Pentagon set to enhance Jordan’s counterterror troops
The Pentagon is sending more than $22 million to help Jordan outfit its emerging special operations command and quick reaction force.
The Donald Trump administration is set to boost Jordan’s special forces after financial pressures led the US ally to hollow out elite units last year.
The Pentagon notified Congress last month of a new $22 million plan for Jordanian special forces, according to congressional notifications reviewed by Al-Monitor. The United States is expected to provide night-vision goggles and American-made sniper and assault rifles to Amman’s recently formed quick-reaction force.
The move is set to cement Jordan’s role as a hub in the Pentagon’s expanding fight against Islamic State networks and homegrown radicals after Amman inked a five-year, $1.275 billion-a-year memorandum of understanding with the United States earlier this year. It comes as Defense Secretary Jim Mattis seeks to refocus US military strategy on major geopolitical rivals such as Russia and China.
“Jordanian units should be capable of performing those missions even if US presence draws down,” said Melissa Dalton, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. “It is a gradual and long-term process to build that capability, which the US and Jordan have been cultivating over a number of years.”
