Open Season declared on US Navy

[ETR3(SS)]

I quote from the Bluejacket's Manual

The navy of a maritime nation must be able to carry out a variety of strategic missions. In general terms, the most significant ones can be described as:

• Freedom of the seas (sometimes called "sea control")
• Deterrence
• Forward presence
• Power projection

Freedom of the Seas
World events and human nature conspired to prove that a maritime nation cannot long endure without a navy. Almost immediately, the so-called Barbary pirates - the North African states of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, ruled by petty despots whose main source of income was derived from the seizure of ships or extorting protection money - began preying on defenseless American merchant shipping in the Mediterranean Sea.

Ever since men have been putting to sea to trade with other nations, pirates have been there to prey upon the defenseless merchants. It was the responsibility of maritime nations to provide this freedom of the seas for their merchant fleet in order to ensure their prosperity and continued growth. I believe in history repeating itself, as I am sure most of you do. Therefore the manner I believe in which this should be dealt with is the very same manner that the United States used to deal with the Barbary pirates. That means no interference from bureaucracy. Politicians run the country, Admirals and Generals run the military. Let them do their job, let them send a strong message that we will not stand for this.