Did not get congress approval.....but did get UN approval. Remember this?
Twana
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RUSSELS (AP) — The United Stateshas sent military troops to the Jordan-Syria border to bolster that country's military capabilities in the event that violence escalates along its border with Syria, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.
Speaking at a NATO conference of defense ministers in Brussels, Panetta said the U.S. has been working with Jordan to monitor chemical and biological weapons sites in Syria and also to help Jordan deal with refugees pouring over the border from Syria. The troops are also building a headquarters for themselves.
But the revelation of U.S. military personnel so close to the 19-month-old Syrian conflict suggests an escalation in the U.S. military involvement in the conflict, even as Washington pushes back on any suggestion of a direct intervention in Syria.
It also follows several days of shelling between Turkey and Syria, an indication that the civil war could spill across Syria's borders and become a regional conflict.
"We have a group of our forces there working to help build a headquarters there and to insure that we make the relationship between the United States and Jordan a strong one so that we can deal with all the possible consequences of what's happening in Syria," Panetta said.
The development comes with the U.S. presidential election less than a month away, and at a time when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, has been criticizing President Barack Obama's foreign policy, accusing the administration of embracing too passive a stance in the convulsive Mideast region.
The defense secretary and other administration officials have expressed concern about Syrian President Bashar Assad's arsenal of chemical weapons. Panetta said last week that the United States believes that while the weapons are still secure, intelligence suggests the regime might have moved the weapons to protect them. The Obama administration has said that Assad's use of chemical weapons would be a "red line" that would change the U.S. policy of providing only non-lethal aid to the rebels seeking to topple him.
Pentagon press secretary George Little, traveling with Panetta, said the U.S. and Jordan agreed that "increased cooperation and more detailed planning are necessary in order to respond to the severe consequences of the Assad regime's brutality."
He said the U.S. has provided medical kits, water tanks, and other forms of humanitarian aid to help Jordanians assist Syrian refugees fleeing into their country.
Little said the military personnel were there to help Jordan with the flood of Syrian refugees over its borders and the security of Syria's stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
"As we've said before, we have been planning for various contingencies, both unilaterally and with our regional partners," Little said in a written statement. "There are various scenarios in which the Assad regime's reprehensible actions could affect our partners in the region. For this reason and many others, we are always working on our contingency planning, for which we consult with our friends."
A U.S. defense official in Washington said the forces are made up of 100 military planners and other personnel who stayed on in Jordan after attending an annual exercise in May, and several dozen more have flown in since, operating from a joint U.S.-Jordanian military center north of Amman that Americans have used for years.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the mission on the record.
In Jordan, the biggest problem for now seems to be the strain put on the country's meager resources by the estimated 200,000 Syrian refugees who have flooded across the border — the largest fleeing to any country.
Several dozen refugees in Jordan rioted in their desert border camp of Zaatari early this month, destroying tents and medicine and leaving scores of refugee families out in the night cold.
Jordanian men also are moving the other way across the border — joining what intelligence officials have estimated to be around 2,000 foreigners fighting alongside Syrian rebels trying to topple Assad. A Jordanian border guard was wounded after armed men — believed trying to go fight — exchanged gunfire at the northern frontier.
Turkey has reinforced its border with artillery guns and deployed more fighter jets to an air base close to the border region after an errant Syrian mortar shell killed five people in a Turkish border town last week and Turkey retaliated with artillery strikes.
Turkey's military chief Gen. Necdet Ozel vowed Wednesday to respond with more force to any further shelling from Syria, keeping up the pressure on its southern neighbor a day after NATO said it stood ready to defend Turkey.
Replies
It is amazing, the more I read the more I feel as though quite a few in our Government need a proctologist. The weapons of mass destruction, (Chemical) were a gift to the Syrians by Saddam. That is why we only found the shelters, and not the weapons in Iraq. Now also, since Pannetta has uppped the ante in the Middle East, he can cry for more money and further screw thr soldiers and retirees out of the Healthcare.. They have already robbed the lockbox dedicated funds for Tricare For Life, along with the Congress. The Congress can never make good on all the IOUs it owes to Social Security/Medicare.
Nor make up for the converted purpose of the Social Security Funds for welfare projects. Washington, DC is like one big
toilet hat will take a long time to flush. But if we don't flush it soon, the sewer will back up.
Top Menges
Obama, the Commander in Chief, is a muslim! Our enemies are those of the muslim faith who call us the Great Satan! They call Israel the Little Satan! Obama will use any system to destroy America... bankrupt us and make us a third world country... usurp all power and transfer our country to the muslim radicals who (thanks to No Immigration enforcement and No southern borders) are already in place by the millions throughout our country to take over - establish their muslim caliphate complete with Sharia law! He has been sponsored and groomed many years from Saudi Arabia for this purpose! He is a treasonous imposter with a conspiracy in place to complete what the twin towers announced! allah akbar is his slogan! That is his goal and he has used any method necessary to achieve it! We must WAKE UP! If he loses the election... he won't go! He will create a State of Emergency for some phony reason and declare Martial law! When he does, in accordance with his own Executive Order Congress can do nothing for six months. It will then be too late! The clock is ticking! Congress must move! Some members of Congress may be participating in this Conspiracy because it seems insane that no one has taken action until now! Everytime the House attempts anything, the Senate doesn't act! SHAME ON YOU CONGRESS!
An Executive Order does not override our Constitution!
I agree however, the EOs are being enforced and the constitution ignored. We need a major overhaul in DC.
God help us if obummer get a second term.
We are such a gracious country.We have a president that just completely goes around our Congress and Senate. He works under the backing of the U.N.. At the same time he is suing our S/Western states for trying to stop the take over of our own country by Mexico. When does the madness stop. We have people that are backing what he is doing. They had better remember that once they get Az, Ca., Tx, and N/Mex they are not going to stop. What Mexico does not take the Muslims will. Where do the Americans go then. Of course that is not our governments problem that is our own. They have protected themselves to the point that they will still receive their pay, pensions, and health care. They are once again showing that they could care less about America or it's people. The people need to show them in November that we do not need them either.Wake up America you are watching as our elected officials are stealing everything you have. "THEY ARE LIKE MANY OF THE COUNTRIES WE ARE SUPPORTING. THEY HATE US AND WE KEEP PAYING THEM ANYWAY".
This is serious stuff. Obama has opened a can of worms.
OLD LEON IS A CARD CARRYING COMMUNIST. HE HATES AMERICA JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE CORRUPT REGIME!
Here is another fine example of why we need to vet EVERY OFFICER for a Cabinet Post and everyone of them, if they can't understand and will NOT abide by the laws set down by the founding fathers and their OATHS, Don't ever let them into positions of power, like has been done with Panetta. He is a "Globalist" and deserves to be put on a boat with the rest of the UN and send them to another country, after we strip all their rights, including Citizenship and take what money they have and pay our debt down and then NEVER, EVER, ALLOW THESE PEOPLE INTO OUR COUNTRY AGAIN....
And it may come to a massive civil war, sooner than people expect it, but I support the Military to engage the current administrations removal from office, at whatever the cost will be, sooner, rather than later. They can call me, if they need help. The business of America will be done.