Parting The Red Sea

(Parting The Red Sea)

With all due respect to Cicil B. DeMille, Charlton Heston did not part the Red Sea, as Moses or anybody else. If a Hebrew "Exodus" did occur, it was possibly over a reed swamp that eventually led to Caanan (after the 40 years in the Wilderness"). In any event, the Red Sea is the current focus of events in the area. But these events, like most others, need to be placed in context. One can begin with the Iranian destroyer in the Sea's southern reaches.


Throughout history, the Near East and South Asia have had their own set of dictators and strong men. In the 1980's, the strong man in question was Libya's Mummar Qaddafi. His belligerency was manifest in a terror campaign with bombings in Germany and Italy. Qaddafi announced the closure of the Gulf of Sidra. When challenged the U.S. Sixth Fleet responded with its own force, downing several Libyan fighter jets. The anti-Qaddafi effort was a raid of about a dozen FB-111 bombers ordered by President Reagan that further degraded Libyan infrastructure.


President Reagan had the resolve to act decisively against the Tripoli strongman. One can imagine that Reagan would have had little tolerance for Iran and its proxies. With nusciences like Qaddafi then and Iran now, Reagan, or one of his character, could be dealing with an uppity Islamic Republic, as it was with an uppity Libya back in the day.


As one can see, Joe Biden is no Ronald Reagan. That Iranian warship holding station of the coast of Aden is steaming with impunity because that any response from the Biden Administration can expected to be tempered. While the Ford group is being sent back to Norfolk, other Red Sea assets did sink three Houthi patrol boats that had been raiding Red Sea commerce.


But the Iranian destroyer sails un-impeded. That fact is speaking volumes in who has hegemony in the region. Tehran knows the story of Tripoli all too well. As long as it is dealing with a pliant Administration, intent on appeasing the regime at every opportunity. Like the popular impression of Bidenomics, Biden's foreign policy is working just as well.

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