Jordan has a key role in fighting terror

Apart from training and overall strategy, the country has vast experience in confronting extremist and terrorist organisations, building up vast networks of information and intelligence-gathering

threatBy mman’s response to the posed by Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) is certainly something in tune with what can be called traditional Jordanian foreign policy, which was long built up by the late King Hussain and now being followed by his successor and son, King Abdullah.

The tenets of this policy are based on security, peace, prosperity and reconciliation. The king sees the fight against Daesh and other terror groups as underlining the need for a collective response and to realise the extent of the threat when he says the world is facing a “Third World War against humanity”. The terror organisation, he says, is “on the fringe of Islam” and is a “savage outlaw of religions”.

In Jordan, he made it clear to the government and the rest of the state apparatus that he wanted to be personally in charge of the Daesh file, underlying the gravity of the situation the globe is facing.

His are not mere words, tactics or manoeuvres. Despite the size of Jordan, and its resource constraints, it has been taking an active role in the war against terror ever since the United States scrambled to put an international coalition together in September, 2014, to rid Iraq and Syria of Daesh. The outfit very quickly gained control of large swathes of territory and looked as though it might be taking over more if left unchallenged.

Despite the fact that the war was subsequently criticised for need of greater focus, Jordan has been strident and effective from the start, especially in the security field and despite the fact that it has been a little quiet in taking part in the surgical air strikes, which reached more than 8,000 sorties late last month — mostly carried out by United States fighters.

Amman’s role has been invaluable. Besides logistics, training and overall strategy, the country has vast experience in confronting extremist and terrorist organisations, building up vast networks of information and intelligence-gathering, counter-terrorism and operations on containing and “eradicating” terrorist targets such as Al Qaida leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi in Iraq in 2006.

Besides, Jordan knows the nature of societies in Syria and Iraq, their tribal make-up and the different terrains in both countries because of the traditional geographical and historical relationships.

It is widely believed that the latest successes in the battle being fought in Ramadi in Iraq, where the Iraqi army and popular militias are slowly driving Daesh forces out, is due to the security work by Jordan. This is not to forget the fact that it provided the militias and the sons of the tribes as well as the army, police and even the Kurdish Peshmerga with training, which

Awas increased after the end of the American occupation of Iraq after 2010.

Within the war coalition, Jordan has long prided itself with having a wide database relating to the population structure in western Iraq, which is dominated by Sunnis and is purported to have built up wide communication channels with the different tribes there who serve as a launch pad in the fight against Daesh. In northern Syria, the Daesh stronghold, the situation is the same, as the Jordanian role has become ancillary to the coalition partners.

With great vigour

Jordan’s security is seen as important not only by the US, but increasingly by Russia, who, as of October this year, effectively entered the Syrian conflict and began bombing Daesh targets there with great vigour. Despite the stiff upper lip of the US, which wishes to see Syrian President Bashar Al Assad out of the picture, there is a large degree of intelligencegathering and cooperation to beat Daesh in its tracks by the two countries. In the field of security, Jordan, with the blessings of the US, is keeping the door open.

Amman’s security role was further highlighted by the Syrian support groups at the Vienna talks, which was attended by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubair and several other leaders. Jordan was given an additional role to draw up a list of terrorist organisations operating in Syria and across the region.

The Vienna meeting came just after the horrendous Paris attacks on November 13, in which 130 were killed and hundreds injured. The mood, therefore, was black and sobering in Vienna. Surely, the coalition partners and others, in just over a year in the fight against Daesh and the other terror organisations, must be aware of the names of the terror organisations, violent groups as well as individuals involved with these dangerous outfits. However, given the escalating danger of terrorism, the coalition now wants a better, more comprehensive and up-to-date checklist of “who’s who” in the terrorism world to be able to fight this growing scourge. And who is better to do it than Jordan?

Marwan Asmar is a commentator based in Amman. He has long worked in journalism and has a PhD in Political Science from Leeds University in the United Kingdom.

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