Everyone is gushing over this silver-tongued Middle Eastern strongman — and it needs to stop
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Everyone loves a man in uniform, but such effusive praise for Jordan's king is problematic. Abdullah is an unelected authoritarian with near total control over Jordanian politics. The king can dissolve parliament at his pleasure, and controls every arm of force in the country, including the highly revered (and feared) General Intelligence Department (GID). Freedom of speech and association are tightly controlled in the country, and criticizing the crown is a criminal offense.
Moreover, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a somewhat enigmatic nation with little ability to exist on its own without the economic and military aid of several external benefactors. It is a nearly landlocked country with few natural resources, massive unemployment (very high youth unemployment), and a destabilizing refugee crisis. As many as two-thirds of the country is on the royal dole, and the government has been able to buttress its unhealthy economy thanks, in part, to the billions of dollars in aid received from the region's sheikdoms.
And whomever Jordan cannot buy or jail, it exports. The regime, until recently, has held a rather passive attitude toward its own citizens who went off to find jihad in other environs. The country is one of the largest contributors of foreign fighters to the civil war in Syria, and at least 1,500 Jordanians are believed to be fighting alongside Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. Sending its problems elsewhere grants Jordan the liberty to strike at its own radicals in a remote setting with military hardware provided by Washington. Put another way: The U.S. is essentially underwriting Jordan's ability to freely bomb less desirable Jordanians.
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