200 US Troops to Jordan Could Jump to 20,000 | Military.com
The Pentagon will send some 200 U.S. soldiers to Jordan to control spillover violence from the Syrian civil war, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Senate.
But the troops, near Jordan's border with Syria, could be the forerunner of 20,000 or more U.S. troops deployed if the Obama administration decides to intervene in the 2-year-old civil war, senior U.S. officials told the Los Angeles Times.
The 200 or so troops from the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas, will work alongside Jordanian forces to "improve readiness and prepare for a number of scenarios," Hagel told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Those scenarios could include securing chemical weapons arsenals or to prevent the war from spilling into neighboring countries, he said.
But the Pentagon has drawn up plans to possibly expand the force to 20,000 or more, the officials told the Times.
