Posted on 05/03/2015 9:32:17 AM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER
The game of international power dynamics has just shifted in a major way. It will take a little time for the consequences to be visible to the public eye. But I don’t think it will take that much time. We’re talking months, at most, if not weeks. Iran is getting no pushback from the “international community,” and is moving quickly now.
(Excerpt) Read more at libertyunyielding.com ...
We should build the largest gun ships ever seen by the world and send em to Iran, with a stern message about their acts of war.
I suggest we build maybe two. Name one the USS Constitution, the other The Enterprise and support them with a fleet of support ships....
I have seen some amateur designs for a super-Iowa class, bringing back the 16”/50 with extended range guided munitions and a lot of VLS points.
Good analysis.
Could it be possible that the big boys want the registration and taxes in their country?
Someone should totally destroy Iran’s oil infrastructure.
And not allow them to even begin to repair it.
Starve the bastards out.
No money will lead to less mischief.
Maersk Tigris isn’t an asset of the Maersk Line – the ship’s not owned by Maersk – and neither is the cargo she carries. Iran has impounded the assets of innocent third parties, in an alleged attempt to collect a debt from 2005 owed by Maersk because of an Iranian court judgment.
A coastal state’s prerogatives in an international strait don’t give it the right to do this. In fact, the UN Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) prohibits what Iran did on Tuesday. The only prerogative it recognizes for a coastal state to stop a ship exercising innocent passage is to enforce national laws which that specific ship may be in violation of. (See Article 28.) According to the reason Iran gave for detaining her, Maersk Tigris is a third party in breach of no Iranian law or judgment.
Commentators have been quite correct to point out that this isn’t the way it’s done. This is a pugilistic power move, characteristic of syndicate crime bosses (and pirates) but not of nation states in the UN era. It will create a ripple of alarm and loss of confidence throughout the Gulf shipping industry: it will make insurance rates go up, and cause trading and shipping nations to scramble to find a reliable status quo again.
... Instead, those who want to continue trading unmolested will have to arrange that with Iran...
The United States has enforced the free transit across the seas for centuries.
Iran is now taking piratical prizes; and Obama, you will not be surprised to hear, is okay with that.
The seizing of the Maersk Tigris wasn't just an act of piracy; it was a declaration of a new order on the seas, and Obama has, as usual, bowed to a foreign potentate.
Since World War II, the American Navy has been the guarantor of freedom of the seas for all nations and commerce. The U.S. Navy prides itself upon its annual forays into disputed waters to demonstrate that seizing ships like the Tigris means engaging American warships. But neither the White House nor the Navy declared that Tuesday's seizure violated that basic norm. Instead, the Iranian foreign minister brazenly invoked respect for freedom of navigation. Iran flexed its muscles and America did nothing. Translation: The U.S. is a paper tiger, and Iran will seize other ships as it pleases. When a timorous America imposes no penalty for state piracy, such actions are sure to repeat. Imagine how that affects the calculus of a hundred nations and thousands of ship owners.[T]he seizure illustrated that Mr. Obama is determined to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, regardless of what actions Iran takes.... [T[he seizure was not an accident; it was ordered by the same government with whom Mr. Obama is determined to sign a nuclear agreement. Mr. Obama could suspend negotiations, with sanctions in place, until the Tigris is released. But he will not.
I lost track of this story myself; I did not know that Iran was keeping its war booty.
A source (a French diplomat, I think) had earlier said that Obama Administration was acting as the mouthpiece for the mullahs at the nuke talks. Even here, our own government flacks on Iran's behalf, insisting that this ship was seized by the Republican Guards without the blessing of the government.
But if so-- why do they still keep it? How long does it take to communicate an order to the Guards?
So this is America, where our government lies to us on behalf of a fanatical regime of an alien religion which has sworn to destroy us.
Good analysis. Bad for U.S., bad for the world.
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