US Troops have been deployed to Jordan. They are close to the Syrian border. According to a statement of Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, 100 troops have been deployed to the Syrian border. US News reports quotes the statements of Congressman Dennis Kucinich:

Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich believes the deployment of American troops in Jordan — which was announced Wednesday — brings the United States “immeasurably” closer to being dragged into the civil war in Syria.

“I can see in a moment how it happens: we’re a few dozen miles from the Syrian border and all of a sudden we are within the reach of physical danger. All it takes is a single incident,” Kucinich said in a phone interview with U.S. News.

The Ohio congressman pointed to the fact that this troop deployment, which is described by the Jordanian government as “routine” (under a bilateral US-Jordan military cooperation agreement) was ordered by the president and commander-in-chief  “without notifying Congress.”

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta disclosed on Wednesday that over 100 American troops had been sent to near the Jordanian border with Syria.

“As we’ve said before, we have been planning for various contingencies, both unilaterally and with our regional partners,” explained Pentagon spokesman George Little in a statement reported by The Associated Press.

According to Kucinich:

“Putting U.S. troops on that border draws the U.S. much closer to war in Syria, which is a nightmare already and can be more of a nightmare for our country”

“There’s a trail of causality here, … Once you position U.S troops on the border of a conflict area,  it immeasurably increases the possibility of the U.S. getting drawn into the conflict — because we’re there.” (quoted in usnews.com, October 10, 2012)