JORDAN: PREVIEW OF AFGHANISTAN SUPPORT OFFER IN

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