The cavalry to the rescue

Or at least the Warthogs and warships

About three weeks ago, two U.S. naval ships left Norfolk, Va., headed for the Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding waters “in response to recent attempts by Iran to threaten the free flow of commerce …”

This is in addition to a number of A-10 Warthogs, F-16 and F-35 fighters, and the USS Thomas Hudner and other warships in the region.

It’s possible that armed U.S. military personnel could accompany commercial ships through the strait—on board. If this occurs, it will be done at the request of the ships involved and with the approval of the countries under which the ships are flagged, as well as the country under which ownership exists, if the two are different. This will not be a unilateral military engagement on the part of the United States.

This is the largest U.S. naval engagement there since the so-called Tanker War, a oneday battle on the high seas between the U.S. and Iran in 1988. While a one-day battle may seem small, it remains the Navy’s largest since World War II. This could change that.

Let’s hope not.

Militaries have protected commercial interests for centuries. It’s not unprecedented. And the U.S. Navy’s biggest peacetime mission may be protecting shipping lanes so the rest of us can get car parts, tennis shoes, mouse pads, drinking straws, silverware, umbrellas, grain, olive oil—and, ahem, other kinds of oil—from exporting countries.

But Iran has been harassing ships, not from or necessarily bound for the U.S., traveling through what many characterize as the critical choke point in the journey from the Middle East to other parts of the world. Iran has seized a series of ships in the strait as part of its efforts to pressure the West over negotiations regarding its collapsed nuclear deal with world powers.

Surely the United States’ homegrown critics of being the World’s Police will see all this as unwarranted. They will most likely leave out the part about the Strait of Hormuz being a gateway for up to 25 percent of the world’s oil delivery. Which makes that waterway not only a matter of national security, but international security.

Environmentalists will say this is just another reason to push for more renewable energy. And they’re right.

But safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz is in the vital interests of the United States. Holding that shipping hostage will increase the global price of products, including crude oil. That will increase the price of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, which will lead to higher transportation and farming costs, which will in turn lead the U.S. and the world back towards unacceptable levels of inflation at a time when it’s finally in decline.

Whether we want to admit it, saying “America is addicted to oil” is no solution for this problem. Not right now. Oil is the lifeblood of modern society and, ironically, if we don’t have it, the economy will be weakened, which will thwart the ability of the U.S. to invest in renewables to gain enough market penetration for actions like this to be less important in the future.

So the U.S. Navy comes to the rescue, once again, to stand on the (figurative) wall so the rest of us live better. Remember this come Veterans Day.