German Army shifts to Jordan

 The German Bundeswehr is about to reorient its presence in the Middle East. At their exploratory talks to form a coalition government, the CDU-CSU/SPD decided to phase out the mandate to train Iraq’s Kurdish Peshmerga in Erbil - already at the end of April, according to recent information. At the same time, the German Armed Forces is preparing for a possible long-term deployment at the al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan. In addition to flying reconnaissance missions from this base, “other assignments” are in discussion, for example the training of Iraqi soldiers or dispatching “advisors” to various countries in the region. For many years, Berlin has been focused on obtaining political, economic and military influence in the Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region. However, the September 25, 2017 referendum on secession has considerably weakened the region, exposing it to growing Iranian influence. For the time being, it can hardly be considered a vehicle serving to implement German interests…

Berlin is also flexibilizing its lobbying accordingly. The German military must withdraw from Erbil - thereby giving up its priority focus on Northern Iraq’s Kurdish Peshmerga - and move to the al-Azraq air base in Jordan, approx. 100 km to the east of the capital Amman. This is where the German anti-IS Coalition contingent - consisting of four reconnaissance aircraft and a refueling plane with their personnel - was moved last year from its previous base in Incirlic Turkey, following Berlin’s acrimonious rift with Ankara. During her visit to al-Azrak, in mid-January, Defense Minister von der Leyen announced that Berlin intends to significantly downgrade the ceiling of the current mandate for the anti-IS war, which had originally been set at a rather high 1,200 soldiers, to make possible the seemingly personnel-intensive accompaniment of a French aircraft carrier by two German frigates, in reaction to the terrorist attacks in Paris. The frigate deployment has since been ended. The reduction of the troop level to less than 300 has practically already been achieved. At the same time, however, the minister declared that it is dangerous to “underestimate the IS,” as recently became evident by the flare up of combat. The territorial rule has been defeated, but not the IS itself, therefore it is necessary to continue the operations. We need to clarify “how the character of this assignment must be modified.”

It is reported that insiders assume that not only the reconnaissance flights will continue to be flown from al-Azraq, but “other assignments” may possibly be in the making, for those troops stationed in Jordan. For example, Iraqi soldiers could be trained or “trainers and advisors could be dispatched to various countries in the region” from the al-Azraq base. Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen confirmed to Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi in Davos that the Bundeswehr will train Iraqi soldiers in the future. It is unclear, whether these soldiers will be from Iraq’s official military or a certain number of Peshmerga. In a recent paper, Germany’s Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS), calls for continuing to maintain good relations with Erbil. If this is not done, “the Kurds could come under stronger Iranian and Turkish influence” - rather than that of Germany.