What the Terrorists Really Want

On Sunday's Meet the Press , Jordan's King Abdullah refuted the idea that the recent terror attacks in Jordan can somehow be attributed to the idea that Jordan is supportive of the United States.

On the show, Tim Russert quoted the al-Qaeda website as saying that "the places of execution were chosen to be some hotels, which the tyrant of Jordan has turned into a back yard for the enemies of Islam, such as the Jews and the Crusaders."

King Abdullah responded with the following:

I'd like to point out that those that know Jordan, the hotels, especially the Days Inn is a favorite place for Jordanians and Iraqis, these suicide bombers actually went and aimed at Jordanian targets. The Radisson Hotel was a Jordanian wedding with Jordanians and Palestinians, where innocent people were killed. So this was nothing to do with the West. This targeted Jordanian citizens, innocent men, women and children.

Abdullah is absolutely correct; the motivation for the attack in Jordan has nothing to do with the West. America needs to understand that terrorists' claims that they are acting in response to "the Crusaders" presence in Iraq or in Saudi Arabia, or that they are acting because of U.S. support for Israel is nothing more than a smoke screen for what they really want: total elimination of all infidels, i.e., anyone not in complete agreement with their radical beliefs.