Aqaba and U.S. Military Assistance to Jordan

I thought I would post a few pictures from beautiful Aqaba today and spare everyone the history lesson. After all, our purpose in going to Aqaba was simply to sit on the beach and swim with the fishes. Background information on Aqaba can be found here or here. And some basic information on Lawrence of Arabia's battle at Aqaba can be found here.

This was the view from our hotel - the Coral Bay Resort - which is part of the Royal Diving Club. It is located 10km north of the Saudi border:

The view of the mountains behind the hotel:

The sunset over Israel and the Red Sea:

I couldn't help it... a stunning picture of the world's tallest flagpole (that is a Hashemite Crown adorning the top):

Our hotel was located right next to the Jordanian naval base on the Red Sea. After we were waived through the checkpoint off of the main road, we passed the main gate of the naval base where I spotted two very white, very American-looking, very well armed, U.S. Marines standing in the burning sun along with several Jordanian soldiers who had sat themselves, wisely, down in the shade. My immediate reactions was, "what the heck are those guys doing there?".

I figured it could be one of two things. Either a U.S. military or political VIP was having meetings at the naval base, or a U.S. ship was docked at the Jordanian naval port. It turned out to be the latter. Check out the size of this U.S. military cargo ship (the pictures don't do it's size justice):


My guess is that it was unloading those green military cargo containers for transport to the western provinces of Iraq. Or, it could be military assistance to Jordan.

These were the Jordanian naval patrol boats that circled the ship 24-hours a day to protect it, I'm guessing, from experiencing a U.S.S. Cole type of attack:

According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS):

President Bush's FY2009 budget request includes $235 million for the Jordanian military, close to the same amount it has received over the past several fiscal years. U.S. military assistance is primarily directed toward upgrading Jordan's air force, as recent purchases include upgrades to U.S.-made F-16 fighters, air-to-air missiles, and radar systems. FMF grants also provide financing for Jordan's purchase of U.S. Blackhawk helicopters in order to enhance Jordan's border monitoring and counter-terror capability. Jordan is currently the single largest provider of civilian police personnel and fifth largest provider of military personnel to UN peacekeeping operations worldwide.

The United States is helping Jordan modernize its armed forces, which have been the traditional mainstay of the regime. The Jordanian military forces, though well trained and disciplined, are outnumbered and outgunned by each of Jordan's neighboring forces. In recent years, Jordan has used U.S. military assistance grants to purchase Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, upgrades for its fleet of F-16 fighters (approximately 70-80), and BlackHawk helicopters. The United States also delivered three Patriot anti-missile batteries to Jordan in early 2003 prior to the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq.

Joint Exercises and Training: A U.S.-Jordanian Joint Military Commission has functioned since 1974. More than 300 Jordanian military personnel study in the United States each year. Combined training exercises by U.S. and Jordanian military units continue to take place in Jordan (dubbed "Early Victor"), at least on an annual basis and sometimes more often. The above-mentioned courses conducted by Jordan for Iraqi military personnel are reportedly being funded by the United States under a program called the New Iraqi Army Training Project. In addition, the United States has supported the construction of the King Abdullah II Center for Special Operations Training. The Center, which has been partially financed by the United States, will serve as a regional headquarters for counter-terrorism training. In 2003, Jordan built a Special Operations Command and the Anti-Terrorism Center in order to boost counter-terrorism capabilities within the military.