Posted on 07/10/2002 12:30:30 AM PDT by ThePythonicCow
NEW YORK (Reuters) - American military planners are considering Jordan as a staging area for air and commando raids against Iraq in the event the United States decides to attack, the New York Times quoted senior defense officials as saying on Wednesday.
But Jordan has not yet been consulted about the possible use of its bases, and Jordanian officials have criticized such a plan, according to the report.
American planning in the event of an attack on the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein calls for air, land and naval forces to attack from three directions.
Using Jordanian bases would enable U.S. forces to attack from the west, as well as from the north via Turkey and the south via several Persian Gulf states, the paper said.
American troops in Jordan could also help to detect, track and destroy Scud missiles that Baghdad might shoot at Israel as it did in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
President Bush has discussed with King Abdullah of Jordan the administration's goal of toppling President Saddam Hussein of Iraq and the political landscape without Hussein, according to the Times.
Jordan's foreign minister, Marwan Muasher, told the paper in a telephone interview from Amman, that Jordan would not be used as a launching pad for any military action against Iraq.
While it seems natural that our liberal media would aid the enemy, this goes too far.
Consult? The Jordanian government is superfluous. They have been able (or unwilling) to do anything with the Palestinian de-facto Army in their midst for years. Move in, do the operations and send a thank-you note after it is all over.
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