Walter Russell Mead's article on the central role naval confrontation has played in instigating American wars is fascinating, and, in the context of the Iranian showdown, chilling, stuff. As the op-ed goes on, he plays up the fact that America needs the oceans and plays down the fact that, like in the Gulf of Tonkin, Americans really don't know what happens on the high seas, and so naval interactions can be easily trumped up by leaders who want to declare, or expand, wars. For that reason, I think Mead is too credulous about the official version of events and too willing to believe the somewhat unlikely hypothesis that the Iranians would try to block our access to the Straits of Hormuz. But his op-ed is worthwhile anyway. Update: Read Spackerman on this, who says that the specifics of the situation increasingly suggest that "Hormuz" is farsi for "Tonkin."
