All well-known expressions, and they roll off the tongue so well. But they all have something in common – a message that says, in no uncertain terms, your contribution is really not needed.
And that is exactly the veiled message Cairo offered to the Pentagon after Egypt received its first order of Russian Sukhoi Su-35 jet fighters.
All brand new and shining in the Egyptian sunlight – take that, IDF. Take that, United States. That, and your threatened sanctions. Go bully someone else.
One could almost hear the wild dog packs of Cairo howling in appreciation.
Major-General Nasr Salem, the former head of the Egyptian army’s reconnaissance department and professor of strategic studies at the Nasser Higher Military Academy, told Al-Monitor that the Egyptian acquisition of the Su-35 fighters (NATO: Flanker-E), along with MiG-29Ms, Rafale fighters and F-16 Falcons, will ensure air control so as to protect Egyptian interests.
“Why doesn’t the US supply Egypt with the F-35 fighters that it supplied Israel with, since it is objecting to the Russian Su-35 fighters deal?” he asked, adding that Egypt’s military seeks to acquire equipment equal to that owned by Israel.
According to Russsia’s RT, “The sources indicated that these heavy and long-range fighter jets would give the Egyptian army superiority in the regional sky, which is why the US strongly objected.”
Russia’s Top War website, which focuses on defense affairs, reported on July 23 that the first batch of Su-35 fighters took off from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant and headed to the European side of Russia, from where they will be delivered to Egypt.