Jordan steps up pressure on Assad
It seems that Jordan is stepping up pressure on Assad. Events unfolded over the recent weeks have pushed Amman to rethink its policy toward the Syrian crisis. Simultaneously, the Pentagon’s officials announced a week ago that the United States would send around 200 highly trained soldiers to help Jordan handle Syria’s chemical weapons threat and to prevent the civil war from spilling over to Jordan.
While many observers in Jordan argue that this may be part of an American plan to interfere militarily in Syria, Hagel made it perfectly clear that this small unit would not be a stepping-stone to the American troops to bring Assad’s regime to an end. In his meeting with the Senate Armed Service Committee, Hagel warned against an American intervention as it “could have the unintended consequences of bringing the United States to a broader regional conflict, or proxy war.”
Not surprisingly, the embattled Syrian president is alarmed by this dramatic development. Assad accused Jordan of facilitating the movement of rebels across borders. He expressed his surprise that while Jordan is capable of preventing any person with light arms from crossing its borders to Israel, it cannot prevent hundreds of rebels with weapons from crossing its border to Syria. He went even a step further when he threatened Amman that the crisis would not be confined to Syria alone. “The fire will not stop at our borders; all the world knows Jordan is just as exposed as Syria,” said Assad.
As the noose is fast tightening around Assad’s neck, he began warning the West of the consequences of aiding the opposition. Having experienced the fallacy of funding Al-Qaeda in the early stages in Afghanistan, the American administration does not want to see similar scenarios. The last thing that the United States wants to see would be anti-American radical groups taking over in Syria. In Assad’s words, “The West has paid heavily for funding Al-Qaeda in its early stages in Afghanistan. Today it is doing the same in Syria, Libya and other places, and will pay a heavy price in the heart of Europe and the United States.”
It is not as if the American administration and the West are not aware of the presence of radical militants in Syria. Just two weeks ago, Al-Nusra Front, a radical rebel group, pledged allegiance to Ayman Al-Zawahiri (chief of Al-Qaeda). A while ago, Al-Zawahiri urged the Syrian opposition groups to establish an Islamic state in Syria.
Many pundits and political analysts in Jordan expressed their anger at Assad’s explicit threat to Jordan. Some 500,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Jordan since the beginning of the Syrian revolution. Given the enormous economic hardships, Jordanians feel that hosting the Syrian refugees is a huge burden and should be received with gratitude not with threats from the Syrian regime.
Apart of the implicit and in some cases explicit Syrian threats to Jordan, Amman has vital interests that should be preserved. Some even urged Jordan must take proactive steps to defend its interests. The idea of setting up a safe haven in southern Syria to transfer all refugees to it is gaining currency in Jordan. Moreover, Amman should think in a wider strategic perspective. I believe that Assad’s regime is going away and Jordan would be dealing with uncharted water soon. For this reason, it is in the best interest of Jordan to play a proactive role to make sure that a post-Assad Syria will be less threatening.
As in the past, Al-Qaeda would continue targeting Jordan. Now the United States has designated the Nusra Front a terrorist movement. The question that many Jordanians ask is why Jordan and the United States do not work closely to bolster the rival rebel forces to counter the potential influence of the Nusra Front. Many argue that Jordan cannot afford to sit idly by while the situation in Syria is descending into a civil war. Bluntly put, Jordan cannot contend with the threats in the future without substantial American aid.
If anything, the Syrian attempts to sway Amman have failed. A top Syrian security envoy arrived in Amman in recent weeks to inquire about the role of Jordan in the conflict and whether it is true that Amman has set up training camps for rebels. Jordan denied! And yet, Jordan seems to have departed caution that has characterized its position from the early stages of the Syrian revolution.
[email protected]
