Laith Zraikat

Being united and speaking out in one voice is really good, and sends the message that we will not be defeated or terrorized. But then what? What is the course of action that we should take in order to make sure those or any other terrorists do not succeed in the future.

Some say that the success of this operation is nothing but a statistical anomaly, which was bound to happen, and I will have to agree. Jordan has always been the target of such attempts in the past, and in recent years, these failed attempts have increased in frequency, the latest of which was the Aqaba attack.

A lot of talk has been going on for the last year and a half about installing metal detectors, especially since King Abdullah gave orders to the government back then to begin conducting the necessary studies and to lay down a plan to protect all of the main government locations, hotels, and places of public gatherings. This issue has come up again after the 11/9 attacks, and fingers started pointing to the government as the main party to blame because they did not carry out the King's orders.

I say, lets stop pointing fingers and take responsibility for what happened, because we are all to blame. We are all to blame because we the citizens elect the parliament, and the parliament relays our needs, hopes, and dreams to the government. So it seems to me that the issue of security lies very low in our Representatives' priorities lists, which means that this is where it lies on an individual level as well.

Now that we are convinced that every individual should bear the responsibility, let's discuss the methods which can be employed to foil such future attempts.

Intelligence agencies play a huge role it tracking suspects, and making sure they stop terror attacks while in the planning stages. But as we've seen, the more frequent these attempts are, the more likely it is that one will slip through. So what is the answer? Metal detectors? Metal detectors and x-ray machines are used at airports, but they only act as a deterrent to attempts by small crime groups, and not by worldwide, professional terrorist organizations like the one that carried out the Amman attacks.

What we need is a plan to stop these attacks on more than one level, even while being carried out. What we need is to incorporate the individual citizen as the most effective anti terror weapon.

I want to tell a little story here:

About a year ago, I was in my room late at night, when I heard some noises which got me curious enough to get up and look out the window. I saw a pickup truck parked in front of a storage room for gas distributing company next to my building. They were loading gas containers on to the truck. I thought it was weird they were doing it at this hour. Still, I just closed the window and went back in.

The next day I see a police car in front of the storage room. When I asked what was going on, the company owner told me they were robbed last night. I told him what I saw, but I wasn't of any help because I did not remember much detail.

A short while after this incident, my car was stolen while parked right in front of the building. I was pretty sure that somebody must have seen it being stolen, so I started asking around, then I remembered the incident with the gas company and I realized that even if someone saw those who stole my car, they would not have cared enough to remember any information.

Almost a year passed, when one night I was coming back from work -it was after midnight- and I saw two guys taking out gas containers from that same store room which was robbed. They looked suspicious because they seemed to be in a hurry. I immediately went to the nearby supermarket, and asked him if he knew the guys working in the gas store, and if he can identify them. He came with me and was able to identify them. So I went home knowing that this time, I did the right thing.

The moral of the story is that nowadays people do not feel a sense of obligation towards their neighbors, let alone their fellow citizens. We need to work on that.

We need to educating people on terror and terrorists, give them a greater sense awareness of their surroundings, and educate a sense of loyalty and belonging to this nation. If that is achieved, we will have a country full of watchful eyes, speaking out when they suspect something rather than walk away as if it does not concern them. The void which we need to fill is not in our security, but rather in our awareness, and sense of duty and belonging to all the people of Jordan.