This is actually US policy and has been for a long time. One destroyer can’t reasonably be called an attacking force. So we get to play the aggrieved party if fighting breaks out. We did this to the Russians frequently during the cold war.
And yes, the idea is to send them there and see if they get shot at. Sometime the other side does shoot. The North Koreans did. The North Vietnamese did. The Khmer Rouge did. Ahem... the Israelis did also.
Good points, although the Liberty (Israel) incident has been beat to death here.