The Beginning of Jordan’s Retaliation Against the Islamic State
Following the Islamic State’s release of a graphic new video last Tuesday depicting the immolation of Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kasasbeh, Jordan promised a response that would be “proportionate to the magnitude of the tragedy of all Jordanians.” Since then, Jordanian airstrikes against the Islamic State have reportedly destroyed 56 targets, degrading nearly 20 percent of the militants’ capabilities, according to Jordanian media. On December 24th, Islamic State militants captured Kasasbeh after his F-16 fighter plane crashed in Syria near the northern-city of Raqqa. The Islamic State proposed a prisoner swap: Sajida al-Rishawi, a would-be suicide bomber who was sentenced to death for attempting to carry out an
attack on a Jordanian hotel in 2005, for the Jordanian pilot. The Jordanian government expressed a willingness to negotiate but demanded proof of life, which was never procured. A short time after the 22-minute video called “Healing of the Believers’ Chests” became public, Jordanian state television reported that the assassination of Muath al-Kasasbeh occurred on January 3rd, indicating that ISIS had no real intention of sparing the pilot’s life.
When the news broke of Kasasbeh’s murder, it sent shock waves throughout the Middle East, prompting a universal outpouring of anger and revulsion. Jordan’s King Abdullah II, in Washington at the time of the video’s release, held an unscheduled meeting with President Obama before cutting his trip short and departing for Jordan early on February 3rd. In a short televised address to the Jordanian people, the King denounced Kasasbeh’s murder as an act of “cowardly terror by a criminal group that has no relation to Islam,” promising a harsh retaliation.
True to its word, the Jordanian government reacted quickly to Kasasbeh’s murder. At dawn on February 4th, hours after the release of ISIS’s video, Jordan executed two convicted terrorists, Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karouli. Al-Karouli was convicted in 2007 of plotting terrorist attacks, according to an interior ministry statement. On Thursday, a day after the executions, the Jordanian Armed Forces-Arab Army announced that the Royal Jordanian Air Force fighters carried out “Operation Martyr Muath,” successfully destroying multiple ISIS training camps and weapons warehouses. Thousands rallied in Jordan’s capital last Friday to condemn the killing of Kasasbeh and to celebrate their government’s swift military response.
As Jordan seeks to degrade and ultimately destroy the Islamic State, the aid of the international coalition will be crucial. The United States has already pledged to boost financial assistance to Jordan from $660 million per year over the last five years to $1 billion per year over the next three. On Saturday, the United Arab Emirates also announced the stationing of a UAE Air Force F-16 squadron in Jordan, a surprising development given the UAE’s recent withdrawal from the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition. A senior UAE government official stated that the move was meant to reassert the UAE’s appreciation of Jordan’s role in the fight against the Islamic State.
Royal Jordanian Air Force Commander Lieutenant-General Mansour Jbour stated that his pilots have identified the Islamic State’s “targets of gravity,” including leadership and training centers, sources of funding and personnel. Jbour also noted that Jordanian and allied airstrikes have killed over 7,000 Islamic State fighters in the past few weeks.
Although Jordan’s efforts this week in the fight against the Islamic State are certainly significant, defeating the group will be a collaborative, long-term venture. In an interview on Thursday, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said, “We are upping the ante. We’re going after them wherever they are and with everything that we have. It’s not the beginning, and it’s certainly not the end.”