Ali confessed to taking part in a suicide bombing operation against three Amman hotels has told them three of her brothers were killed by US forces in Iraq.

Other sources have disclosed a further link to the Iraq insurgency, telling the AFP wire that the would-be bomber's Jordanian brother-in-law, an explosives expert with experience in Afghanistan, had also died fighting US troops in Iraq.

So, the jihadis are really trying to keep this in the family. Is it family honor that forced Safaa Mohammed Ali to become a suicide bomber (a failed one at that)? Possibly.

After all, her family members had taken up arms against the US and died in the process. Was she coerced? Again, that's possible. The failure of her family to die as martyrs may have shamed her, and those remaining family members may have forced her to act. Shame plays a very significant role in Arab culture, as does tribal allegiences.

What kind of insight does this shed on the terror campaign? If the terrorists are operating primarily within tribal/family bonds, that means that disrupting the family groups would go a long way to eliminating the terrorist threats posed by these groups. And, as we've seen from the 1993 WTC bombing through the 9/11 terror attacks to the ongoing conflict in Iraq, familial bonds play a significant role in leadership and organization. Disrupt those bonds, and you can disrupt the terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, 11 Jordanian security officials have resigned in the wake of the bombing.

King Abdullah II appointed Marouf al-Bakhit, Jordan's ambassador to Israel, to replace outgoing security chief Saad Kheir, a former chief of Jordan's intelligence department.

No details were given for the resignation of Kheir and 10 others, including Royal Court chief and former prime minister Faisal Fayez, one of the king's closest confidants, and prominent religious advisers to Abdullah.

But a limited shake-up had been expected for some time.