Metro Spirit national security blog

News:

The US Navy just reasserted control over a multinational task force patrolling the southern Persian Gulf. Stories here and here and here and here.

Presumed context:

Iran, of course, is the elephant in the room, and the Strait of Hormuz is the, uh...great...big...whale (ok?).

Footnote that's more interesting than the news:

A few Heritage hawks point out some problems with the US Navy's minesweepers and note that "Iran’s mine warfare capabilities may pose a more persistent challenge than is commonly accepted."

Iraqi perspective:

"Iran is the beneficiary of this current situation." So says Moqtada al-Sadr's spokesman. He's interviewed here, and it's interesting if not groundbreaking stuff. He says "bureaucratic competition for power" within America dooms its project in Iraq.