1. Iran Boards Marshall Islands-Flagged Ship
2. The Marshall Islands are In Free Association With the US; The US is Treaty-Bound to Protect Them
3. Obama Administration & Media Start Shouting "The Ship Wasn't US-Flagged!"

There seems to be a lot of shouting from the Pentagon, from the Obama Administration, and from Obama's outsourced communications shop (the media) that the ship boarded and seized by Iran is not a US ship:

Or see here:

American officials have denied media reports that a US cargo ship had been seized by the Iranian navy.

...

However, a Pentagon spokesman said a Marshall Islands-flagged ship had been boarded by the Iranian navy.

But funny thing, I remember seeing the Marshall Islands on maps, and whenever I see it on a map, the map says:

Marshall Islands (U.S.)

In fact, a simple look-up on Wikipedia confirms the Marshall Islands are in "free association" with the United States, and has its defense provided for, by treaty, by the United States.

In fact, citizens of the Marshall Islands serve in the US Armed forces:

The COFA allows the United States to operate armed forces in Compact areas, to demand land for operating bases (subject to negotiation), and excludes the militaries of other nations without U.S. permission. The U.S. in turn becomes responsible for protecting its affiliate nations and responsible for administering all international defense treaties and affairs...

Commentators have noted that the ongoing presence and recruitment efforts of the U.S. military in the Compact areas [which includes the Marshall Islands] may have resulted in the high level of military enlistment by Compact citizens. For example, in 2008, the Federated States of Micronesia had a higher per-capita enlistment rate than any U.S. state, and had more than five times the national per-capita average of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan (9 soldiers out of a population of 107,000).

Though once a US territory, the Marshall Islands became independent in 1979. Nevertheless, it is still in such close "free association" with the US that the US Postal System delivers its mail.

It is true that this ship was not "US flagged." However, it is flagged by a country which was until recently a US territory, and which the US is treaty-bound to defend, particularly as regards its maritime commerce.

But I don't hear the media or agents of Obama (but I repeat myself) making that clear -- all they're shouting is that the ship wasn't a US ship.

They are acting as if the Marshall Islands are a completely different country, in order to diminish how provocative an action Iran has taken, and to spare Prince Barry further embarrassment and further difficult questions.

More: The Pentagon, which is now simply Barry's Club for Men Who Dig Uniforms, is saying, essentially, "It was the ship's fault" for going into "Iranian waters."

However, Morgen Richmond points out that while Iran claims almost the entirety of the Strait of Hormuz is "Iranian waters," US presidents haven't accepted this claim before.

Is Prince Barry making new concessions about Iran's territorial waters now, too?

posted by Ace at 11:46 AM

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