Latest news with #OperationPrayingMantis
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Seaborne scare: how Israel-Iran war put global shipping on alert
Sometime in early 1988, while the nine-year war between Iran and Iraq was still raging, veteran British publisher Abdullah Jonathan Wallace paid a visit to his old friend, Bahrain's information minister Tariq Almoayed. As they drove out of Manama to Tariq's home on another island in Bahrain 's archipelago, Wallace looked seaward and was shocked to see a task force of US Navy ships moored in the Persian Gulf. 'Tariq! Look! Ships!' Wallace excitedly said to the Bahraini minister. Almoayed, who was driving, kept his eyes firmly fixed on the road. 'Ships? I see no ships,' he replied, giving Wallace an unforgettable anecdote to later relate to his Middle East team at the United Press International news agency, which included this reporter. That unprecedented deployment of US Navy ships in the territorial waters of a Gulf monarchy was in preparation for Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval assets.
Wall Street Journal
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
European Navies Leave the U.S. High and Dry
As an intelligence officer aboard the USS Enterprise in April 1988, I helped plan Operation Praying Mantis, the biggest U.S. Navy battle since World War II. Afterward I flew to the French carrier Clemenceau to brief their admiral on the destruction we had rained down on the Iranian Navy. Not much has changed ('Down Go the Houthis?,' Review & Outlook, May 7). They and other European ships in the area sat out that fight, as they continue to do now. There are 178 U.S.-flagged cargo ships—or less than 1% of worldwide shipping—and few pass through the Red Sea. Several thousands more fly European Union flags, and many of them sail near Yemen. France, Britain, Italy and Spain all have aircraft carriers. France has a base in Djibouti, 400 miles from the Houthis. Why does it fall to the U.S. Navy to deal with these threats on our own? U.S. sailors are being stretched to the limit—witness the recent loss of two USS Truman fighters. Our European 'allies' need to step up. Play fair and do your share.
