Russia having an outpost in Libya gives them control of more oil, and allows them to intimidate Europe from a new direction.
It’s hard for some to see & understand the big picture.
Which probably would not happen had the European powers and the U.S. not overthrown Gaddafi and created the mess in the first place.
Under the Bush administration the U.S. made peace with Libya, accepted their apology for terrorism, and signed agreements for trading products.
Flash forward a few years and Obama broke the agreement and proceeded to help destroy Libya and giving our enemies all the more reason not to trust our word.
One thing always holds true, neocons never learn.
You post, “Russia having an outpost in Libya gives them control of more oil, and allows them to intimidate Europe from a new direction.” I gather you would prefer — Turkey having an outpost in Libya gives them control of the Islamist movement that maintains a hold on Tripoli and Misrata and intimidates Europe from a new direction.
#4. Puts Malta within range of Libyan/Russian guns and missiles. Happened before.
Russia in Syria controls a lot of the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Time or Manpad missiles to our “allies” in Libya thru whoever is helping them. Make it another Afghanistan Stingerfest in which the Soviets/Russians not only lost about 60 mixed aircraft (planes and helicopters), but also air dominance and mountain-top Spetnaz landing places.
History is very interesting. Please try reading some of it from the geo-strategic point of view.