As 17 other nations opt out of ‘Eager Lion’ drills, Jordanian general downplays their absence

US Major General Ralph H. Groover (R) and Jordanian Brigadier General Fahed Al-Damen shake hands following a press conference about the 2016 "Eager Lion" joint military exercise in Amman, on May 15, 2016. (AFP PHOTO / KHALIL MAZRAAWI)
US Major General Ralph H. Groover (R) and Jordanian Brigadier General Fahed Al-Damen shake hands following a press conference about the 2016 “Eager Lion” joint military exercise in Amman, on May 15, 2016. (AFP PHOTO / KHALIL MAZRAAWI)

 

Only Jordan and the United States are to take part in this year’s Eager Lion military exercise, commanders said on Sunday, compared with the 18 nations that participated last year.

A total of 6,000 troops will undertake 10 days of maneuvers in the kingdom — 3,000 from each country and including special forces as well as air, ground and naval forces, Brigadier General Ralph Groover said.

Jordan’s Brigadier General Fahd al-Damen said nothing should be read into the absence of other participating countries this year.

“This exercise was from the outset a bilateral event but in recent years we organized multilateral maneuvers at the request of other countries,” he told a news conference.

As reported by The Times of Israel