The United States sent out troops to Jordan to help the country monitor Syria's chemical weapons and determine what measures need to be taken if violence breaks out in the area, according to U.S Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Wednesday, Oct. 10.

Roughly 150 U.S. special operations soldiers have been working with Jordanian forces to monitor chemical and biological weapon manufacturing sites in Syria - attempting to come up with a plan in case any form of violence breaks out.

"We continue to be concerned about security at those sites," Panetta said on Wednesday after a meeting of NATO ministers in Brussels, Belgium. "We want to ensure that security is maintained and we want to be very sure that those (weapons) do not fall into the wrong hands."

The same day that Panetta made the announcement, Metro New York reported details about Turkey detaining a Syrian passenger plane after they suspected it of carrying military equipment. Turkish forces suspected the plane of carrying weapons from Moscow, Russia. The news report added that military jets escorted the Airbus A-320 to its destination in Damascus. The plane carried around 30 passengers.

USA Today noted that the influx of U.S. troops in Jordan will also help build a headquarters in the country, where they can closely monitor any action taking place along the country's border with Syria. This act also rises the U.S. military involvement in the conflict, even though Washington talks continue to suggest a pull back on any direct intervention in Syria.

"We have a group of our forces there working to help build a headquarters there and to insure that we make the relationship between the United States and Jordan a strong one so that we can deal with all the possible consequences of what's happening in Syria," Panetta said.