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Wednesday, July 10, 2002

The Times said, however, Amman had not been consulted about such a plan, and Jordanian officials have criticized it.

A U.S. Central Command military document reported on last week called for Iraq to be attacked from three sides and now UPI has learned just which countries might be involved if such an operation were launched.

Jordanian bases would allow the Pentagon to attack Iraq from the west, as well as from the north via Turkey and the south via the Persian Gulf states. It would also allow U.S. troops to be inserted between Israel and Iraq to detect and thwart any Scud missile attack by Iraq against the Jewish state.

A senior defense official told the Times a final plan to attack Iraq hadn’t been prepared, but "every country in the region, from Turkey to Jordan to the Gulf states, was being considered when you're talking about mounting an operation."

President Bush and Jordan’s King Abdullah have discussed the U.S. goal of ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, officials said. But Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher told the Times: "Our public position is the same as our private position. Jordan will not be used as a launching pad, and we do not have any U.S. forces in Jordan."

Jordan has a large Palestinian population that has traditionally supported Saddam.

But U.S. military planners told the Times in the event of an attack on Iraq, Jordan could play a role similar to Pakistan’s in the war on terrorism.

American Special Operations forces and search and rescue crews have been allowed to work in Pakistan; neither country publicly acknowledges the arrangement.

There are several signs of increasing military cooperation between Washington and Jordan, the Times said.

Congress has been asked for $25 million as part of a larger emergency-spending bill to provide Jordan with military equipment, defense upgrades and border security, a congressional aide told the Times. CentCom has rated construction projects in Jordan among its highest priorities, and U.S. forces have conducted joint operations in Jordan.

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Al-Qaeda

War on Terrorism

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