US Sends Special Forces Troops to Jordan for Iraq Training

The Pentagon has confirmed another deployment of “a small number” of special forces troops to Jordan to take part in ongoing counter-terrorism training for Iraqi and Jordanian forces.

The US pledged the training operation after al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) seized much of the Anbar Province. The Iraqi military has continued to try to oust them, with very limited success.

The training is expected to last through the end of April, though Iraqi troops are believed to only be scheduled to stay through the end of this month, and next month will just be for Jordan’s own forces.

The training operation appear to be organized completely separately from the other ongoing US training mission in Jordan, where they are training Syrian rebels in hopes of imposing regime change in Damascus.