Quote:
Originally Posted by Silent Hunter UK
Suez itself was blocked by Egypt from 1967 to 1975. Not have it open adds considerable journey time for anyone heading from Europe to the Far East.
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Thats why the French clearing away the wrecks of the sunken ships in 2000 so the Canal was open for business again was so important to them. With the deployment into Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait it was vital that they have the Canal open again to support that effort. You can see why they absorbed Djibouti into the French Union - gives them basically permanent control of one end of the Red Sea and the perfect base for supporting traffic going to and from the Canal.