Posted on 08/18/2013 9:22:36 PM PDT by Nachum
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is heavily dependent on Egypt to move personnel and equipment to Afghanistan and around volatile parts of the Middle East, complicating U.S. efforts to place pressure on the Egyptian military in the wake of its violent crackdown on protesters.
"Egypt has been a cornerstone for the U.S. military presence in the Middle East," said James Phillips, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
During the past year, more than 2,000 U.S. military aircraft flew through Egyptian airspace, supporting missions in Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East, according to U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for the region.
About 35 to 45 U.S. 5th Fleet naval ships pass through the Suez Canal annually, including carrier strike groups, according to the Bahrain-based fleet. Egypt has allowed U.S. warships to be expedited, which often means getting to the head of a very long line of ships waiting for access to the canal.
"The Egyptian military has always been good to us," said Kenneth Pollack, an analyst at the Brookings Institution.
Egyptian cooperation is particularly critical at a time when the Pentagon is facing budget pressures and tensions with Iran remain high.
In response to the Egyptian military's bloody crackdown on protesters, President Obama announced this week the United States would cancel Bright Star, a training exercise with Egypt that had been scheduled for next month. Washington has also suspended the delivery of a shipment of F-16 fighter aircraft.
Obama stopped short of cutting off the $1.3 billion in annual military aid it supplies to Egypt, though some in Congress, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have called for cutting the aid.
In canceling the exercise the president said he was balancing the need to advance U.S. interests with "the principles that we believe in."
If Egypt cut off its
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
The list, Ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
The Suez canal is rather critical as well.
Not just to us, but to the world.
The Muslim Brotherhood also seems to think Egypt is important and our traitor in chief agrees completely with them.
Bump
****! HE has made the entire North of Africa a beach head against the West!
This is not rocket science.
Some here don’t think free passage means ****, and would have us stay isolated.
The neighbors are a messy lot.
Not engaging them is messier.
Supplies to Afghanistan are sent from Egypt or just over Egypt? Why is this being reported? No worries anyway, what’s another trillion in costs. Oh, we can’t afford it? No worries, just leave it all for the Taliban. (do I need to/s.)
Not anymore thanks to BO.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.