Russia and Egypt Move Toward Deal on Air Bases
One thing to bear in mind is the question of "What, really, is Russia's ultimate aim for interfering with US politics?"
Having the US embroiled in a chaotic paroxysm of internal politics is just as good, if not better, than obtaining the direct cooperation of US politicians. The brilliance is that in obtaining the latter in the form of a joke of a man having been elected president, it is also assured that operation of the mechanisms to rid ourselves of him, which I have every expectation we will accomplish, will leave us crippled as a nation for quite some time. And it's been too long already.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/world/middleeast/russia-egypt-air-bases.html?_r=0
LONDON — Egypt, in what appeared to be a snub to the Trump administration, has reached a preliminary agreement to allow Russian military jets to use its airspace and bases, both sides said Thursday.
If finalized, the agreement would give Russia its deepest presence in Egypt since 1973, when Cairo expelled the military of the Soviet Union and instead became Washington’s closest Arab ally.
The United States has provided Egypt more than $70 billion in aid in the four decades since, at a rate of more than $1.3 billion a year in recent years. The cost is often justified in part by the argument that it secures the use of Egypt’s airspace and bases for the American military.
Egyptian and American analysts called the preliminary deal the latest sign of the waning influence of the United States as President Trump has diminished its military and diplomatic footprint in the region and the world.
