NEW
YORK — The US’ decision to shift some of its military resources to Jordan
indicates, among other things, a crucial role the Kingdom will play in the
region during President Joe Biden’s term in office, pundits have said.
اضافة اعلان
An
American military newspaper has reported that the United States has closed
extensive bases across Qatar that once housed arms depots overcrowded with
weaponry and other supplies needed to support ground operations in Iraq.
Supplies from each of the bases as well as their missions have been relocated
to Jordan.
The
US Army released a statement at the end of
June that it had officially closed
Area Support Group-Qatar (ASG-Qatar), a
program that had been supporting military and humanitarian operations in the
Middle East for nearly three decades. With the closure of this program, the US
also shuttered Camp As Sayliyah-Main, Camp As Sayliyah-South, and “Falcon” – an
ammunition supply point. The weaponry and support mission formerly supported by
these bases are now part of Area Support Group-Jordan (ASG-Jordan).
This
movement of assets to Jordan bolsters US presence in the Levant while creating
a vacancy in a long-standing and once widely popular location for troops in
North Africa. Military analysts posit that the US’s primary motivation behind
this move could be attributed to a number of possibilities – ranging from a
shift in multinational interests to meet the challenges of the rising threat of
global Russian and Chinese influence and aggression in the region to a simple
and natural phasing out of that a once popular basing architecture in the
region that was largely geared to extremist and factional threats to meet the
evolving security needs of the US and its allies in the region.
This
move comes just weeks after the Pentagon announced its most recent withdrawal
acceleration efforts with the removal of anti-missile defense
systems and hundreds of troops stationed across Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and
Kuwait.
Some
military analysts see this move as a way to decrease the US Military’s
vulnerability to potential Iranian aggression and missile strikes. According to
David Desroches, a professor at the Near East South Asia Center: a US
Department of Defense educational and diplomatic institution, this shift away
from the Gulf is strategic – it removes assets from a position more easily
susceptible to an Iranian strike to one far more difficult to access. Thus by
moving these assets, the US will be able to keep a closer eye on the continual
threat of Iran and its proxies without having to sacrifice its safety.
As
for the decision to transport operations to Jordan specifically, the existing
capacity and longstanding camaraderie in Jordan make it an attractive place for
the US to consolidate its resources. In an interview with the
Jordan News,
Steven Heydeman, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and director of the
Smith College Middle Eastern Studies program, points out the crucial role that
Jordan will likely play within the Biden administration’s Middle East policy
strategy with respect to the downsizing of US forces in Iraq, the crisis in
Syria, and the threat of Iranian proxies. He states, “Over the course of the
Syria conflict, and as the US presence in Iraq was drawing down, Jordan became
an enormous hub for US diplomatic operations in the region. And there is US
infrastructure in Jordan that is well-equipped for taking on the additional
roles of whatever functions are now going to be handled out of Jordan.”
Desroches
tells
Jordan News that the decision was likely based in part on the robust
capacity that already exists in Jordan because of the long-standing close
relationship between the countries. He describes how Jordan already has
extensive experience in training military personnel and has demonstrated its
ability to successfully absorb the mission that had been undertaken in Qatar.
Additionally, he states, “Jordan’s viewed (by the US) as a very, very reliable
and noble partner.”
Becca
Wasser, a fellow in the Defense Program at the Center for a New American
Security, sees the move as a natural
progression from a base that no longer holds the same strategic and practical
influence to one that can address much of the conflict we have moving forward.
She states, “These were not major operating
bases. Rather, they were forward staging areas turned storage facilities needed
to support ground operations in Iraq which have now wound down. Moreover, these
supplies & facilities aren’t what is needed in a possible Iran
contingency.”
She adds, “Such sites are
part of an outmoded basing architecture in the region. There are too many bases
that don’t support ongoing or future operations and require massive resources
and personnel. That means the basing footprint needs to change, but that the US
military needs to withdraw.”
Heydeman
sees the move in the context of a post-Afghanistan adjustment for the United
States, stating: “This is part of a broader strategy of a pivot toward Asia on
the part of the United States which, which preceded the arrival of the Biden
administration into office, I'm sure it will extend beyond this
administration.”
Although US intentions
behind this move are still unclear, it aligns with a pattern of behavior
exhibited by the Biden administration to distance itself from the Gulf and
Northern Africa by withdrawing forces and military equipment from the region.
His Majesty King Abdullah is currently in the United States for a three-week visit, and his upcoming
private meeting with President Biden, slated for July 19, is likely to offer
more details about the Biden administration’s Middle East policy and what role
Jordan will play in it.
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