Word: jordan
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...power last July. It began with a "policy of openness," pledged to stamp out corruption, release political prisoners and welcome exiles home. But the junta had too narrow a power base to tolerate such liberal measures. Last Dec. 3, when the Israelis shelled and bombed Iraqi forces in Jordan, the Al-Bakr regime was quick to blame its growing internal troubles on Israeli spies...
...Israel, where flags flew at half-staff in mourning, Premier Levi Eshkol vowed that "the Lord shall avenge their blood." Israelis speculated on earthly reprisals, from bombing the 17,000 Iraqi troops stationed in Jordan to knocking out Baghdad TV. However, the executions presented Israel with a cruel dilemma: any reprisal would inevitably endanger the 2,500 Jews still living in Iraq...
...Arab world, the Soviet proposal met with mixed reactions. Syria and Iraq oppose the plan, as do the El Fatah commandos. Other Arabs, however, seem considerably more interested. Lebanon and Jordan indicated at least tacit approval of the Soviet initiative and Egypt hinted that it might go along as well...
Along the Middle East's frontiers, bristling with weaponry, rolled a drumfire of incidents, any one of which could spark a new war. Israeli and Jordanian artillery dueled across the Jordan valley. Arab fedayeen guerrillas mortared a copper mine and three Israeli settlements, killing an 18-year-old army girl. In reprisal, Israelis strafed fedayeen positions, and jet-escorted helicopters blasted a Jordanian police car, killing three security men. From Lebanon, long the most peaceable of Israel's neighbors, Arab guerrillas rained rocket shells on the town of Qiryat Shemona and a nearby kibbutz, killing two civilians...
...aftermath of the reprisal raid on Beirut airport by Israeli commandos, the Middle East last week seemed closer to war than at any time since all-out hostilities formally ceased 19 months ago. Jordan mobilized 17-year-olds, and King Hussein urgently called for an Arab summit conference. Diplomats of the U.S., Russia, Britain and France met in three capitals to discuss the crisis. In Washington, officials judged the Middle East the one place right now where a confrontation with the Russians could occur, and a White House aide reported that the turbulent region is uppermost in President Johnson...