U.S. Navy’s lapse in sea lane security risks global trade

[Tony]

Over the last few months, the U.S. Navy has suffered its most significant setback in the last 50 years, a disaster more damaging than the pier-side sinking of the Bon Homme Richard or the loss of 17 sailors in two destroyer collisions.   

It is a setback that is existential, and casts into question a core reason for the Navy’s very existence. For the Navy is seemingly abandoning a key mission: keeping vital sea lanes open to commerce. After a nine-month deployment to claw back control of the Suez Canal and Red Sea from Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Dwight D. Eisenhower(Ike) carrier strike group returned to the U.S., without dislodging the Iran-backed Houthis.