Posted on 06/06/2019 5:42:11 AM PDT by Kaslin
ATHENS -- After Greece temporarily hosted a pair of U.S. military drones, Greek Defense Minister Panagiotis Kammenos said last fall that, "It's very important for Greece that the United States deploy military assets in Greece on a more permanent base."
Indeed, Greece just took delivery of some 70 military helicopters that it had purchased from the U.S., and there have been discussions about basing American drones, air tankers and other military aircraft on Greek soil.
COSCO, a state-owned Chinese shipping and logistics services company, has invested more than 3.5 billion euros in renovating the historic Greek port of Piraeus, which is now the second-largest port in the Mediterranean. The Chinese brag that it will soon become the busiest. The massive renovation is part of China's 35-year lease of two of the port's container terminals and the Chinese purchase of a majority stake in Piraeus' port authority.
Despite recent spats, Vladimir Putin's Russia remains a supposed ally of Greece, given historic religious ties and the envisioned completion of a natural-gas pipeline that will supply Russian gas to energy-starved Greece.
Greece has a complicated relationship with its European Union partners after its catastrophic financial meltdown and the often Dickensian terms of reform and repayment demanded by German bankers. Yet Greece appreciates that more European Union money goes into the country than goes out, even if many Greeks resent bitterly high-handed German dictates -- and being manipulated as the frontline transit center for hundreds of thousands of migrants swarming into Europe from Africa and the Middle East.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
It's not complicated at all. As soon as Greece is no longer useful to the EU, it'll be kicked to the curb and left to drown in its own debt.
There's nothing complicated about it.
“Greece just took delivery of some 70 military helicopters that it had purchased from the U.S....”
What the h*** did Greece pay for them with!!? That’s a lot of olive oil!!
Security enterprise delivers Kiowa helicopters to Greece
.. looks like we paid them to buy our helos.
Kiowa’s are, shall we say, less than respected in the military. I’m not surprised we gave them away.
Not a chance. Greece survives only because either Turkey or Germany ignores it.
In the coming age deflation, Greece will suffer like anyone else, but has virtually no capital to live off of like Germany.
Yup. In this case, probably better than auctioning off the surplus helicopters at scrap price here.
Getting them into the hands of a non-Muslim country in that region is probably worth it.
While this was getting rid of surplus equipment, the real money game is "foreign aid" for new stuff.
We give a country "foreign aid". They are required to use the money to buy stuff from the USA, mostly union made in democrat and RINO districts.
The democrats and RINOs buy votes, and some of the money gets laundered back to them through the unions and contributions from workers and employers.
Ouzo, feta and stuffed grape leaves.
Isn’t there a NATO base on Crete?
I flew OH-58’s back in my youth just to maintain minimums.
The “A” model was known as the “Frisbee”. Enough power for two pilots & a map & no more.
The “D” model was upengined & otherwise improved. I never got to fly it but the Scout should do the Greeks some good.
Now someone up in the air can shout, “Where did all those f***ing Turks come from!!? Americans, come back, all is forgiven!!!”
I hate ouzo. It’s like the worst tasting cough syrup.
Old enough to remember Melina Mercouri & the Papandreou’s hurling venom at America and Athens airport was a terrorist hub.
The colonels shouldn’t have overthrown the monarchy in 1967, but the socialists that came after them were much worse & turned the place into the basket case it is today.
“Ouzo, feta and stuffed grape leaves.”
Don’t forget the Mousaka.
Or the Spaniels copulating. At least that’s what it sounded like the waitress said at the Greek restaurant I was in decades ago. I’d had several glasses of Ouzo and wasn’t processing sound inputs too good at the time.
Its by Victor Davis Hanson ..so has some weight.
LOL!
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