Large US Marine Force Lands In Aqaba to Deploy On Jordanian-Syrian Border
A large American military force disembarked Tuesday, June 4,
at the southern Jordanian port of Aqaba - ready for deployment on the kingdom's
Syrian border, Exclusive military sources report. The force made its way north along the Aqaba-Jerash-Ajilon mountain road bisecting Jordan
from south to north, under heavy Jordanian military escort. Our sources
disclose that this American force numbers 3,000 troops, the largest to land in
Jordan since the Syrian civil war erupted in March 2012. They are members of
the 24th Marine Expeditionary Force carried aboard the USS Kearsage amphibious
assault ship, which has been anchored off neighboring Israeli Eilat since
mid-May. Upon landing, the marines took to the road in a convoy of armored
vehicles including Hummers.
Washington and Amman have imposed a blackout on their
arrival. The Pentagon has only let it be known that the annual joint
US-Jordanian "Eager Lion 2013" military exercise is due to begin in
June and last two months, with the participation of US F-16 fighter jets and Patriot
missile defense systems. According to our US sources, the arrival of the US
force in Jordan was not directly related to the regular exercise but decided on
at an emergency meeting at the Pentagon on May 31, which was attended by top military
and civilian Defense Department officials. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who
is away from Washington, took part by video conference.
The meeting decided that the military situation evolving in
Syria and threats it posed to Jordan - including widening evidence of chemical
weapons use in Syria - were urgent enough to warrant the dispatch of extra
American military strength to Jordan, over and above the contingents
participating in the joint exercise. The Israeli Air Force will provide air
cover for the force until the F-16 jets are in place for the drill.
The US Central Command spokesman Lt. Col. T.G. Taylor in a
statement to the US media said only: "In order to enhance the defensive
posture and capacity of Jordan, some of these assets may remain beyond the
exercise at the request of the government of Jordan."
That request, according to our sources, was for the US to
leave behind when the exercise ended and the troops departed - not just some of
the weapons systems but all of the equipment which arrived with the marines
Wednesday, as well as the F-16 fighters and Patriot missiles. There is
no official word about Washington's response to this request.
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