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Troops to Jordan

by Jonn Lilyea••25

Stars & Stripes reports that US troops have been deployed to Jordan in an effort to help the country avoid the drama spilling across it’s borders from Syria.

The task force, which has been led by a senior American officer, is based at a Jordanian military training center built into an old rock quarry north of Amman, the Times reported Wednesday, and is focused on helping Jordanians handle the estimated 180,000 refugees who have crossed the border and are severely straining resources.

American officials told the Times that the mission also includes drawing up plans to try to insulate Jordan, an important American ally in the region, from the upheaval.

The officials are reported as saying that establishing a buffer zone between Syria and Jordan — which would be enforced by Jordanian forces on the Syrian side of the border and supported politically and perhaps logistically by the United States — had been discussed, but is only a contingency plan.

So I guess protesters will be changing their signs to protest our “occupation” of Jordan, too.

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25 thoughts on “Troops to Jordan”

  3. Because the UN can’t afford to do any of that stuff. All the money it takes in is looted by the corruptocrats who run the place, so there’s nothing left for actual operating expenses.

    It’s way past the time that we left the United Nations, kicked their corrupt butts off of our soil, and tore up every single UN treaty we’ve signed on as a part of.

    We’ve got enough to do taking care of ourselves. We don’t need any damned UN.

  4. UN you aint got no army – the famous dave chappelle

    although i think its tempting other regional powers, i think its good for a limited number of troops there to train and help our ally, and to prevent further bloodshed with a ally, even if its a so-so one.

  5. What? Nothing to Turkey? Turkey is friendly to the US, has been begging for help with the Syrian refugees along the border, which is now being attacked by the Syrian army.

    Nothing to Turkey? For shame!

    Damn! I knew this was coming! I knew it!

  6. I was thinking about this the other night. Turkey is a member nation of NATO. You’d think we’d be falling all over ourselves just waiting to help them.

    Now, I can see the value in having a force in Jordan on hand to help provide for the refugees. These people haven’t done anything to deserve what’s going on.

    But all things consider, I’d be making Turkey a primary consideration in the region, yet I haven’t heard of us doing much of anything to help them out. Have I missed something?

  7. Handling refugees is a job for the Marine Corps NEO Battalions and US Army Civil Affairs and Military Police Displaced Civilian units. I know from personal experience that the United Nations does not give two shits about civilians.

  10. Sparky, they only care if they can USE the 12 year old prostitutes. In Herat in 2004-2005, they refused to let us enter their compound unless we took off our body armor, weapons, everything offensive or defensive. If it was military and perceived as a weapon, the UN tried to force us to take it off to meet with them. Fuck the UN!

  11. I really hope they send some Civil Affairs units there, specifically mine. I spent the best summer of y life studying at the Jordanian University in Amman and I would love to go back. I love Jordanians, and teir king is a class act. I would fight (or I guess provide commo in support of CA operations) in his defense any day.

  13. Maybe I should have better explained myself…..I don’t believe that we are sending troops to handle refugees, although the troops may participate in a refugee operations. I think that we are sending troops because of the Muslim Brotherhood’s threat to over throw the monarchy of Jordan.

  14. One of the few stable countries, and those skanks want to overthrow it?

    When is it time to pound those sandworms into the ground?

  15. @11: I concur, plus, as CA we would be seen as ‘non combatant’ forces and can not piss off other players in the region with put presence or our 240B’s with lots and lots of ammo…

  18. Twist, Al-Q has already inhabited Petra and are defacing the ruins like the Taliban did to those Buddhist temples.

  19. Flagwaver, I hadn’t heard that. Then I’m glad I got a chance to see it in the 90s while doing the MFO mission.

  22. @VOV

    It only makes sense. If we’re going to claim that a non-Extremist Muslim government can be part of the international community, we have to do something to promote that.

  24. Lucky: I’m guessing bman suggested the 4th ID based on history. Turkey told us to “get bent” in March 2003 when we wanted to deploy the 4th ID to northern Iraq through Turkey. That’s one of the reasons we had so few BOG in Iraq for the first month or so.

  25. I read an article in Town and Country magazine (I’m not rich, it was a $5 Amazon offer) last month about King Abdullah II’s new boarding school based on the Deerfield Academy in the US where he attended school. King’s Academy is co-ed, offers scholarships to kids who can’t afford tuition (48% of students get financial aid), and takes students from all over the world. The king’s eldest son graduated from the academy in June and is heading for Georgetown.

    http://www.kingsacademy.edu.jo/

    He says: “I wanted to create a new tribe in a region often riven by ethnic and sectarian conflict: the tribe of the talented meritocracy”.

    It was an interesting article and shows a much more modern outlook than what we usually hear from the Middle East. I hope the wave of Islamic rioting doesn’t invade their country as well.

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