I think partial answer is in your question.
“US has plenty of those in the region. What else would be worth the investment?”
Simply put it must have all the regions.
I’m curious though, why is this so impossible that the empire has players in all regions.
Empire will protect its partners
If it was just for a military base, it wouldn't have to be that expensive.
I.e. It really makes more sense that Israel holds US by the balls and extracts value from US year after year for decades now.
Sorry I don’t see it that way so I’ll disagree. There’s just so much more than just by the balls. Israel is in their hearts and minds.
I will continue to proclaim the greater Israel project is an American one.
That project definitely is something interesting.
But let's not forget that at first it wasn't USA sponsoring the idea of Israel's state. They keep finding new sponsors, before US it was UK. Before them it was France.
What about it be a shared project between UK/US?
The Christian Zionists in control.
[YouTube] Noam Chomsky - Why Does the U.S. Support Israel?
Well, it is a possibility. But the goal is ancient, preceding UK and USA, written in Torah way before those countries existed: "from the river of Egypt to Euphrates" is the promised land.
