Jordanian peacekeepers fired at American soldiers after dispute over Iraq

In Kosovo town Kosovska-Mitrovitsa, in the yard of the prison American soldiers were talking with their colleagues from Jordan.
The issue of Iraq was discussed, and Americans expressed their opinions on Iraq, Iraqis and the US foreign policy. Jordanians probably did not like these opinions much because they immediately started firing at Americans. After the exchange of fire with participation of the policemen being in the yard, two female Americans and one Jordanian man were killed. 13 people (10 Americans, 1 Turk and 1 Austrian) were wounded. The exchange of fire lasted for 10 minutes.

Peacekeeping troops and local police encircled the accident area, the UN authorities are promising to investigate the “terrible incident” and punish those who caused it.

The incident is really terrible, but it is not surprising. Jordanian soldiers who were supposed to protect people’s lives in Kosovo, could not comprehend how they could shoot their “Albanian brothers” who were “just” massacring Serbs a little. And they did not mess with the Albanians.  However, they did not hesitate to start firing at their real enemies – Americans.

Americans behaved in a similar way. They saw the images of the mob mutilating the dead bodies of their fellow-countrymen in Falluja, what could they say to Jordanians after this?

The investigation of the incident should have been started with the events taking place five years ago, when the progressive forces under the US leadership united to fight Slobodan Milosevic. At that time liberating Kosovo was perceived as triumph of the new world order. However, this triumph did not last long. 9/11 happened afterwards – the triumph of a different world order. Finally, the military operation in Iraq occurred as an attempt on the way of establishing the new world order, and it failed.

Not surprisingly, this rapid change of the “world orders” results in chaos. There is no elaborated geopolitics, just feverish attempts to retain anything. Old mirages of the UN and reestablishing the international system of responsibility, new chimeras such as the global community public opinion and human values, ancient philosophy postulates (monkey on the hill watching the fight between tiger and dragon), right to use force under the excuse of bringing freedom and democratic values.

It does not matter much who should be blamed: the West united by Clinton or Bush’s USA which managed to acquire one half of the world as its opponents. The chaos is growing, and the most dangerous thing is that it is people’s minds. First they were told about great “humanitarian mission”, then about the rebellion of the poor oppressed by the “gold billion” of people of the West. Today it is hard to comprehend what is being said to people: war against terrorism, unfair war, terrible threat of Islam, rebellion of Iraqis. This plants hatred in some people and cowardice in others. Some people have both. However, Jordanian peacekeepers and other Arabs have clear ideas, they are determined to pursue them and feel their truth and right. 

Alexander Protopopov