The story in the Times is not surprising. It only surprised those in Western media who for decades--and largely at the behest of US intelligence agencies AND at the behest of Mossad--have presented and promoted the Jordanian intelligence agency as a professional and effective organization while it is indistinguishable from Ba`thist Syrian and Iraqi intelligence services and pioneered some of the torture techniques (like the Rotisserie torture) which were later adopted by other intelligence agencies. Journalists like David Ignatius and Bob Baer all contributed to the false image of an organization that has historically been always run and staffed by thugs, crooks, torturers, executioners, embezzlers, and arms merchants. But its services to Israeli occupation and repression has made it a sacred cow in the West.