Freedom from Bullies

            The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the simple fact that one must stand up to bullies in order to destroy their power. This principle applies to individuals and nations. The United States recently took action to stand up to a bully or several bullies in the Middle East.

            Two oil tankers were seriously damaged in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Iran earlier this week.  The United States sent the USS Bainbridge, a guided missile destroyer, into the area after reports of the two attacks. The reports on the tankers came early in the morning on Thursday. The first came at 6:12 a.m. local (Bahrain) time, and the second one came at 7:00 a.m.

            First, a Norwegian tanker a magnetic mine and caught fire. The ship was carrying naphtha, which is “a highly flammable petrochemical feedstock.” The entire crew was rescued. The second incident involved a tanker owned by Japan that was “hit by a suspected torpedo. This ship also caught fire, and the 21 crew members abandoned the tanker. They were picked up by a tugboat with a Dutch flag.

            The two incidents are suspicious for several reasons. The first reason is that it is still unclear who is behind the attacks. The second reason is that both “incidents happened in relatively close proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, where nearly 20 percent of the oil that’s consumed globally passes through.” The price of oil rose by about four percent soon after the attacks. The oil supply to the world is now threatened because of increasing danger in this area.

            This is the reason why the USS Bainbridge entered the Gulf of Oman after the attacks. Bullies like to pick on those who are smaller or weaker, but they are not too brave when confronted by someone their own size or larger. Hopefully, the presence of the U.S. ship will deter any further attacks by the unknown bully.