[Brian Griffin]

“the U.S. had no legal or diplomatic standing to protect ships that weren’t flying U.S. flags and were not assets of U.S. companies.”

Are the Houthis going to sue us if we shoot down a missile that would otherwise destroy itself and an innocent commercial vessel mere seconds later?

[Alberta's Child]

I wasn’t expressing an concern about the Houthi response to any U.S. military action. Just consider a scenario involving a very typical commercial cargo vessel sailing in the Red Sea before or after a Suez Canal transit. This ship could likely have the following characteristics:

1. It’s owned by a Danish company.
2. It sails under a Panamanian flag.
3. It has a Filipino crew.
4. Its next (or last) port call is in Europe (Rotterdam, for example).

With all of this in mind, why would you suggest that the U.S. taxpayer should spend even a nickel to defend this ship from Houthi rebel attacks — especially when you consider that these global shipping companies go to great lengths to operate outside U.S. jurisdiction so they aren’t subject to U.S. taxes and regulatory oversight?