Top Pentagon leaders Wednesday called President Trump’s tweet instructing the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy “any and all Iranian gunboats” if they harassed its ships “an important warning” and “perfect.”
“The president issued an important warning to the Iranians. What he was emphasizing is all of our ships retain the right of self-defense, and people needed to be very careful in their interactions to understand the inherent right of self-defense,” said Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist.
The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, added that every U.S. ship that deploys into harm’s way has the inherent right of self-defense.
“If we see hostile intent, we have the right to respond up to and including lethal force and, if it happens in the Gulf, if it happens anyway, we will respond with overwhelming lethal force, if necessary, to defend ourselves, and it’s really that simple,” Hyten said.
Trump tweeted Wednesday morning: “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.”
I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.
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His tweet came after Iranian ships last week harassed U.S. ships conducting exercises in the Arabian Sea, which Iran considers its backyard but which the U.S. is committed to keeping open for international shipping and commerce.
The Navy posted video of the encounters on its Twitter account:
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Proves again, we haven't had a pair in the oval office since Reagan!
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