LESSENING THE BLOW TO THE GOJ OF MOVING TO

S E C R E T AMMAN 006785

SIPDIS

NOFORN

DEPARTMENT FOR S, D, M, AND NEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2012
TAGS: PREL ASEC US JO
SUBJECT: LESSENING THE BLOW TO THE GOJ OF MOVING TO
AUTHORIZED DEPARTURE

REF: A. AMMAN 6784


B. AMMAN 6695

Classified By: Amb. Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D)


1. (S) If the Department approves our request for
authorized departure (ref A),we need to consider carefully
how to soften the political impact of this decision on
Jordan. We should take steps to reassure the King and
government that the U.S. continues to attach great value to
the relationship, and that authorized departure will not
damage our commitment to Jordan. We will also have to
consider carefully our public line and the impact it will
have on the perception of the United States in Jordan and the
region.

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CALL FROM THE SECRETARY
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2. (S) If the Department decides to approve authorized
departure, and after the Ambassador has reported that
decision to King Abdullah, we recommend that the Secretary
call the King to reaffirm our strong commitment to Jordan --
especially our continued work on supplemental military and
economic assistance packages -- and our intent to continue
with the broad range of programs and exchanges in which we
currently engage, including the availability of public
services such as visas. The Secretary should thank the King
for the considerable security resources the GOJ has devoted
to protecting the American community. He should explain that
the authorized departure decision does not represent a loss
of confidence in the government, its security forces, or its
commitment to protect Americans, but is rather a mechanism to
give a limited number of staff and family members the option
to leave post. Likewise, we recommend that A/S Burns and/or
other senior USG officials subsequently reiterate these
points to PM Abul Ragheb, Foreign Minister Muasher, and other
senior officials (including a possible call from DCI Tenet to
GID Director Kheir).

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MAINTAINING HIGH LEVEL OF EXCHANGES
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3. (S/NF) It will be important that we demonstrate to the
Jordanians early on and in concrete terms that authorized
departure does not mean a lessening of the significant and
profitable bilateral programs we have in many different
areas: military, intelligence, assistance, economic, law
enforcement, training, and political. We need to ensure
that, to the maximum extent possible, we maintain these
exchanges at current levels. Many of these exchanges rely
heavily on TDY personnel, however, and continuation of many
programs will therefore require a continued flow of TDY
support to the Mission from a number of agencies, including
AID, ORCA, DOD, FBIS, and others. We need to examine putting
in place special arrangements to streamline and facilitate
the approval of TDY travel from State and other agencies.

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PUBLIC POSTURE
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4. (S) Our public posture on authorized departure should be
low key, but should reiterate our private message. We
recommend including the following points:

-- The decision results from an overall assessment of the
security situation in the wake of the Foley assassination.

-- Jordanian security forces are making extraordinary
efforts to provide protection for Americans in Jordan, and to
identify and bring to justice the killers of Larry Foley. We
are confident those efforts will ultimately be successful.

-- The decision is not an evacuation and will not result in
the closure of the Embassy or reduction of public services in
any way. It is rather a device to allow some in the Embassy
community to exercise the option to leave post.

GNEHM