Where Westerners congregate...
I myself was in a whorehouse in Amman the night the bombing (I am one of the US mercs (or in PC terms, dirty nasty contractors)). I had stopped by the Hyatt about 30 minutes before the bombing but they were booked solid (some tour group had just checked in). I normally stay there as it caters to Westerners. The basement nightclub is well known, as Shahin states, for the place to go for women if you are new to Amman and haven't found the local haunts yet (which exist in ALL countries, Muslim nations included. It just takes some time to develop these ties). There are a couple other well-known western whore haunts but they are under French or German ownership (both vocal opponents against the war) hence not bombed.
Shahin makes many valid and legit points. When I was in Amman ten years ago, there wasn't a single strip club. Within the last two years, they have opened six that I know of. Before the war it was difficult for the un-informed visitor to find a whore. Today it takes fifteen minutes. Plenty of US and UK contractor operations are ran out Amman. Many internats have long-term leases on entire hotel floors where they run their Iraqi operations. You ask any merc which way they would prefer to enter / exit Iraq (you only have TWO choices, Kuwait or Jordan) and they will all agree Jordan. Not only are the Jordanians friendlier to Westerners (even on an individual basis), but Jordan has booze and women right out in the OPEN, something Kuwait doesn't have (even at Western hotels). Some people might not condone this, but after months of war-zone related stress, you just need to let your hair down for a couple days before transiting home or holiday. You need to go wild and get all that pent-up stress and anger out of your system before seeing the people that really care about you, friends and family back home. You don't want or need to take this baggage home with you. Amman provides this outlet (and profits off it quite well).
Food for thought:
- The Hyatt bombing was directed more than people realize (I stopped by the next day to survey the damage). The bomber did not just walk into the lobby and blow himself up. He went directly for the hotel bar (maybe 20 meters aways from the lobby) killing everybody there. I would have been there myself, drunk and dead, had the hotel not been booked solid. Sadly, they also killed the cute hostess who had been seating me for years.
- It doesn't help that the new so-called secular Iraqi government shut down the BIAP liquor store after meeting with Iran two months ago. Before mercs could at least blow off some steam over a few beers with co-workers. Now we are forced to carry an even bigger burden when we visit Amman.
Not that happy about the Amman bombings BUT this mainly has to do with the legit reasons Shahin pointed out. Him and I just sit on different sides the morality coin for these issues. I will be flying back in the next couple weeks, kind of curious if the open hedonism has died down in the aftermath of the bombings. I have my doubts; money is money and whores / drugs / alcohol are all high margin businesses. I know the whorehouses and bars were still going strong a week later. Let's see what a month does.
25 November 2005.
"Jordanian King Abdullah the Second, or rather Queen Elizabeth of England’s Corgi dog, turned Jordan into a brothel for servicing the needs of Crusaders carrying out murder, looting and rape in Iraq. Nobody should be surprised that Crusader inns were targeted." From CRYPTOME.
Shahin makes many valid and legit points. When I was in Amman ten years ago, there wasn't a single strip club. Within the last two years, they have opened six that I know of. Before the war it was difficult for the un-informed visitor to find a whore. Today it takes fifteen minutes. Plenty of US and UK contractor operations are ran out Amman. Many internats have long-term leases on entire hotel floors where they run their Iraqi operations. You ask any merc which way they would prefer to enter / exit Iraq (you only have TWO choices, Kuwait or Jordan) and they will all agree Jordan. Not only are the Jordanians friendlier to Westerners (even on an individual basis), but Jordan has booze and women right out in the OPEN, something Kuwait doesn't have (even at Western hotels). Some people might not condone this, but after months of war-zone related stress, you just need to let your hair down for a couple days before transiting home or holiday. You need to go wild and get all that pent-up stress and anger out of your system before seeing the people that really care about you, friends and family back home. You don't want or need to take this baggage home with you. Amman provides this outlet (and profits off it quite well).
Food for thought:
- The Hyatt bombing was directed more than people realize (I stopped by the next day to survey the damage). The bomber did not just walk into the lobby and blow himself up. He went directly for the hotel bar (maybe 20 meters aways from the lobby) killing everybody there. I would have been there myself, drunk and dead, had the hotel not been booked solid. Sadly, they also killed the cute hostess who had been seating me for years.
- It doesn't help that the new so-called secular Iraqi government shut down the BIAP liquor store after meeting with Iran two months ago. Before mercs could at least blow off some steam over a few beers with co-workers. Now we are forced to carry an even bigger burden when we visit Amman.
Not that happy about the Amman bombings BUT this mainly has to do with the legit reasons Shahin pointed out. Him and I just sit on different sides the morality coin for these issues. I will be flying back in the next couple weeks, kind of curious if the open hedonism has died down in the aftermath of the bombings. I have my doubts; money is money and whores / drugs / alcohol are all high margin businesses. I know the whorehouses and bars were still going strong a week later. Let's see what a month does.
25 November 2005.
"Jordanian King Abdullah the Second, or rather Queen Elizabeth of England’s Corgi dog, turned Jordan into a brothel for servicing the needs of Crusaders carrying out murder, looting and rape in Iraq. Nobody should be surprised that Crusader inns were targeted." From CRYPTOME.
posted by professor rat at 6:34 AM
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