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| Iraq |
| Israeli special forces join âsecret frontâ in Jordan |
| 2003-03-17 |
| AS HUNDREDS of thousands of men and machines mass in Kuwait, a highly secretive military build-up is also under way on President Saddam Husseinâs western flank. Special forces from the United States and Britain have begun to conduct long-range reconnaissance missions from their bases along the 113-mile border between Iraq and Jordan. Remarkably, Israeli forces are also said to be involved. Jordan is highly sensitive about military activity in a swath of land 50 miles deep along its border with Iraq, where residents talk of the rumble of transport aircraft landing at remote airstrips. You can hide an awful lot in a 50 mile wide zone. Jordan acknowledges that American troops are there, but insists they are to defend its own territory and airspace. One Western military expert said yesterday: âIt is a very discreet operation, but the special forces are certainly there. You may not see any tanks dashing across the border from Jordan when the war begins, but there will be significant special forces activity. âThese forces are already providing targeting information on Iraqi assets â so called Scud-hunting â and as they push east towards Baghdad, you can expect to see a very fluid front line.â The secrecy has two objectives: to keep Iraq guessing and to avoid provoking a Jordanian population bitterly opposed to the coming war. On Saturday, about 5,000 people chanted âno to foreign troops in Jordanâ as they demonstrated in Amman. The US Air Force is already targeting Iraqi positions in the western desert and on Friday a B1B bomber was used for the first time to attack an installation just across the border. At least 5,000 US troops are already in Jordan, according to an official source in Amman. One Western diplomat in the capital said, however, that the true figure was nearer 7,000. Thousands more are expected to arrive soon, and although some will be training Jordanian Armed Forces and manning the three Patriot anti-missile batteries defending Amman and the northern city of Irbid, about half are thought to be special forces troops. Marwan Muasher, Jordanâs Foreign Minister, conceded last week that the number of foreign troops may have risen to 2,000 or 3,000. âWe are not denying that there are special forces troops in Jordan, we are not denying that there are US troops in Jordan . . . but I want to make it absolutely clear that their presence is for purely defensive purposes,â he said. âThere are no troops for any offensive operations, and there are no troops in the tens of thousands, as has been reported in the press. We have made it clear that we are not participating in this war.â Raising the art of denial to new levels. Scattered among the Americans are an estimated 100 British special forces troops, some of whom are thought to be from the Royal Marinesâ Special Boat Service (SBS), the Marinesâ equivalent of the SAS. Intriguingly, members of Sayeret Matkal, Israelâs commando force, are also said by Western military experts to have carried out covert reconnaissance operations inside the Western Iraqi desert. They are thought to be pre-empting a repeat of the first Gulf War when Saddam fired 39 Scuds at Israel. We've heard about them before. They've been in Iraq for so long I think they can declare residency. In return for its political gamble, Washington has promised Jordan an economic aid package worth hundreds of millions of dollars or more, according to one official source in Amman. King Abdullah has said that he is confident that Jordanians will benefit âeconomically, politically and strategicallyâ from the pragmatic position that he is taking. But the official source added: âWe wish we had a more understanding public.â "I guess we'll just have to keep beating them until they understand." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 1 well for you, one for the kurds, 1 for me since I'm paying for the damned thing, 2 for the Iraqis.... |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-17 20:58:45 |
| #1 Jordan sounds like quite a bargain compared to what Turkey "negotiated." Jordan should be our Target. |
| Posted by: tbn 2003-03-17 16:32:34 |