Word: oiling
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...retaliation and the Iranian counterstrike abruptly changed the profile of the gulf confrontation. Suddenly it looked less like a protective operation, in which U.S. warships quietly go about keeping Kuwaiti oil tankers out of harm's way, and more like a direct face-off between Iran and the U.S. -- a situation that, given the state of high dudgeon on both sides, could easily slide out of control. Secretary Weinberger, having made his point militarily, tried to turn down the rhetoric. "We do not seek any further confrontation with Iran," he said, "but we will be fully prepared to meet...
Though the U.S. bombardment of Iranian oil platforms raised new fears, it received quiet backing from the Arab gulf states and more vocal support from West European allies and even from Congress, where the Senate has been eager to enhance Congress's role in deciding gulf policy. One senior Pentagon officer said the attack on the oil platforms, though seen by some of his colleagues as too mild, was "as much as we could do to the Iranians while doing the least possible to the Congress." The Senate passed a resolution supporting the retaliation by a 92-to-1 vote...
When the four destroyers moved into position to launch their bombardment, two other warships were already posted at positions northeast of the platforms, prepared to stop any Iranian effort to defend them from Bandar Abbas. The initial shells hit stored fuel oil and ammunition, setting off a furious fire and a series of explosions. After 45 minutes little was left of the platforms, but the shelling continued. "We didn't spare the shells," said Weinberger. A senior naval officer was more emphatic: "We made a show of force...
After the shelling stopped, a Navy SEAL (Sea, Air and Land) commando team in a rubber Zodiac raft tied explosives to the pilings that remained and demolished them. Five miles away, a second SEAL team boarded another oil platform abandoned hours earlier by Iranians and destroyed communications and other equipment...
...avenges a missile attack with the naval bombardment of two offshore Iranian oil- loading platforms. Tehran replies by launching yet another of its deadly Silkworms against Kuwait. -- Nakasone selects Noboru Takeshita, a consummate dealmaker little known to the rest of the world, as Japan' s new Prime Minister. -- Aquino strikes back at her opponents...