Abdullah II is not only weak and fearful, he is not nearly as crafty as he may think. He has exposed the vulnerable underpinnings of his Hashemite Kingdom as rarely before; and he lacks the finesse and quasi-legitimacy of his father to see him through moments of crisis. Indeed he is not only the offspring of a British mother who then was elevated to the throne in a largely CIA-inspired pseudo-plot; he is a man who had to take a crash course in Arabic and who is much more at home in London and the U.S. than in the Arab world, a little portion of which he now rules on behalf of those who put him, and keep him, in place for their own purposes.

[The Associated Press - Washington - 2/1/2001]: King Abdullah II of Jordan praised President George W. Bush's campaign to counter terrorism Friday and said other countries "better make up their minds pretty quickly" to join it.

Welcoming the endorsement in the Oval Office, the president cautioned that "all options are on the table on how to make our allies more secure."

Bush also admonished Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the attempt by the Palestinians to smuggle in 50 tons of weapons from Iran. He said the rockets, mortar and explosives were intended "for terrorist purpose" and that the smuggling, which Israeli commandos aborted in the Red Sea on Jan. 3, was contrary to a promise by the Palestinian leader that he would fight against terror.

Calling on Bush at the White House, Abdullah supported the president's designation of three countries, Iran, Iraq and North Korea, as an "axis of evil."

It was a significant step for the Arab monarch. Jordan sits alongside Iraq in the restive Middle East and is inclined to be careful about irritating its larger neighbor. During the Persian Gulf war a decade ago, for instance, Jordan sided with Iraq while most Arab countries supported the U.S. campaign to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi annexation.

"It is very obvious that there are those on the side of good and those on the side of bad and some in the middle, who haven't made up their minds," the king said during an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office. Bush at his side, Abdullah said there was a new expectation about what countries must do in the anti-terror campaign spearheaded by the Untied States.

"There's some countries in the middle that haven't made up their mind.... And those countries better make up their minds pretty quickly," Abdullah said.

The president agreed. "I hope nations make the right decision," Bush said. "A wrong decision would be to continue to export weapons of mass destruction."

At the same time, Bush said he was open to a dialogue with North Korea. He called on the reclusive Pyongyang regime to "pull back some conventional weaponry" on the Korean peninsula and "make a clear declaration of their peace intentions."

The president steered clear of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's statement this week that he regretted not having killed Arafat. Instead, Bush suggested it was best to keep the focus on "what derails peace, and what derails peace is terror."

Even before calling on Bush for a breakfast meeting, Abdullah praised the president's approach to the tangled Middle East situation.

The session with an Arab leader projects for Bush a message that even while putting pressure on Arafat, the administration is mindful of Arab sentiments. Bush, meanwhile, has made clear his disappointment with Arafat and has invited Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the White House next week, his fourth visit in less than a year.

The Royal Jordanian Army has never really been deployed for offensive operations and has concentrated on developing anti-air and anti-tank defensive capabilities. Indeed a large proportion of the Army has been tasked to prevent an Israeli flanking advance through Umm Qays in northern Jordan into Syria directly threatening Damascus from the south. However King Abdullah II, half British and educated in part at the Jesuit Centre of Georgetown University has now opted to join the Egyptians in embracing the United States, Israeli and Turkish anti-Islamic alliance.

Abdullah, pitch-forked onto the throne with the help of the CIA and at the expense of the former Crown Prince, has taken up the close relationship his father had maintained with the US Intelligence community for much of his long reign. King Abdullah II knows only too well who really keeps him in power and with the possible withdrawal of Saudi financial support, the Hashemite Kingdom needs the United States more than ever before.

Abdullah's Government is also highly disturbed by the prospect of Sharon 'ethnically cleansing' the West Bank in particular, of Palestinians with the direct result that Jordan's stability would be threatened by a huge number of refugees. Israel, with Washington's support may choose to arbitrarily designate Jordan as a future Palestinian homeland and Abdullah has made the decision to 'embrace his enemies more closely' in the hope of preventing this catastrophe.

Since the major reorganization of 1977 the Royal Jordanian Army has kept the 5th Armoured Division deployed between the Iraqi border and Ramtha on the Syrian border, the 12th Mechanized Division deployed from Ramtha through Umm Qays to the Zarqa River in a defensive posture that cover both Israel and Syria and the 4th Mechanized Division deployed from Zarqa River, north of As-Salt to the Dead Sea facing Israel. The 3rd Armoured Division acts as both the strategic reserve and the main protection against an internal coup. It has units deployed at Zarqa in the north; near the capital Amman along with a brigade of Royal Guards made up of hand-picked troops from Bedouin tribes known for their long-standing loyalty to the Hashemite family, and Qatraneh in the south covering the route into Saudi Arabia.

In 1996 the Jordanian Army finally established a Special Operations Command, the brain-child of Abdullah then a serving Army officer. It is tasked to deal with a possible Palestinian uprising and the growth of Islamic terrorism. This powerful force now includes the 71st and 101st Special Force Battalions, the 81st and 91st Paracommando Battalions and both electronic warfare and helicopter support units. What is particularly significant is the possible re-positioning of both the 4th and the 12th Divisions along routes to the Syrian and Iraqi borders and the concentration of additional units from the 3rd Division facing Saudi Arabia. It has become increasingly apparent that Jordan's young King does not see Israel as a direct military threat and like the Muslim states of Egypt and Turkey has accepted Washington's contention that only a united front against Islamic extremism can prevent the overthrow of pro-Western Arab states.

The Bush administration has increased significantly the financial aid it will provide to Jordan following the wholehearted support expressed by King Abdullah II during his recent visit. The 2003 budget proposal submitted by President Bush to Congress, shows $198 million in civilian aid up from $78 million in 2001 and $250 million in military aid, compared with $150 million last year. The main increase in military aid is earmarked for fortifying Jordan's eastern border areas with Iraq in expectation of a major US attack to overthrow the Baghdad regime. Israel which has recently staged a number of tests of its defence against missile attacks may well be asked to provide air cover for Jordan in the event of an all out war with Iraq and its Syrian and Iranian allies.

Washington's military aid for both Israel with $2.1 billion and Egypt with over $1.3 billion dwarfs that of Jordan, but Abdullahs new stance is likely to see a huge increase in the aid flowing into his country over the next few years and a marked improvement in the quality of his armed forces. Whether a grateful Washington will protect Jordan from becoming a dumping ground for Israel's unwanted Palestinians following the probable annexation of the occupied territories is another matter entirely. [*AFI Research; Devon, UK]

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2002/2/626.htm