Large US Marine force lands in Aqaba to deploy on Jordanian-Syrian border

http://debka.com/article/23019/Large-US-Marine-force-lands-in-Aqaba-to-deploy-on-Jordanian-Syrian-border


Large US Marine force lands in Aqaba to deploy on Jordanian-Syrian border
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 5, 2013, 8:06 AM (IDT)
Tags: US Marines, Jordan, Syrian war,
US Marines landing in Aqaba
US Marines landing in Aqaba

A large American military force disembarked Tuesday, June 4, at the southern Jordanian port of Aqaba - ready for deployment on the kingdom’s Syrian border, debkafile’s exclusive military sources report. The force made its way north along the Aqaba-Jerash-Ajilon mountain road bisecting Jordan from south to north, under heavy Jordanian military escort.
Our sources disclose that this American force numbers 1,000 troops, the largest to land in Jordan since the Syrian civil war erupted in March 2012. They are members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Force carried aboard the USS Kearsage amphibious assault ship, which has been anchored off neighboring Israeli Eilat since mid-May. Upon landing, the marines took to the road in a convoy of armored vehicles including Hummers.

Washington and Amman have imposed a blackout on their arrival. The Pentagon has only let it be known that the annual joint US-Jordanian “Eager Lion 2013” military exercise is due to begin later in June and last two months, with the participation of US F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missile defense systems.
According to our US sources, the arrival of the US force in Jordan was not directly related to the regular exercise but decided on at an emergency meeting at the Pentagon on May 31, which was attended by top military and civilian Defense Department officials. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is away from Washington, took part by video conference.

The meeting decided that the military situation evolving in Syria and threats it posed to Jordan – including widening evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria - were urgent enough to warrant the dispatch of extra American military strength to Jordan, over and above the contingents participating in the joint exercise. The Israeli Air Force will provide air cover for the force until the F-16 jets are in place for the drill.

The US Central Command spokesman Lt. Col. T.G. Taylor in a statement to the US media said only: “In order to enhance the defensive posture and capacity of Jordan, some of these assets may remain beyond the exercise at the request of the government of Jordan.”

Exercise Eager Lion 12 [from May of LAST YEAR]





Col. Frank Donovan, 24th MEU commander, talks with Thamer Alfaiez, the governor of Aqaba City, Jordan, during Exercise Eager Lion 12.From May 8-30, 2012, the 24th MEU took part in Exercise Eager Lion 12, the largest recurring, annual exercise in U.S. Central Command, designed to strengthen military-to-military relationships through a joint, whole-of-government, multinational approach. Eager Lion 12 consisted of over 11,000 personnel from 19 countries.^[13] The 24th MEU took part in a vast range of events including a simulated non-combatant evacuation operation and scenario-based training between the 24th MEU's CBRN defense team and Jordan's incident response force. The MEU's Battalion Landing Team, organized around 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines worked alongside Lebanese, Italian, and Saudi Arabian Forces while the MEU's air combat element, VMM-261, flew partnered flights alongside Jordanian pilots.^[14]

Remember two years or so ago before there were any issues, much less a civil war in Syria & obummer made the statement that "Assad's days are numbered"?.?.???