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DE RUEHAM #0219/01 0221343
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 221343Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0427
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6736
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 6357
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0221
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 5762
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0077
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000219 

NOFORN 
SIPDIS 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2020 
TAGS: PREL PINS MASS KISL JO AF
SUBJECT: JORDAN: PREVIEW OF AFGHANISTAN SUPPORT OFFER IN 
UPCOMING WASHINGTON MEETINGS 

REF: A. AMMAN 0200 
¶B. AMMAN 0091 

Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 

¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: Jordan's top military advisor and 
brother of the King, Lieutenant General (LTG) Prince Faisal 
bin Al Hussein, and Minister of Planning Jafar Hassan will 
travel to Washington during the week of January 25. Their 
itineraries include meetings with senior U.S. officials in 
the Department of Defense, the Air Force, the Department of 
StaQrQQ^,ON2}g5Congress. In the meetings, the 
Jordanians are expected to offer significant increases to 
Jordan's security support in Afghanistan in exchange for 
additional economic assistance through an anticipated 
Afghanistan supplemental appropriation. Contributions that 
support U.S. goals can likely be obtained for reimbursement 
at cost if we want to hold the line and not include Jordan in 
the supplemental. END SUMMARY. 

Afghanistan Issues 
------------------ 

¶2. (S/NF) Jordan has already made a significant 
contribution of forces in Afghanistan (ref B), currently 
numbered at 850 troops, which includes an infantry battalion, 
a special operations company, and a field hospital. Prince 
Faisal and Minister Hasan will likely make a number of offers 
for increased participation in Afghanistan. Specifically, we 
expect them to offer: 

¶3. (S/NF) Training for Afghan Clerics -- Minister Hasan has 
indicated an interest in offering a one-year training program 
for Afghan clerics and religious leaders in moderate Islam to 
counter extremist ideologies. The program would be hosted at 
Al Albayt University in Mafraq, Jordan, and has been approved 
by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammed, the King's special advisor on 
religious affairs. (Note: Prince Ghazi is also the author 
of the Amman Message on moderate Islam and the Common Word on 
outreach to Christians. End Note.) 

¶4. (S/NF) Police Training -- Prince Faisal and Minister 
Hasan will offer to train Afghan National Police (ANP) at 
training facilities in Jordan or by sending Mobile Training 
Teams (MTT) to Afghanistan. 

-- Background: Jordan has established a record of effective 
training of regional police and para-military forces at the 
Jordan International Police Training Center (JIPTC). In 
2005-2007, the Jordanian Public Security Directorate (PSD) 
trained over 53,000 Iraqi National Police. Since 2008, 
Jordan has trained over 3,500 members of the Palestinian 
Authority's gendarmerie-like National Security Forces (NSF) 
and Presidential Guard, resulting in partial withdrawal of 
Israeli security from four key West Bank cities. 

¶5. (S/NF) Additional Field Hospital -- Prince Faisal and 
Minister Hasan will offer to send an additional military 
field hospital to Afghanistan. Jordan already operates one 
hospital in Qalat, Afghanistan which has treated over 750,000 
patients since 2003. Jordan also maintains field hospitals 
in Fallujah, Iraq and in Gaza, and will soon open one in 
Haiti (ref A). 

¶6. (S/NF) Additional Ground Forces -- Senior Jordanian 
military officials have in the past mentioned their interest 
in making sizeable increases in their contribution of ground 
forces in Afghanistan, and recently reaffirmed their interest 
to the U.K. and NATO officials. Prince Faisal may make such 
an offer in Washington. 

-- Background: Feedback from the field indicates that 
Jordanian forces already deployed have been highly effective 
at key leader engagement in Afghan villages, forging valuable 
relationships that give these leaders a promising alternative 
to Taliban affiliation. At the same time, a Jordanian legal 
requirement that soldiers deployed overseas must receive 
approximately 1600 USD per month in combat pay has been 
pushing the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) deeper into deficit. 
The GOJ has repeatedly requested assistance from us to meet 

AMMAN 00000219 002 OF 002 


this obligation, a request the USG cannot fulfill. CENTCOM 
has had preliminary discussions with the U.A.E. to explore it 
as a potential source of donor funding, but so far funds have 
not been forthcoming. 

¶7. (S/NF) Special Operations Training -- Prince Faisal may 
offer to train Afghan counter-terrorism (CT) or special 
operations forces (SOF). 

-- Background: Jordan has developed strong SOF and CT skills 
within its security forces and currently has a SOF unit 
deployed in Afghanistan (TF111). In May 2009 Jordan opened 
the King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC) 
as an intended center of excellence for SOF training. 
Although KASOTC has hosted regional joint exercises, it has 
yet to host a full-length regional training course. 

¶8. (S/NF) Fighter Jets and Helicopters -- In previous 
meetings, Prince Faisal has offered to send F-16 fighter jets 
and UH-60 helicopters with pilots to conduct combat missions. 

-- Background: Air Force Central Command (AFCENT) Commander 
LTG Hostage met Prince Faisal in Amman on January 19 and 
indicated to him that such a contribution would not be 
helpful at this time. He assessed that Jordanian F-16 and 
UH-60 pilots do not have sufficient combat flight experience. 
In addition, the fleet would require point-to-point support 
from the U.S. for maintenance, repair, and in missions. 

Iraq Issues 
----------- 

¶9. (S/NF) Prince Faisal may also raise the following issues 
related to Iraq: 

¶10. (S/NF) Sale of Fighter Jets -- Prince Faisal has 
previously indicated his interest in selling Jordan's Peace 
Falcon I (PF-I) F-16 Fighter Jets to Iraq. The sale is 
intended to make way for an acquisition of fourteen new F-16 
jets from European partners with increased avionics 
capabilities. A recent assessment by the Air Force 
International Affairs Division indicated that the 
acquisition, and an accompanying mid-life upgrade to the 
remainder of its F-16 fleet, would cost Jordan well over $1 
billion, including training and maintenance support. 

¶11. (S/NF) Training Iraqi Pilots -- As Iraq establishes its 
Air Force capabilities, Jordan has indicated interest in 
training Iraqi pilots. In his January 19 meeting LTG Hostage 
indicated that the U.S. was exploring conduct that training 
itself. 

¶12. (S/NF) Fighter Weapons School -- Jordan plans to 
establish a center of excellence for fighter pilot training 
and may seek U.S. assistance with the project. However, the 
USG already supports such a facility in the region, the Gulf 
Air War Center in the U.A.E. 

Comment 
------- 

¶13. (S/NF) Through their deployments in Afghanistan and 
their assistance to other countries in the region, Jordan has 
shown itself to be a willing and capable partner in support 
of U.S. security goals. Despite the recent suicide bombing 
in Khost, Afghanistan, the resulting press reporting 
regarding Jordan's role in Afghanistan, and domestic public 
pressures on Jordan to end its security cooperation with the 
U.S., the Jordanians will make significant offers to increase 
their assistance during the Washington visit. Forefront in 
their minds, however, is an equally significant reward in the 
form of economic assistance through an Afghanistan or other 
supplemental appropriation. Although they would be 
disappointed not to receive supplemental assistance, the 
Jordanians would likely accept reimbursement at cost for any 
additional contributions we do want, especially if we can 
identify a third-country donor to assist with Jordan's combat 
pay problem. 
Beecroft