Posted on 07/23/2019 4:34:06 PM PDT by ransomnote
Mike Pompeo: UK must look after its own ships The United States has a responsibility to do our part but the worlds got a big role in this too.
By PAUL DALLISON 7/22/19, 5:25 PM CET U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made clear that it is up to the U.K. to ensure the safety of its own ships in the Gulf.
Pompeo was asked during an interview Monday on Fox News about the Iranian capture on Friday of the British-flagged Stena Impero oil tanker. The responsibility in the first instance falls to the United Kingdom to take care of their ships," he said.
Maybe NATO member Turkey will give them a hand.
Pompeo did the right thing. Not our ships, not our problem.
Good. I agree.
No one shot those Iranians rappelling down the rope from the chopper onto the deck of the oil tanker. Why not? After the first two soldiers would have hit the deck dead, that chopper would have skedaddled!
Surely anyone shipping through the Strait of Hormuz should have armed security on board. We should expect that from our feckless allies.
Good. Trump is reminding Britain of its failure to maintain an adequate navy. This is also a variation on the “NATO obligations EU nations have not met” theme. Without US military power, EU members are helpless.
If Neville Chamberlain is not available to negotiate with Iran, Teresa May is.
Shipping companies are notoriously cheap and effective security is expensive.
What ships would Britain use? They have only 74 commissioned vessels, including submarines, amphibious docks and patrol vessels.
Their problem, not ours. The mighty UN and ICC can help them.
Please Lord, let us just sit one conflict out.
I know we did try that once. God rest the RMS Lusitania.
It didn’t last too long, but one can always pray for a miracle.
Arming tankers is not a good idea.
That might only provoke Iran into sending gunships ahead of the assault teams to suppress defensive fire, or respond to defensive fire by sinking the tanker by multiple means.
The solution is armed air assets patrolling the Straits 24/7.
Too bad Britain has little or none in the area. Perhaps they should spend more on navy ships/planes.
All this really did is confirm the US as the guarantor of NATO.
We helped out the UK during the Falklands and we can help them out now.
The crazy thing is that the Royal Navy isn’t that much bigger than the Australian Navy and Australia has half the GDP and 1/3 the population.
They used private vessels to rescue troops at Dunkirk.
Maybe they should bring back the use of privateers.
100 sterling bounty for each Iranian ear.
“When Britain first, at Heaven’s command
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain:
“Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
“Britons never will be slaves.””
Yeah, not so much these days.
The US is energy self-sufficient and now a net exporter of oil under Trump despite the best efforts of Gov. Cuomo against fracking in NY State. So what would have been a huge issue in the Persian Gulf 10 years ago doesn’t count for much now as far as the US is concerned. Its a big problem for Europe, however, and let them deal with it.
“Arming tankers is not a good idea.”
Why do banks have armed guards and saves? Maybe banks should just put their money in a pile in the parking lot and guard it with an old lady holding a broom. After all, having arm guards just invites people to bring guns to rob them. What an escalation of violence.
Banks do not contain millions of gallons of volatile liquids.
Neither banks nor tankers can defend from determined suicide attacks.
An unarmed tanker presents a problem for the attacker. A violent attack on a tanker with injures/deaths of unarmed civilians would cause international outrage, surely with increased international sanctions & possibly a total embargo/blockade. That would be too high a price for a single tanker.
Iran can’t win like this. These acts of terrorism are acts of desperation, born out of a failing economy, biting sanctions, & domestic unrest. Time is on our side & Iran knows it. They are trying to provoke a battle with Western forces in hopes of it starting a global jihad. Fat chance, they have few supporters.
Works for me ... didn't their 'intelligence' work with Brennan and Clapper to damage Trump?
I thought it was Australia? English might have helped as well.
China gets their oil from this area. Let them worry about it.
Oil prices going up = good news for U.S. We are energy independent and an exporter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.