Foreign Policy magazine and numerous other news outlets have reported that the United States has deployed an aircraft carrier off the coast of Yemen, where Iranian warships have already taken up station.
“This is about sending a message,” an American official told the New York Times, “to our partners that we are willing to support.”
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said that the Navy was conducting routine “maritime security operations” and insisted that the ships are “not going to intercept Iranian ships.”
This was a foolish diplomatic and geopolitical move. Walk softly, carry a big stick, and promise not to use it? The administration should not advertise fecklessness.