RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR ASSESSMENT OF ENHANCED

UNCLAS AMMAN 002548 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PM/CPP SWEBERG/ROSATI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KSPR MARR MCAP MOPS PINS JO SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR ASSESSMENT OF ENHANCED INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING CAPABILITIES (EIPC) PROGRAM IN JORDAN REF: STATE 99396 (U) The following answers are keyed to reftel questions A1-12. (A1) To date, 22 Jordanian trainers have been trained at CCMR through the EIPC program. Of this total, 15 received training in 2001, 3 received training in 2002, and 4 received training in 2003. (A2) The "train the trainer" concept has been successful. The 22 trainers noted above have been able to deliver improved training to 1,944 Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) personnel who have passed through its Peacekeeping Center during the past year. To our knowledge, all the individuals who received CCMR training are currently serving as instructors at the JAF Peacekeeping Center. (A3) Jordan has long been an enthusiastic participant in international PKOs. EIPC support -- by outfitting the JAF Peacekeeping Center with computers, English language training labs, and other training aids and equipment, and by improving the curriculum of the instructors -- has ensured that Jordanian Peacekeepers arrive in the field better prepared for their mission than had been the case prior to the beginning of this program. (A4) Jordan currently has 1,200 personnel deployed in UN peacekeeping missions around the world, including in Eritrea, Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Georgia. Additionally, Jordan has deployed an additional 900 personnel to staff field hospitals in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the West Bank which are not part of UN PKOs. (A5) The JAF has said it would welcome additional EIPC funds that would allow for training in the U.S. or other countries that have state-of-the-art PK training facilities. It also had previously requested that EIPC funds be made available for construction of a new building at its Peacekeeping Center. After being informed that EIPC funds could not be used for that purpose, Jordan used national funds to construct the building. (A6) Jordan would welcome ways for EIPC funds to be used to enhance its role as a regional peacekeeping center, such as funding training of other Middle East countries' PK students at the JAF training facility. (A7) Jordan has committed virtually all of its EIPC allocations to training and purchases of equipment for its Peacekeeping Center. The Jordanians have complained, however, about the extended time it takes to purchase and deliver the equipment they have requested. (A8) No, Jordan has very limited resources to spend on peacekeeping. Jordan wants to become a regional PK training center, but needs our help to achieve this goal. (A9) The JAF believes that it has developed a cadre of well-trained Peacekeepers who have earned the professional respect of counterparts around the world. That said, given Jordan's perennially strapped finances, access to future EIPC funding would help ensure that the Jordanians continue to benefit from up-to-date training techniques, curricula and equipment. (A10) No, Jordan does not use FMS, EDA, IMET or other non-EIPC security assistance funds to support its peacekeeping activities. (A11) As noted above, Jordan sees itself as a regional leader in the field of Peacekeeping and has long wanted to transform its PK training facilities into a regional center that would train personnel from other Middle East countries. EIPC support has helped that process along. Regarding deployments, EIPC support has bolstered and encouraged Jordan's willingness to participate in PKOs around the world, including in Eritrea, East Timor, Sierra Leone and Bosnia, along with the more recent deployments of field hospitals in Afghanistan and post-Saddam Iraq. (A12) N/A. GNEHM