Jordan Times
Friday, March 18, 2005
Kingdom's role
'essential' — Myers
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — A top US army general on Thursday said
Jordan plays an “essential” role in backing stability and security in Iraq.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Richard Myers told reporters here at
a roundtable meeting that the Kingdom “has the right to be proud of the role it
has been playing in bringing again stability to this region.”
Myers said Jordan's current training of 3,000 Iraqi police and army cadets “will
have a profound effect on the security situation” of the neighbouring country.
Under the programme, which started in 2004, 32,000 Iraqi army and police
recruits are expected to train in Jordan by 2006.
“The cadets are being taught how to enforce the rule of the law rather than the
rule of force,” he added.
He said he was “very impressed” with the training of the Iraqi Special Forces
here.
Cadets receive “democratically based” policing methods and are educated on
subjects such as human rights, community policing, domestic violence, search and
seizure, and firearms training.
Myers, who met with top Jordan Armed Forces officers, said he “had a clear
picture of how involved Jordan is” in world peacekeeping, particularly in Iraq,
referring also to the Kingdom's field hospital in Fallujah. “Jordan is very
involved in trying to make the world a better place,” said the general, who has
been on a five-day tour of Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. “I thought
it was important to stop by Jordan and talk about military relationship and the
many things that we have in common, including the vision for peace in this
region,” the general told reporters.
Myers visited the Kingdom in 2002 and 1986, when he took part in joint military
exercises with the Jordanian army.