Many forget the intense war in the shadows during the 1980s as America took measures to protect the oil flow from the Persian Gulf.
Operation Ernest Will was the re-flagging and protection of Kuwaiti tankers to protect them from Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988. The sub-operation of Nimble Archer was a kinetic action against Iranian Gulf Oil Platforms
Then there was Operation Praying Mantis in 1988 - a furious one day operation that devastated the Iranian Navy. And there were other actions, acknowledged and not acknowledged which gave U.S. Special Operations Command valuable experience in conducting complex operations in the shadows to assert American resolve and interests.
Iran settled down for a number of years, but the pushing and shoving is back with a vengeance. Iran and their proxies, the Houthis have been conducting harassment, raids, and now missile attacks on international shipping. The pretense is the Israeli destruction of Hamas after the Hamas savagery of October 7. Make no mistake though - this is part of the world wide brush fire strategy of Xi and the Chinese Communist Party. Everyone is a proxy of China, especially Hamas, Houthis, and Iran. In the last scuffle, the American Navy had dominant force structure and could easily subdue Iran and had a leader with resolve and clarity. This time both of those traits are in grave question.
