The faint drumbeat of war could be heard in the Jordanian capital after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced Feb. 4 and Feb. 7, respectively, that they would be willing to participate in a coalition ground offensive in Syria to take on the Islamic State (IS). A Turkish official was then quoted Feb. 16 by Reuters as saying Ankara would like to see a ground operation if a consensus can be reached. Pundits in Amman, however, have expressed concerns about Jordan being dragged into a land war in Syria, warning that it would not be in the kingdom’s interest to join a US-led campaign there.
The mood in Jordan is driven by the fear that Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the kingdom, is pressuring Amman to supply troops or open its borders for a land incursion into southern Syria or both. Political commentator Mohammad Abu Rumman told Al-Monitor that at least three influential Saudi columnists had criticized Jordan’s low-key response to the Jan. 2 attack against the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, following the execution of the Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
One Saudi columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, criticized unnamed Arab countries in the Jan. 9 edition of Al-Hayat, charging, “You are either with us or against us.” Abu Rumman believes that Khashoggi's message was directed at Amman, and that such criticism of Jordan, which relies heavily on Saudi financial assistance, “is an indicator of the tepid relations between Amman and Riyadh, especially over the Syrian crisis.”
Since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011, Jordan's King Abdullah II has tried to keep his options open. Although he criticized Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and called on him to step down, he did not sever diplomatic relations with Damascus and has insisted on a political solution to the crisis. In contrast, the Saudis openly called for Assad's removal by force and began backing rebels challenging the regime. Abdullah did, however, take a hard line against the growing threat of IS, whose members he described as outlaws, at a time when Saudi Arabia was focusing its military efforts on Yemen.
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