Tales from the Red Sea

"The bottom line is this - if we are not going to use our assets, we need to deploy them elsewhere. Like by Taiwan. But hold on a minute - if they will be there just for show, and never to be used in anger, might as well just home port these ships."

This is the story about a bunch of goat herders, who got some high-tech weaponry from Iran, and managed to literally close down the Red Sea. The Red Sea, which is part of the Suez Canal, is no longer open for business (except for the brave or fool hearty). Most sane shipping companies who value their cargo and the wellbeing of their crews, have departed the area, and are going around the entire continent of Africa instead. That adds sea days and millions of dollars to each voyage.

Is there some kind of maritime rule which allows these goat herders to either fire rockets or drones at these ships, or try and board them? Nope. Just like when the Somali pirates try and illegally board merchant shipping by the Horn of Africa. Well holy cats! We should send our Navy over there to restore order! Done that. We have plenty of assets in the area to put an end to this nonsense. General Jack Keane said this morning we could solve this issue using our Armed Forces in one day, maybe three if we took our time.

Then what the heck is the problem? Is it fair to the shipping companies (and ultimately the consumers) to pay extra just because Iran knows how to play these goat herders from Yemen? I tell my wife all the time, just let me be in charge of our Armed Forces for one day - please! I would have our boys and girls over in that area use Yemen as target practice. I would let the bad buys see what the US Navy can do when they act out of anger. If Iran decided to get involved? Too bad for them. The Red Sea would be open for business by week's end, and the goat herders would never again mess with US.

So, what is the problem then? I am not a war hawk, just a problem solver. The problem is we have Blinken type appeasers in the White House. Walk softly and carry a little stick. Or maybe no stick what-so-ever. Try and buy off Iran with billions of undeserved dollars, rather than showing them the back of our hand. I can honestly say that as an American, I am embarrassed by how these sand bullies are kicking dirt in our faces. This is not the America who helped win World War II.

The bottom line is this - if we are not going to use our assets, we need to deploy them elsewhere. Like by Taiwan. But hold on a minute - if they will be there just for show, and never to be used in anger, might as well just home port these ships. And then some wonder why our recruiting goals were missed by such a wide margin. Why retention is in trouble. Most of our young men and women wanted to join the armed forces - not the peace corps. Just saying...