US embassy cable - 03AMMAN2548

UNCLAS AMMAN 002548 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PM/CPP SWEBERG/ROSATI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KSPR, MARR, MCAP, MOPS, PINS, JO 
SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR ASSESSMENT OF ENHANCED 
INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING CAPABILITIES (EIPC) PROGRAM IN 
JORDAN 
 
REF: STATE 99396 
 
(U) The following answers are keyed to reftel questions A1-12. 
 
(A1) To date, 22 Jordanian trainers have been trained at CCMR 
through the EIPC program.  Of this total, 15 received 
training in 2001, 3 received training in 2002, and 4 received 
training in 2003. 
 
(A2) The "train the trainer" concept has been successful. 
The 22 trainers noted above have been able to deliver 
improved training to 1,944 Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) 
personnel who have passed through its Peacekeeping Center 
during the past year.  To our knowledge, all the individuals 
who received CCMR training are currently serving as 
instructors at the JAF Peacekeeping Center. 
 
(A3) Jordan has long been an enthusiastic participant in 
international PKOs.  EIPC support -- by outfitting the JAF 
Peacekeeping Center with computers, English language training 
labs, and other training aids and equipment, and by improving 
the curriculum of the instructors -- has ensured that 
Jordanian Peacekeepers arrive in the field better prepared 
for their mission than had been the case prior to the 
beginning of this program. 
 
(A4) Jordan currently has 1,200 personnel deployed in UN 
peacekeeping missions around the world, including in Eritrea, 
Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Georgia.  Additionally, 
Jordan has deployed an additional 900 personnel to staff 
field hospitals in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the West Bank which 
are not part of UN PKOs. 
 
(A5) The JAF has said it would welcome additional EIPC funds 
that would allow for training in the U.S. or other countries 
that have state-of-the-art PK training facilities.  It also 
had previously requested that EIPC funds be made available 
for construction of a new building at its Peacekeeping 
Center.  After being informed that EIPC funds could not be 
used for that purpose, Jordan used national funds to 
construct the building. 
 
(A6) Jordan would welcome ways for EIPC funds to be used to 
enhance its role as a regional peacekeeping center, such as 
funding training of other Middle East countries' PK students 
at the JAF training facility. 
 
(A7) Jordan has committed virtually all of its EIPC 
allocations to training and purchases of equipment for its 
Peacekeeping Center.  The Jordanians have complained, 
however, about the extended time it takes to purchase and 
deliver the equipment they have requested. 
 
(A8) No, Jordan has very limited resources to spend on 
peacekeeping.  Jordan wants to become a regional PK training 
center, but needs our help to achieve this goal. 
 
(A9) The JAF believes that it has developed a cadre of 
well-trained Peacekeepers who have earned the professional 
respect of counterparts around the world.  That said, given 
Jordan's perennially strapped finances, access to future EIPC 
funding would help ensure that the Jordanians continue to 
benefit from up-to-date training techniques, curricula and 
equipment. 
 
(A10) No, Jordan does not use FMS, EDA, IMET or other 
non-EIPC security assistance funds to support its 
peacekeeping activities. 
 
(A11) As noted above, Jordan sees itself as a regional leader 
in the field of Peacekeeping and has long wanted to transform 
its PK training facilities into a regional center that would 
train personnel from other Middle East countries.  EIPC 
support has helped that process along.  Regarding 
deployments, EIPC support has bolstered and encouraged 
Jordan's willingness to participate in PKOs around the world, 
including in Eritrea, East Timor, Sierra Leone and Bosnia, 
along with the more recent deployments of field hospitals in 
Afghanistan and post-Saddam Iraq. 
 
(A12) N/A. 
 
GNEHM