Quote:It doesn't necessarily mean that we declare war or invade Iran.  The point is that the Iranians are provoking tensions in the area, and it's not good.  Part of our navy's duty is to protect foreign interests of ours up to and including civilian tankers and cargo ships.  Also, the areas that I mentioned are not very big, and if our Navy ships happen to be transiting the area, they do so with "a finger on the trigger" so to speak.  If they happen to do so while a threat is in the area at close range, then it becomes a situation where the "finger is on the trigger with the safety off".

 

Another thing to consider is the possibility of an Iranian ship firing on an allied warship or aircraft in the area.  Again, an allied warship or aircraft is a foreign interest of ours, and it would be our navy's duty to respond accordingly.

 

One other thing to note.  The Iranians don't necessarily have to fire a weapon to initiate a response from one of our warships and/or aircraft.  If it is detected (and it will be) that their ship is in a target acquisition mode, then that act alone is considered threat enough for the ship to be eliminated.  If that sort of situation happened, where we take out an Iranian warship without them firing first, the Iranians and the main stream media will report that we fired first and started the mess.

 

It's a touchy situation that requires some "backbone and a pair" to handle.  Our current regime doesn't seem to have either to handle something like this.

That whole scenario you describe just sounds overly aggressive to the point of wanting action to break out. I am no military expert but it sounds that way. 

 

In addition it's not like the US has not been doing the same provoking of tensions or purely destabilizing things for decades now. A lot of the mess is either partly or entirely our doing. It seems hypocritical to try to take the high road in regards to the region at large. 

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