Early Wednesday, U.S. Special Operations Forces boarded and took control of a Russian-flagged supertanker in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Scotland, bringing to an end a nearly three-week melodrama.
It is hard to imagine a louder message to the “dark fleet” smuggling oil and whoever is its master…right now, it looks like it is a Russian covert operation. The U.S. deploying forces to capture the ship turns what was shaping up to be an ignominious misadventure for our embargo of sanctioned Venezuelan oil into a warning that has to be noticed by Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran. Taking the ship after Russia had gone along with the registration farce and made a big deal about sending ships and a submarine to protect it sends a powerful message that we aren’t cowed by Russian truculence.
This was another bold gamble by the Trump-Hegseth-Rubio triumvirate. Like the Maduro smash-and-grab operation, there were no leaks, and the mission was flawlessly executed.