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U.S. Says It's Ready to Keep Strait of Hormuz Open in Face of Iranian Threat
(Liberty Unyielding) J.E. Dyer - A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer said recently, "If Iran's oil exports are to be prevented, we will not give permission for oil to be exported to the world through the Strait of Hormuz." The U.S. Central Command spokesman Navy Captain Bill Urban responded, "We stand ready to ensure the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce wherever international law allows." The capabilities the U.S. Navy needs are mostly in the Persian Gulf. They include mine warfare; maritime escort and ship defense; maritime reconnaissance; maritime airspace control; and air targeting and special forces operations to degrade or destroy key Iranian assets. They include the U.S. Air Force, and Marines and special operations units (i.e., SEALs), with a full slate of our best equipment, including those in the USS Lewis B. Puller, the expeditionary mobile base stationed in the Gulf. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, when he was commanding CENTCOM between 2010 and 2013, developed the plan to prevent Iranian mine-laying and systematically clear any mines already deployed. The writer is a retired U.S. Naval Intelligence officer.