Why the F do we have troops in Jordan in the first place?

[bif]

I'm curious. And now we have to retaliate? So we can escalate this into a full-blown war?

[AZSkiffyGeek]

1. So you think that Iran should be able to kill Americans with impunity

That’s nice.

[bif]

2. I didn't say or imply that.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

4. Well, you don't want us to retaliate

So yeah, you are excusing Iran attacking Americans.

[bif]

9. Nice. Putting words in my mouth.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

10. Nice. Blaming America for Iranian attacks on us

[Disaffected]

19. Seriously??

[Zeitghost]

40. Yes seriously

The options are retaliate against those who kill American service members or don't.

[Chainfire]

26. However, if they weren't there, they wouldn't be targets, now would they?

[bif]

27. Exactly.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

3. We're there because the Jordanian government invited us there.

And not retaliating invites further escalation.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

5. They're coming out of the woodwork nt

[bif]

7. Thanks for answering my question.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

8. ......

[former9thward]

30. Just because a monarchy "invites" us somewhere to protect them doesn't mean we have to go.

They are sitting ducks.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

33. i'm not denying that,

I just answered the question of the OP.

[Blue_Adept]

6. There are several reasons for it

Jordan and U.S. relationships have extended over 70 years, including annual military training hosted in Jordan and the U.S.

It's been used extensively to deal with ISIL and other destablizing threats in the region.

Tower 22 in particular is a staging area used to train and host units going into Syria and dealing with Assad there.

And then there's the sheer number of Palestinians in syria and displacement going on there from Assad.

[KPN]

21. We're also there because we have set ourselves up as the world's imperialist peace maker

in large part to protect our global economic interests. Just saying ...

[brooklynite]

28. Trump's been a big anti-interventionist. Think it'll catch on?

[KPN]

36. What's your point?

[brooklynite]

39. Isolationism hasn't been a Democratic policy at any point in the past.

[KPN]

41. There's a huge gulf between isolationism and almost 500 (last I knew) US military

bases scattered throughout countries around the globe. That's number 1.

No. 2? "Democratic policy" doesn't make a policy unquestionable -- at least not in any thinking person's book.

[brooklynite]

45. Feel free to tell us the acceptable number of military bases...

...in the meantime, I'll accept the judgement of the Biden Administration and Biden's Secretary of Defense.

[SocialDemocrat61]

46. 234

Since you asked. 😉

[Calista241]

31. They're there to provide stability more than anything.

The leaders can always point at the American military base and say to insurgents / revolution advocates that the Americans are right there and prepared to kick your asses if it comes to that.

[KPN]

37. That's the theory. It does provide stability from our perspective at least in the near term. In the longer

term, there are consequences that involve or include animosity toward us. I'm not sure we are sensitive enough to that and how we are perceived. ... Granted, I don't have a solution that provides stability without some level of blowback; the UN is an idealistic model but fails because ... well, it's idealistic.

[bif]

11. Typical. I ask a simple question

And someone has to turn it into a fucking catfight.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

12. Typical

Excusing America's enemies when they kill Americans and attempt to blame it on us supporting our allies.

[maxsolomon]

13. You got your answer in Reply 6.

Was it a rhetorical question? Did you want an answer?

[bif]

14. I did want an answer.

And I got it. But some folks just love to start a fight. I thought we were supposed to be better than that. Guess I was wrong. This is exactly why I rarely post in GD.

[onenote]

25. If you want a straight answer, ask a straight question.

Not a loaded question that suggests we have troops there to serve as bait in order to give us an excuse to start a wider war.

[BannonsLiver]

15. I think Sunday's lengthy grave dancing op/thread over the US soldier deaths has tensions high.

[moniss]

16. A more or less clandesstine base

according to the radio. It would shock people to know how many places we have troops that are not well publicized.

[sarisataka]

22. Is it really clandestine

When they have their own web page?

Area Support Group - Jordan

[brooklynite]

29. Why do people insist on spoiling perfectly good rants by posting facts?

[moniss]

35. I'm just

relaying what the talking head on MSNBC said during Balart's show.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

17. They are a close ally and their intelligence agency is arguably the more effective ally for us then Mossad

The Jordanian GID is very good at what they do. They work regularly with US agencies. And since they are an Arab nation, their intelligence network has a further and wider reach then what Mossad can get.

[Arazi]

34. Indeed. Arguably more US $$ should be allocated to Jordan for intelligence ops

Than the billions we give to Israel for what they provide.

Israel was our first and most reliable intelligence ally in the region. I doubt the US will ever stop that partnership but Jordan is indeed right in the mix of our top friends. I loathe monarchies but King Abdullah is a rare good one

[Silent Type]

18. Unfortunately, if we try to run - or influence world - by putting troops everywhere, troops are going to get attacked.

[Seeking Serenity]

44. Maybe we could try NOT running, or trying to influence, the entire world?

Just spitballing

[Initech]

23. Rupert Murdoch is playing a weird game of Risk.

[marble falls]

24. Jordan has been a good ally to the US for decades. We teach their pilots to fly planes they buy from us ...

... we train their troops, we help them with intelligence. They help contain Iran.

[Eugene]

32. The base is there to support the fight against the Islamic State.

US drone attack: What is Tower 22 and why are US troops in Jordan? (BBC)

There are about 350 US forces stationed at the base, conducting key functions including supporting the coalition to defeat Islamic State, according to US Central Command (CentCom).

-snip-

There are about 3,000 US troops based in Jordan, a key US ally, and 2,500 in Iraq - there at the invitation of the Iraqi government as part of a US-led coalition to prevent a resurgence of the jihadist Islamic State group, which still has a presence there after being routed in 2017.

There are also about 900 US personnel in Syria, officially there to support its anti-IS ally the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria's semi-autonomous north-east region. The Syria government opposes the US presence in its country, calling it an occupation.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68131434

[albacore]

38. I read all the posts in this thread, especially Eugene's #32...

.. and I'm still trying to wrap my head around why a Reserve outfit from Georgia is in Jordan.
Seems odd to me. Wouldn't we have specially trained people at what is obviously some kind of listening post? Are the Reserve units that kind of outfit?
School me, please.

[Kennah]

43. Supports the Al Tanf garrison in Syria. SpecOps are probably there, but mostly repairing and maintaining helicopters.

[Kennah]

42. We've been there since 2014 at the request of Jordan to fight ISIS

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tower-22-base-jordan-struck-deadly-drone-attack/story?id=106766574