Abdullah II
Reader comment on item: Jordan's King Abdullah II Echoes My Thoughts on Iraq

Submitted by Tony (United States), Jan 3, 2007 at 07:02

I can tell you from personal experience that King Abdullah is a kind, thoughtful and energetic man determined to be the best monarch for his country. I happened to be a classmate of his during a 6 month military course at Fort Knox, KY in 1985. He was very friendly, bright and articulate.

As most of you know, he has degrees from Western institutions. His views of the progress of the nation states around him is "spot-on." He also understands that he has many struggles internal to Jordan that make him a potential target for those same neighbors. Because of these factors, he has to execute a delicate balancing act that one one hand, could make his and his country a "center-piece" for the region. On the other hand, his country could be subjected to various forms of chaos. Not enought to overthrow the government, but enough to cause the rest of the region to reconsider the "strength" of Jordan.

There is no doubt that there is capable leadership that can be drawn from the ranks of the former Iraqi Army. One problem that is faced in the reconstruction of the Army was the lack of forethought move of Paul Bremmer to wholesale disband the Army. Paull Bremmer should never have been appointed to that post in Iraq and of course the only one to blame for that is President Bush. Bremmer did not have the experience, was an opportunist, and was an ardent oppponent of the US military and the potential progress that could be made by US forces.

Bremmer should have learned from history that you do not have to disband the vanquished army wholesale. An example here would be that the allies did not disband the German Army post-WWII just because the Army was run by the Nazi party. I guess Bremmer was not a student of history. Anyway, I have seen and met some of the potential "strong-men" that could bring significant order to the country while awaiting the "catch-up" of the democratic process (in what-ever form it takes).

There is certainly more that can be written on the topic from my experience on the "inside."

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