| Submit your comments on this article |
| Middle East |
| Jordan Says U.S. Troops Deployed to Boost Defenses |
| 2003-02-24 |
| Jordan, a key ally of Washington, said Monday several hundred U.S. troops were being deployed to run a newly delivered Patriot anti-missile system in anticipation of a U.S.-led war against neighboring Iraq. "These anti-missile systems are to be manned by U.S. troops with the help of Jordanian armed forces. There will be a presence of American troops in defensive air bases for this purpose only," Prime Minister Ali Abu Al-Ragheb said. "Nothing to see here, move along" In the first public acknowledgement by the government of a highly sensitive U.S. troop presence in Jordan, he told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television news channel that the U.S. contingent was small. "We are talking about a few hundred on the American side, but there will not be any large U.S. force in Jordan and it has no relation to any military campaign against Iraq," he added. "Nothing at all, nope, no relation." Jordanian military sources told Reuters the kingdom had a number of AWACS surveillance aircraft in operation as part of an advanced U.S.-built air defense system installed ahead of possible military hostilities. There are AWACS operating out of Jordan? That's pretty close to the front lines. Maybe they are talking about a different model. Military officials said the presence of U.S. personnel to operate the AWACS and Patriots meant the country was involved much more deeply in any war with Iraq than previously envisaged. Abu al-Ragheb said Jordan had deployed the Patriot defense system for fear the kingdom could be caught in the crossfire if Iraq fired Scud missiles at Israel, as it did during the 1991 Gulf War. He did not disclose the location of the three U.S. batteries which Jordan asked Washington for last month during a visit by General Tommy Franks, the man who will lead any attack on Iraq. But diplomats say the U.S. troops are stationed along Jordan's desert border with Iraq in airbases whose runways have been expanded to accommodate heavier U.S. jet fighter traffic. Jet fighters? What jet fighters? Thought we just had AWACS and Patriot batteries? The kingdom, wedged between Israel in the west and Iraq to the east, however publicly denies it will give Washington facilities for any campaign against Iraq. "We are not participating in any military campaign and will not be a launching pad for any attack against Iraq," Abu al-Raghheb said. He said Jordan was compelled to seek U.S. anti-missile batteries when Russia abruptly pulled out of a deal to lease it an S300-V long range anti-ballistic missile system. Jordan has also agreed to allow the United States to carry out search and rescue missions from its territory during any military operations in eastern Iraq, and has offered allied planes free passage through its airspace, diplomats said. OK, the "jet fighters" will be protecting the AWACS and assisting in the search and rescue missions. Of couse, there is the problem of "Force Protection" for the Patriot crews. Maybe that's where the 101st is going, to provide defense in depth. Bet the cloaking device will be running full bore in Jordan again. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Sheeeet! The only place Saddam can be sure we won't invade from is Iran, and they're doing a little invading of their own. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-02-24 19:42:15 |