200 US troops are headed to Jordan, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced today. Their stated purpose is to help contain violence spilling over from the Syrian conflict, and according to Mohammad al-Momani, Jordan’s Minister of State for Information, they should be arriving “in the next few weeks.” This is a significant announcement, but we’re betting it’ll get buried under all the news today about gun control legislation and the Boston explosion. And that’s a shame. source
Jordan closed its main border crossing with Syria on Monday after two days of fighting there between Syrian troops and rebel fighters, Jordan’s information minister said.
Border traders said passengers were turned back at the Jordanian border crossing of Jaber and prevented from entering in the first such closure of the crossing since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule started two years ago.
“The border post is effectively closed because there have been clashes since yesterday and they are continuing,” minister Samih Maaytah told Reuters.
While some have assumed that the Syrian conflict was reaching an end, following massive land gains by the Syrian rebels in recent weeks, the events of the last 24 hours serve as a reminder that the battle between President Bashar al-Assad and his opposition is far from over.
Drip, drip drip: Riyad Hijab, who was appointed Prime Minsister of Syria last June, has defected to Jordan and joined the opposition. Jordanian officials confirmed to Al-Jazeera that Hijab is with his family after having been smuggled across the border, and his spokesman claims that the defection had been planned for months in collusion with the Free Syrian Army. The Syrian government claims Hijab was fired, but either way, this is probably the highest-level defection President Bashar al-Assad has suffered so far, and a sign to many that his power is waning. source
Middle East on the brink of war: analysis
As Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad clings to power with the quiet backing of regional powers Iran and Russia, the Middle East may be sliding slowly into war.
Squeezed between the rebellions of a bloody Arab Spring and growing fears of a possible military response to Iran’s growing nuclear threat, the region is becoming increasingly unstable.
“I would be very surprised if it turned into a Russian-American war, but this could be a Mid-East war: Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, Syria, Israel all having at each other,” said Jack Granatstein, military historian and senior research fellow at the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute.
Let’s hope that the region doesn’t get any more volatile than it already is. Do you think this analysis is spot-on?
An “expiration date”: Here’s a look at an interview recently conducted with Jordan’s King Abdullah, who speaks in understandably pessimistic terms about the nature of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria. While predicting that the use of violence against his own citizens meant that Assad could not maintain power unchallenged, he also expressed concern as to who would lead Syria afterwards — a member of the same regime doing little good. This comes at a time of great violence in Syria; just yesterday between fifty and seventy-one people were killed. source
Between this and getting kicked out of the Arab League, Syria’s leadership is officially on the ropes.
When neighbors with borders turn against your leadership, that’s a major sign that you’ve lost your backing and need to go.
I wouldn’t see it as a sign of liberalisation. With his previous premiership, he talked the talk of reform but little actually happened.London’s City University Professor of Middle East policy studies Rosemary Hollis • Revealing about Jordan what’s probably obvious from the fact that a previous prime minister (Marouf Bakhit) was appointed to replace the current one (Samir Rifai): It’s likely an act and probably won’t have any real effect on the leadership of the country. “He’s someone who would be seen as a safe pair of hands,” she noted. To be clear, that’s a safe pair of hands for King Abdullah. source (via • follow)
Jordan’s new Prime Minister, Maruf Bakhit, an old hat at this job: Meet Jordan’s new Prime Minister, Maruf Bakhit. Look familiar? He should. He was Prime Minister from 2005 to 2007. Talk about change you can believe in. source
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