Fresh off the death of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasaesbeh, the State Department has announced that they are planning to almost triple foreign aid to Jordan in response, tacking on another $1 billion per year.
The US had been sending Jordan $660 million per year, and the State Department says the “unprecedented strains” caused by the war with ISIS necessitates the increase.
Though they are presenting the situation as a calamity that they need to save Jordan from with more funding, US officials have made clear virtually from the moment the Kasaesbeh video broke that they hoped it would force Jordan into a more aggressive war policy.
So far it seems like it is, with Jordan talking up a major escalation against ISIS, and US officials openly thrilled with the idea, seeing Jordan’s escalation as a benefit to their own war effort.
