Special to WorldTribune.com

AMMAN — Jordan has begun hosting a major military exercise with Arab
and NATO allies but has made clear it has no implications for Syria.

Jordan’s military has launched Eager Lion-2012, deemed the largest
international exercise in the Hashemite Kingdom. Eager Lion, which began on
May 9, was comprised of 10,000 troops from 17 countries.

“Its focus is to strengthen military-to-military relationships of
participating partner nations through a joint, whole-of-government,
multinational approach,” a U.S. military statement said.

Officials said the exercise would not reach Syria. They said the original plan for the U.S.-organized exercise, Eager Lion-2012, was to stage counter-insurgency and conventional maneuvers around the northern Jordanian city of Irbid.

“No forces will be deployed north,” Jordanian Army operations chief Maj. Gen. Awni Adwan said. “This has nothing to do with Syria.”

Adwan’s statement on May 15 was issued in wake of Syrian criticism of Eager Lion, attended by 19 countries, many from the Middle East.

The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has asserted that the exercise was meant to intimidate Damascus amid the Sunni revolt that began in March 2011. Jordan has been accused of helping fuel the revolt, which brought 110,000 Syrian refugees to the Hashemite kingdom.

The U.S. military has also sought to assuage concerns by Damascus.
Officials said Eager Lion, which began on May 7 and scheduled to end on May
28, was planned as early as 2009 and meant to enhance combat skills and
interoperability in air, naval and ground missions.

“This is not connected to any real-world event,” U.S. Maj. Gen. Ken
Tovo, head of special operations at U.S. Central Command, said.

The United States, particularly the military’s Central Command, has been
a leading organizer of Eager Lion, which last took place in 2011. U.S. Army
Maj. Gen. Ken Tovo, chief of Centcom’s Special Operations Command, has been
designated the commander of the exercise, meant to focus on
counter-insurgency and special operations.

Officials said Tovo would be working with Brig. Gen. Mohammed Jeridad,
director of Jordan’s Training and Doctrine Command. They said the exercise
would take place in areas throughout the kingdom, including near the
northern border with Syria.

Contingents from participating countries were briefed at the
U.S.-financed King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center. Officials
said the contingents were assigned scenarios and zones in the first attempt
to form a joint task force.

Eager Lion, scheduled to end on May 28, would contain air, ground and
special forces components. Officials said the live-fire exercise would also
include a marine landing and a mock chemical disaster in an effort to test
crisis management skills.

Participants in Eager Lion also attended Jordan’s SOFEX-2012 conference
and exhibition in Amman, with 321 companies from 33 countries. Jordanian
Brig. Gen. Khaled Mahmoud Bani Yassin, chief of the Joint Special Operations
Command, said the kingdom was cooperating with numerous countries.

“Our concern in this gathering is to boost our areas of strength and
look for integration of cooperation for a noble goal, protecting our peoples
and humanity as a whole,” Yassin said.

  Eager Lion-2012, Jordan, Major U.S. military exercise in Jordan ‘has nothing to do with Syria’, Syria, U.S. exercise