I am enjoying the squeals of outrage as everybody tears into Pete Hegseth and of course President Trump for "failing to see that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz and that of course the USN would have to escort every single ship in and out of the Persian Gulf because...." What makes it so deliciously funny is that not one of those ships everyone is demanding escorts from us, is ours. We don't have US flagged merchant ships racing each other to get in and out of the Persian Gulf. None. Zero. Zilch.
The countries that would be responsible for protecting their own ships are ranked as follows:
I am certain that Panama, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Hong Kong and Singapore are all sending scores of heavily armed warships to provide escorts and security for their ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Other countries and organizations bleating about escort needs and requirements are entitled to look to their own navies for such things because it is no part of the United States duties to provide escorts for every Tom, Dick and Harry. Let them summon the mighty Royal Navy and of course the fleets or warships from the EU that are just lying around looking good and sunning themselves in the Baltic and Mediterranean. God knows they're not doing anything else right now.
Now Europe, now you see what President Trump was on about when he told you in no uncertain terms to start providing for your own defense needs and stop counting on the United States to do all the work and bear all the expense? Now do you get it?
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| I think Merkel is saying, "not our problem" and Trump is disagreeing. |
Where are the European navies and aircraft so eager to secure the flow of goods to Europe?
20 comments:
Where is the Chinese navy? The Middle East supplies 25% of China's petroleum which will wreak havoc on its economy. Ditto the Indians.
Al, the Chinese navy is supposed to have some ships shadowing US ships. I haven't seen that verified by a reasonable source, but it appears that the PLAN doesn't have combatant ships in the Gulf region, but a larger improved version of the AGI that the Soviets used to shadow US fleet movements.
All these ships are flagged in these podunk "nations" for tax purposes and other legal shenanigans. If these countries want the US Navy to protect them send them the bill for those services.
Al- The Iranians are letting them through when they identify themselves and IIRR Pakistan(?) also.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iran-plane-leaves-india-with-sailors-bodies-as-indian-ships-win-hormuz-reprieve/ar-AA1YzIix?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=69b52114390f414494a94642b7a061a1&ei=16
Iran is allowing non-combatant shipping through the strait.
Looks like India went from visiting Bibi the week before the Purim Attack, not condemning the Iranian ship being sunk DURING an Iran-Indian Naval exercise to a non-combatant.
When your enemy is screwing up...don't interfere...
Might should get those payments in advance.
When the US spun off the Marshall Islands from protectorate status to independent nation the MI hired some good lawyers….. as the document had a clause that MI flagged vessels would be treated by the US as if they were US flagged. iri-registery.
In the age of satellite ISR it's not a good idea to underestimate your enemy's ability to "figure out" clever schemes.
Oh, look, chuckle we got away with it as the 1st mate is tapping your shoulder and pointing out the drone incoming.
But it is fun to pretend we are so much smarter than our foes.
When was the last war America won again? Bomb then to the stone age Linebacker 1/2 and so on in Vietnam? Afghanistan? Iraq was never fully secure aside from our green zone CURRENTLY under fire from militant Iraqi forces, the Hothi-Navy games current score Hothi's 2 navy 0?
BTW seems not only oil it's getting INTERESTING in the Fertilizer Department. South America requires that fertilizer if we'd like a large part of our beef and such in America. Not to mention fuel costs even if they figure out how to maintain those farms and ranches.
Our fertilizer factories have been at full capacity for decades and WE Import Fertilizer.
Fertilizer like Oil is a Just in Time product, no national spare supply waiting around.
War is more than blasting cities and such, it's economics and critical supply issues. Coming soon to a farmer near you.
BTW my fertilizer pre-order from last year has been canceled due to "unforeseen circumstances". I was encouraged to reorder and get in que.
Napolean was right "Never disrupt an enemy when he is making a serious mistake".
Nice try. I don't see a single one of them falling into compliance with the Jone's Act and in so far as protection of our commercial shipping even in wartime, look to the records from the past. The USN does not play that game. Look at what it takes and who must be convinced for the USN to even think about engaging in the ludicrous practice of protecting 'trade.'
Well, well from Trump telling England not to bother sending an Aircraft Carrier "to a war we've already WON" to now DEMANDING all oil needing countries to SEND Warships immediately to get the Strait OPEN AND the twice burned Kurds informing America "We'll fight but YOUR TROOPS have to be there also".
Praying that somehow, we can disengage from this tar baby before the Sampson Option is executed by Israel against the nations they feel have betrayed them.
SNIP Jerico 3 Range
The Jericho III missile, also known as the YA-4, is a solid-fueled intermediate-range ballistic missile developed by Israel. It has an estimated range between 4,800 and 6,500 kilometers, with some sources suggesting it could reach up to 11,500 kilometers depending on the payload configuration. This range allows it to strike targets across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and potentially parts of North and South America and Australia.
Or we could simply let all just-in-time manufacturers, and their bankers and creditors, learn a lesson.
Anon, While I can agree in principle I'm not going to enjoy watching food, energy, medicines and everything else go to prices that most Americans cannot afford.
Barrons and many other sources are already saying Defaults on credit cards and that so many are maxed out says a lot of "We the People" already are economically stressed.
I was a driving to work Adult during the odd even gasoline rationing. I was there when the sour joke, NOT a Joke was
You can pay for gasoline, rent, electricity, medicine and food.
PICK 3.
Fixed income and the working poor will suffer the most. I suspect to keep the GIMMIE DATS from rioting (like happened about two years or so ago when EBT was Malfunctioning in but a few states for a day or two) that they will pump even more debt dollars into those EBT cards.
But the definition of Inflation is MORE DOLLARS chasing that same loaf of bread and thus that will just heat up the inflation cycle.
If PRINTING (Ok Electronic digits) Money makes prosperity that Wimar Germany's hyperinflation should have made Germany RICH.
China's proxy war against America wasn't planned in a knee jerk response.
Politicians signed the document. I don’t believe the navy was asked…..Jones Act only applies to US flagged vessels, In the past, I had an active MI unlimited Masters license, and accumulated many days at sea. Because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen…..
I should add, I also don't like it. The Jones Act built the flag of convenience fleets. During President Reagan term, he got into a kerfuffle with Panama. Trying to harm Panama, before we went in, he signed an EO to prohibit the Panamanian flagged vessels from US ports. Every single one of the inbound vessels re-flagged at sea by Fax. The Navy was astounded when these back up wartime vessels disappeared from their books.
I don't doubt you or question the legality of what you say was done but I will stand by my contention that without the US flag, they are simply not US ships no matter what the fine print says and we live in a world that simply no longer cares about the fine print. The massive 'exceptionalism' movement that permitted everyone/thing under the sun to be some kind of exception but still be included in type/class it over and done.
In a way it very much like how we think about the ABA or, sadly, the AMA. Once credible and worthy they are now such dismal displays of wanton disregard for the actual rules that nobody cares to pay any attention to them anymore.
I'll go the next step though and say what I tell John Konrad, the USN has no duty to protect US shipping. It is nice that we go around suppressing pirates and so on but that is not the mission or the role of the USN. It's analogous to the actual USN tying SPECBOATs to Port Security/Harbor Defense for the early years of Ernest Will. SPECWAR hated it with a passion and the USN finally got off the dime and created a PSHD force to do that mission because it is not a SPECWAR function.
It is probably worth pointing you at Praying Mantis. Have a look at the all out Naval War we had with Iran in 1988 after the Samuel B. Roberts struck a mine and how we destroyed literally everything we could find at sea and then called an end unilaterally to the war. It worked very well. Why?
What was it about that and the shenanigans in the mouth of the SOH which saw the Vincennes shoot down an airliner while playing deadly games with IRGCN and IAF? Why was there no open warfare after that despite everything you might have read in the papers or seen on the news?
The nature of unilateral warfare is not new but the mullahs don't know how to play it despite being the paymasters for the stupidest and most inept dumbass terrorists on the planet. As the king said to the Black Knight, what are you going to do, bleed on me? Iran is out of options and for those who think they can start terrorism, be advised, they started that in 1979 and never stopped. That is why we are killing them now and we should have done it a long time ago.
The people don't realize just how the government has screwed them by inflating the Hell out of the money supply since early Vietnam. The people whining about the costs of things simply haven't adjusted yet to how worthless the $ is and why it takes so many more to 'buy' a house.
I saw the best expression of this a long time ago. What could you buy with an ounce of gold in 1900? 1945? 1965? today? Is it all roughly the same. The words I saw was the price of a fine men's suit or a good horse cost an ounce in all those years even if the number of $ changed hugely.
Friend, the whole world is involved in this World Wide lack of Oil and Fertilizer. When the electricity goes out in Asia due to lack of fuel they don't care Americans have been skirmishing with Iran for 47 years.
They don't care about 47 years of Tit for tat skirmishes.
And as you said in the next post that LACK of Concern is why we have a LACK of Allies to push back NOW.
Friend, while your right, but when the take home pay doesn't get you home as WAGES don't match up to ever more worthless dollars PEOPLE NOTICE.
I buy PM's, have been for decades. You don't have to sell me that the dollar is pretty toilet paper BUT until I can buy my groceries with a silver dollar it's a moot point. Currently I have to SELL my silver dollar, GIVE that Dealer a Healthy % Premium to convert it to "Money" and then buy my groceries.
It's a Jesus and the Moneychangers situation.
But when the Government starts a WAR, cripples the oil and fertilizer situation for a huge part of the globe and AMERICANS discover that makes their already pitiful take home pay even more worthless, THATS a Problem.
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