Keeping the country safe

The country recently marked the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on three hotels in Amman, which killed 60 innocent people and injured 200.

Wearing explosive belts, terrorists struck the three locations on November 9, 2005, a day that became Jordan’s tragic 9.11 and that drove home the realisation that no one is safe from the evil designs of terrorists bent on murder.

The memory of that tragic day is alive in the mind of Jordanians at all times.

His Majesty the King marked the occasion by tweeting that “martyrs of Amman bombings and all those who sacrificed for their homeland will always be alive in our hearts for what they offered for Jordan to stay strong and coherent by the will of the people”.

Throughout the history of the country, it has been, indeed, the wise leadership and the will of the people that kept Jordan out of harm’s way, an island of peace and stability in a sea of strife and violence.

Still, the occasion should also serve as a reminder that no country is safe from the wicked intentions of extremists who wish to impose their thought and political order. The many countries around the world that were targeted by terrorists are proof of vulnerability that only strong and effective vigilance can be expected to protect.

On November 9, despite the many safeguards and security precautions taken at the time, extremists and radicals were able to perpetrate their vicious attacks and take the lives of innocent people.

The annual remembrance of this infamous day must be a reminder that we cannot lower our guard if we want the country to remain safe and secure, and able to defeat whoever wishes to designate himself an enemy, within or without its borders.

The region is full of crises, wars and tensions. As the country keeps its borders safe and secure from external incursions, domestically, security must also be a high priority.

And since there is a limit to what the police and other security agencies can do on their own to frustrate the terrorists’ and radicals’ designs, the people must also do their part, keeping alert and joining, to the best of their ability, the efforts to identify and apprehend enemies of the country.

That way, hopefully, sad occasions like the November 9 attacks will not have to ever be remembered.