What's Really Tragic

I'm watching a Travel Channel show, "Jordan: The Royal Tour," on which the honest-to-goodness king of Jordan is, as the title might suggest, showing off all of the tourist-friendly features of his nation. The show began with the leather-clad king tearing down an empty road on his motorcycle, which was followed by him taking the American journalist he's guiding to the area featured in the movie Lawrence of Arabia -- and showing it off by piloting his own helicopter over the landscape. All the while, he bemoans his security detail, who refused to let him do all of the "really cool" things he wanted to do for the show -- like skydiving.

When the show came back from commercial break, a big blue band covered the bottom of the screen: "This show was taped before the tragic events of September 11."

Say what?

Or better, so what?

Maybe it's just me, but I thought the terrorist plot destroyed the Twin Towers was hatched by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Which was harbored by Afghanistan. And had connections to Saudi Arabia.

I don't remember Jordan being in contention for a spot in the Axis of Evil.

The British and American governments haven't even created or inflated evidence that King Abdullah has supported terrorism or is seeking to produce nuclear weapons. (Well, at least not yet. Iran's going to take a bit more work to obliterate than Iraq.)

So why the warning?

Didn't the king just say at the beginning of the show that just because Jordan's neighbors -- fun places like Syria, Israel, Iraq and Saudi Arabia -- are troubled and possibly dangerous to visit, that doesn't mean Jordan isn't a peaceful country?

I believe the king's analogy was, "If there's riots in Cincinnati, that doesn't mean you don't go visit Boston."

He said that in perfect English, by the way. He spent junior high and high school in American boarding schools. He then spent a few years in a prestigious British military academy.

His mother was British. His father, King Hussein, and his predecessors have maintained friendly relations with the West. Unlike many Arab countries (such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to name two extremes), Jordanians appear to have the freedom to dress either in Western-style or traditional clothing.

Lonely Planet's section on Jordan says this about the country's leader:

King Abdullah, the sort of monarch who enjoys dressing up as a taxi driver and talking with his subjects incognito, enjoys the growing support of the international community as well as most Jordanians, including the large and influential Palestinian community that appreciates his wife's Palestinian heritage. He says he will continue his father's mission to help stabalize the region, while working internally for a more democratic government, freer press and increased equality for women.

And about the country itself:

Where else could you leave your belongings on the street for hours at a time, safe in the knowledge they'll be there when you get back? Where else do total strangers invite you into their homes despite the fact they don't own a carpet shop?

Certainly not here. And note that this description was found after the tragic events of September 11.

There it is again. Blue band, cryptic warning.

Remind me never to visit the lost city of Petra. I could get blown up.