Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has described its defense
relationship with Jordan as reaching unprecedented proportions.

Officials said the U.S. military and Defense Department significantly
enhanced the relationship with the Hashemite kingdom in 2012. They cited
heightened intelligence exchange, increased exercises and cooperation on
border security, particularly along the frontier with Syria.

“The Department of Defense has reached unprecedented levels of
cooperation with the Jordanian armed forces,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said. “We have done that in light of what’s happening in Syria.”

Officials said the Sunni revolt in Syria has strengthened the U.S.
military and intelligence relationship with Jordan. They said Amman and Washington were communicating on a daily basis regarding the military situation in Syria as well as determining the state of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“We have done that in a way to try to develop as close a partnership as possible to deal with any contingency that may happen there,” Panetta said.

In a briefing on July 29, Panetta said Washington was determined to
protect Jordan from the spread of the revolt in Syria. He said the United States was providing military and civilian aid to accommodate the 150,000 refugees from Syria.

Jordan has been receiving $540 million in annual U.S. aid, most of it
for the kingdom’s defense. In July, Washington relayed more than $50 million
to help Jordan house the Syrian refugees.

“We deeply appreciate Jordan’s efforts to keep the borders open to those
fleeing the violence in Syria,” Panetta, who met Jordan’s King Abdullah on
Aug. 2, said. “We hope to do everything we can to strengthen that
relationship even further, as we deal with the challenges we’re confronting.”

Officials said a turning point in the Jordanian-U.S. relationship was
the joint military exercise in June. They said the exercise, which
lasted three weeks, hosted thousands of U.S. troops and assets that allowed
ground monitoring of Syria, including Assad’s weapons of mass destruction
facilities.

“There are two areas we’ve been particularly concerned about with
regards to Syria,” Panetta said. “One is chemical and biological weapon
sites that we think are extremely important to secure and make sure that
none of that falls into the wrong hands. We have been in very close
consultation with the Jordanians, with Turkey, with other allies in the
region to ensure that we are closely monitoring the situation with regards
to those chemical weapons.”

Officials said Jordan has sought to acquire U.S.-origin ballistic
missile defense systems to protect against an attack from Syria. They said
the administration of President Barack Obama was examining the request along
with similar appeals from Turkey.

  Bashar Assad, King Abdullah, Panetta: Recent exercise marked ‘turning point’ in Jordan-U.S. relationship, Sunni revolt, Syria crisis marks ‘turning point’ in Jordan-U.S. relationship, Syria’s chemical and biological weapons, Syrian refugees in Jordan, U.S. Defense Department