Qatar Terrorist Attack Update
Charles Johnson
Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 8:22 am PST • Views: 336
Natasha Tynes has more information about the suicide car bomb attack on a theater full of Westerners in Doha, Qatar, including photos of the scene: Doha blast daylight photos.
To be frank, I was not surprised that this happened here. Terrorist attacks are happening in neighboring Saudi and Kuwait, why not here. In February of 2004, former Chechen president and rebel leader Salim Khan Yandarbiyev was blown up in Doha near a mosque by agents of the Russian government, says the Qatari prosecutor. Regardless of who, it made it clear, it could happen here.
The borders for GCC (Gulf Countries) members are open, any GCC resident can move freely. I hate to sound judgmental but the signs were here. Religious extremism is not absent from Qatar. Only last week I was in a cab and the driver was listening to a speech encouraging people to go to Jihad across the globe. The preacher highlighted specific areas: Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya and Kashmir. The driver didn’t seem to be bothered by what he was hearing, he just sat quietly absorbing it all. The two of us listened to that speech in the cab from my house to work. It was still going when I got out.
The fact that an Egyptian national decided to blow himself up as a form of Jihad (since he’s killing mostly westerners) should not come as a surprise. Many here are likely being convinced by what extremists preach; brainwashing is possible, just sit in a cab all day listening to the sort of stuff I’m describing. I never felt this type of extremism in Jordan. People there are just more aware and skeptical of whatever ideology comes their way. Things are, unfortunately, not the same here.
Frank says: