”We’ve taken this action to make certain the Iranians have no illusions about the cost of irresponsible behavior,” the president said. ”We aim to deter Iranian aggression, not provoke it,” he continued, warning Iran against further hostile actions in the strategically vital Persian Gulf.  “’They must know that we will protect our ships, and if they threaten us, they’ll pay a price,” said the president.

Alas, President Barack Obama said nothing of the sort today after Iranian forces fired shots at a Marshall Islands flagged vessel and boarded the ship. The forceful words are those of another commander-in-chief: Ronald Reagan, who was explaining why a little more than 27 years ago, April 14, 1988, he’d ordered the Navy to attack Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf. Operation Praying Mantis came in response to the damage done to an American warship by Iranian mines. The Navy made quick work of the Iranians, explains a Navy website: