Not really. Whether we like it or not, the US is the world’s policeman and one of our jobs is to keep the shipping lanes safe and free.
No other country is capable of the task. What we don’t see is what happens if we stop fulfilling that role. What cost is associated with just watching pirates/countries/terrorists take over the seas.
Our presence in itself is a deterrent. If we need to occasionally lend a hand in checking the ne’er do wells, it sends a message to others. It’s a benefit that is not possible to quantify in the long term.
It’s a role the US must perform.
A reasonable post. I expected you to get slammed by our many isolationist types (who mistakenly think that isolationism is “MAGA”), but it appears they’ve departed for greener pastures (threads).
The USA has always been a seafaring nation (too much coastline for it not to be!) and has thrived when commerce by sea was safe and fair. The “fair” part is already out of kilter, if the safe part goes down too, the world economy, which we can’t escape being a big chunk of, is in deep doo-doo.
That said, it is not unreasonable to expect other nations very dependent on sea trade to step up further. It’s good to see Japan helping out, and South Korea is working on blue water capability. China should realize combatting piracy is in their long term interest too, but, they seem to be increasingly slf-destructive (just in generally different ways than the West has been recently...)
The Houthis firing a couple of “ballistic missiles” at our ship raises the ante considerably. Will Biden wimp out?