Republican: ‘Critical’ that US sell drones to Jordan

A Republican on the House Armed Services Committee is urging President Obama to sell unarmed surveillance drones to Jordan.

“Jordan has made requests for specific resources — including ammunition. Given our mutual interests, and our strong relationship, it’s absolutely critical that we provide Jordan the support needed to defeat the Islamic State,” Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who met with Jordan’s King Abdullah during his visit the U.S. this week, wrote in a Feb. 5 letter to the president.

{mosads}Duncan said the administration should “immediately” reverse a decision that denied a request by the San Diego-based contractor General Atomics to export its unarmed Predator XP drone to Jordan.

Providing surveillance drones “will provide Jordan critical mission capability in the fight against the Islamic State and ensure Jordan is given every advantage,” according to Hunter.

The plea from Duncan comes after a video released this week by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) showed militants burning 1st Lt. Moaz al-Kasasbeh alive in a cage.

The terror group captured the Jordanian pilot after his F-16 went down while fighting the extremist group on Christmas Eve.

The killing marked a new level of brutality for the terrorist organization and spurred an array of Capital Hill lawmakers — from the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — to call for a sharp response from the administration.