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"What is happening there is going to affect us here," Gabbay said. "Our military interests, our economic interests. This part of the world is most important in terms of our energy, in terms of our oil supply."
Gabbay is an expert in Middle East relations. He is also a former member of the Israeli Defense Force. He knows that people understand the obvious impacts of oil and gas prices. But he says the impact goes deeper than that.
"The whole Arab world could be changing," Gabbay said. "All of this is now shaken, is shuffled and may also have ramifications as a domino effect on the regime in Jordan, the regime in Libya, in Morocco."
Egypt is a large nation with a population of more than 80,000,000 people, which is equivalent to California, Texas, and New York combined. Geographically, Egypt is about four times the size of Colorado.
He says for the United States, Egypt is a critical ally for the military. He says it could be an access point for troops from Fort Carson. Egypt controls valuable air space which might be needed by F-16 pilots from Buckley Air Force Base.
Then, there's the Suez Canal. It connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea towards Iraq and Afghanistan. Gabbay says if a new Egyptian leader cuts off access the Suez Canal, that could pose a problem America's Sixth Naval Fleet which monitors the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
"If anything happens in Egypt, it may affect the peace process with Israel," Gabbay said. "It's basically the distance from Arvada to Aurora."
He points out that America's strongest ally in the region is Israel. With potential instability to Israel's direct neighbor, Gabbay says the U.S. could be easily drawn into a conflict.
"Indeed, the government, the society in Israel is very nervous," Gabbay said.
Egypt is also a valuable resource for military intelligence, according to Gabbay. He says after the 9/11 tragedy, the efforts to go after the terrorists was funneled through Egypt.
"Egypt was a very important, a very important spring board for our intelligence, for our fighting with al-Qaeda," Gabbay said.
That's why he says Coloradoans should pay attention to what's been happening in Egypt and what will be coming next.
"What it does look like is the affiliation of the [new Egyptian] leader will be with the military," Gabbay said.
(KUSA-TV © 2011 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)