IS threat prompts effort to boost Middle East arms deliveries

A key House member wants to make it easier to send weapons to US ally Jordan as part of the stepped-up effort to combat the Islamic State (IS). 

The chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs panel on the Middle East will shortly be introducing legislation to increase military aid while easing roadblocks to arms sales to the Hashemite Kingdom, Al-Monitor has learned. Despite being introduced at the tail end of the legislative session, the bill from Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., is seen as having a real chance of passing in December as an amendment to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.

"It should be the policy of the United States to support the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in its response to the Syrian refugee crisis, provide necessary assistance to alleviate the domestic burden to provide basic needs for the assimilated Syrian refugees, cooperate with Jordan to combat the terrorist threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or other terrorist organizations, and help secure the border between Jordan and its neighbors Syria and Iraq," the bill states.

The United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act authorizes the State Department to sign a five-year memorandum of understanding with Jordan from 2015 through 2019 to increase military cooperation, "including joint military exercises, personnel exchanges, support for international peacekeeping missions, and enhanced strategic dialogue." It calls for increasing US military aid to $1 billion a year — up from $300 million in President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2015 budget request — although the aid would have to be appropriated separately.