Why freeing the Strait of Hormuz is Americas burden to bear

The reason why we have the Fifth Fleet, one of the most awesome naval forces ever assembled in the history of mankind, is to protect the sea lanes in the Middle East. That the Strait of Hormuz is now effectively closed is not just a blow to the global economy and a key point of leverage for the Iranian regime, it is an assault against one of the foundations of American power. Guarding the safe passage of commerce has been a core Anglo-American commitment for a couple of centuries, with the baton of naval leadership passing from the British to the United States around the time of World War II.British naval pre-eminence in the 19th century contributed to the creation of the modern world by enabling relatively safe and inexpensive global commerce.We have done the same in the post-World War II era. This has never been an entirely altruistic endeavor, since — as two commercially oriented nations heavily involved in international trade — the UK and the US benefited mightily from the arrangements guaranteed by their warships.But so did everyone else. Just consider the global pain from the current effective closure of the strait, which is being felt at the pump in the United States and threatens to hammer Europe and countries throughout Asia.Not just oil, but aluminum, fertilizer and any number of other products are being affected.If shipping in the strait remains as constrained as it is now for months rather than weeks, the economic damage could become intolerable. Iran is the equivalent of a piratical Barbary state that is managing to undermine a defining element of American geopolitical strategy, despite the beating that it’s taking otherwise.We have two carrier strike groups in the region, representing alone more firepower than many nations can muster.The Iranians have some missiles, drones, and mines, yet they’ve effectively closed the strait — and we, for now, can’t re-open it.This is a stark demonstration of asymmetrical power, and the longer it goe...