Navid Nasr : JORDAN'S KING DISCUSSES REGIONAL CHALLENGES WITH CODEL HOEKSTRA http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/6964

date: 7/25/2006 9:04 refid: 06AMMAN5567 origin: Embassy Amman classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination: header: VZCZCXYZ0009 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHAM #5567/01 2060904 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 250904Z JUL 06 FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2578 INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD IMMEDIATE 3442 RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU IMMEDIATE 0025 RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME IMMEDIATE 1395

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Codel Hoekstra met for an hour with King Abdullah II on July 24 at Queen Alia International Airport, just before the King's departure for Kuwait. Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra thanked the King for his support of a strong U.S.-Jordan relationship and his contributions toward stabilizing the region. Congressman Renzi praised the King for his courage and creativity, and for his help in the campaign against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He asked for more detail on the King's effort to build an alliance against Iran. The King described this effort as containing offensive and defensive elements. The defense included rebuffing Iranian efforts reach out to Arab Shia; the King wanted the conflict cast in Arab-Persian terms, not Sunni-Shia ones. As for the offensive component, the Arabs needed to develop stronger cards to use against Iran. The King did not believe Iran was as strong as it pretended to be. There were chinks in its armor. One idea was to use Iran's own tactic, and support minority elements inside Iran.

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The King felt it was necessary to address the Iranian threat with one voice, and focus initially on Syria as the most vulnerable of Iran's assets. He described privileged Saudi/Egyptian relations with Syria as "gone" but said that Jordan had gone along with a Saudi/Egyptian desire to give the Asad regime one last chance to join the Arab mainstream and disavow obnoxious policies, including support for Iraqi insurgents, its behavior in Lebanon, and its facilitation of Iranian threats to the Arab world. Abdullah discounted the likelihood of Syrian action, but at least this effort would clarify matters for those who make excuses for Damascus. The King stressed the importance of focusing on Syria in the campaign to curtail Iranian influence. President Asad, he said, argued that the internal choice was "me or the Muslim Brothers." The King advocated concerted efforts to develop other options, perhaps by cultivating a coalition of Kurds, Druze, Sunni tribes, and the Sunni urban class. As for the challenge of Iran, it was important to "close the vulnerability" the present paralysis on the Palestinian/Israeli front presented for Iranian exploitation.

[THANKS NAVID FOR THE ARTICLE...ALSO SEE...ZIONIST WATCH- ISRAHELL ENSURES JORDAN PUPPET KING NOT OVERTHROWN http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2011/06/zionist-watch-israhell-ensures-jordan.html