Word: escort
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Angered by Washington's decision to reflag and escort Kuwaiti tankers through the gulf, Iran announced with great fanfare that it would stage four days of war games in the Strait of Hormuz, the entryway to the gulf. In case there was any doubt about the intent of the maneuvers, they were code-named "Martyrdom." One of the reflagged ships, the fully loaded Gas Prince, slipped quietly out of harm's way and toward its destination in Japan before the exercises began. But the supertanker Bridgeton, damaged last month by a mine that may have been planted by the Iranians...
...head of the gulf, Kuwaiti tankers flying the American flag were loading cargoes at Al-Ahmadi in preparation for the trip south under U.S. Navy escort...
...believe that it is quite likely, in fact almost certainly, the Iranians who left those mines there, presumably in hopes of placing them in front of our most recent tanker-escort group," said chief spokesman Robert Sims...
...Navy put the 401,000-ton supertanker out front to protect the three U.S. warships that were supposed to be protecting it. The American vessels, bristling with the latest gear to defend against planes, ships and submarines, could not cope with the World War II-vintage mines. "Who is escorting whom?" asked Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd last week. "This patently absurd and ridiculous result of the first escort mission is embarrassing to the nation...
...problem, which particularly plagues a democracy, is that sometimes a nation has to make reliable, long-lasting commitments or forfeit its credibility. Nor can such a projection of force be totally risk-free. The decision to escort Kuwaiti tankers violated the maxim that helped shape America's successful foreign policy in the early years after World War II: the need to balance commitments and resources. But in this case the commitment has been made, and the damage that a humiliating retreat would inflict on America's reputation would be almost as great as that from the Iranian arms- for-hostages...