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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

U.S. to increase military presence in Jordan

2013-04-18

Washington -- In a critical indication of growing U.S. military involvement in the civil war in Syria, CNN has learned Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering the deployment of up to 200 troops to Jordan, according to two Defense Department officials.

The troops, from the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas, "creates an additional capability" beyond what has been there, one official said. The group will give the United States the ability to "potentially form a joint task force for military operations, if ordered," he said.

The new deployment will include communications and intelligence specialists who will assist the Jordanians and "be ready for military action" if President Obama were to order it, the official said.

Paving the way?

There have been several dozen American troops, mainly special forces, in Jordan for the past year assisting the Jordanians. But that group has been very ad hoc, the official said. This new deployment makes the U.S. military presence more official and is the first formalized ongoing presence of an American military unit in the Kingdom in recent years.

Posted by:Steve White

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