[FormerLib]

How about a gigantic military base in Southeastern Europe and a hopping-off point to the middle East?

We could have achieved that without propping up a Jihadist state at the expense of their Christian victims. We could easily have leased the area for such a base in Bulgaria, Romania, or Greece for a fraction of what Kosovo is costing.

This reasoning doesn't pass the "smell test."

[americanophile]

Not just the smell test, it doesn't pass the geography test. It would I think be relatively easy to lease, as FormerLib suggests a base in the area, but in any event, we have a giant base in the region, it's called Aviano Air Base, not far from Trieste, it's only about 450 miles from Kosovo. 450 miles hardly seems a significant enough distance for an air wing to require us to support a breakaway Muslim state.