No Jordanians on the Bridge This Time
In January 1998, Adm. Hussein Ali Mahmut El-Hasawneh, Commander of the Jordanian Navy, stood aboard a Turkish frigate as an invited observer to the Turkish-Israeli-American Reliant Mermaid naval rescue exercise. The Admiral told the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, “This is not directed against anyone. It is a pure search and rescue operation.”
He was not a popular man in Arab and Iranian circles, where the exercise drew angry protests.
In January 1998, Adm. Hussein Ali Mahmut El-Hasawneh, Commander of the Jordanian Navy, stood aboard a Turkish frigate as an invited observer to the Turkish-Israeli-American Reliant Mermaid naval rescue exercise. The Admiral told the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, “This is not directed against anyone. It is a pure search and rescue operation.”
He was not a popular man in Arab and Iranian circles, where the exercise drew angry protests. But the Jordanian government remained a steadfast observer to the simulated rescue of ships in distress in the Mediterranean.
Early in 1999, Jordan participated in large-scale military exercises with Ankara.
However, according to the Israeli news agency MENL, Jordan has failed to respond to an invitation to observe the Turkish-Israeli naval maneuvers being held in July, and the Turkish government is interpreting silence as rejection. Jordanian officials told a London newspaper that Amman could not participate in the maneuvers until Ankara improves its relations with Syria.
Syria is a major opponent of the Turkish-Israeli military relationship (and of Turkey and Israel), and Jordan’s relations with Syria are “sensitive.” “Sensitive” is another way to say that Syria has overtly threatened Jordanian sovereignty in the past and continues to regard northern Jordan as belonging to Greater Syria. We suspect that Jordan’s new king has decided not to antagonize President Assad by sending observers to the exercise this time.
Too bad. JINSA has been a strong supporter of Turkish-Israeli-American maneuvers, believing that cooperation between the three countries constitutes a pro-Western security axis that can be joined by other like-minded states. Although Jordan would be a welcome addition to the axis, it is understood that King Abdullah has to tread carefully in developing regional relations. But we believe that Jordan’s long-term interests are best served by staking out an unabashedly pro-Western position rather than cozying up to the ruthless and dictatorial Assad._________________________________________
Correction: Well, we tried to say something nice about the UN, but it turns out we were wrong. The placement of Israel in the Middle East and North Africa group of the Y2K conference was not by design of the United Nations. The UN only supplied the meeting space. The Y2K Coordinating Center – an NGO funded by the US, the UK and the World Bank – ran the conference and used World Bank country divisions. We take some comfort in the fact that at least the World Bank thinks Israel is in the Middle East.