The U.S. went to war without its allies. Now it wants their help

0:00Who is going to secure the narrow waterway through which 20 % of the world's oil travels? We're talking about the Strait of Hormuz and about President Trump's demand that about seven countries send warships to reopen the vital shipping route. On Saturday, in a Truth Social post, Trump called out China, also France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom to help the United States protect the area. Trump added he hopes they would, quote, send ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation that has been totally decapitated, end quote. Here's Trump speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.

0:43I really am demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory. It's the place from which they get their energy. and they should come and they should help us protect it. They should help us protect it, he's saying. Now, all of this is happening three weeks after the U.S. and Israel launched war against Iran and without having built a coalition to protect the world's oil. Consider this. Can the U.S. get its allies to help after going to war with Iran? And if they do, can the Strait of Hormuz really be secured?

1:25From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

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2:03It's Consider This from NPR. President Trump launched the war against Iran without building a coalition of U.S. allies. Only now is the president trying to enlist allies to help end Iran's effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz. and many of the countries he's asked are rejecting Trump's request. To talk this through, I am joined by NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Meirin. Hey, Greg. Hi, Mary Louise. And White House Correspondent Franco Ordonez. Hi, Franco. Hi there. You kick us off, Franco. President Trump wants other countries to help make the Gulf safe for oil tankers to pass through.

2:40Are other countries inclined to help? Yeah, I was with him this weekend in Florida when he said he was actually demanding that seven countries send warships to help escort these oil vessels through the critical checkpoint. And he called on specifically China, France, the UK, Japan, and South Korea to help. Today, he teased that they'll be announcing a number of countries who are going to help, but he would not name any specific ones. But he also acknowledged that some longtime allies don't want to get involved, and he was clearly not happy about that. Numerous countries have told me they're on the way.

3:18Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some are. And some are countries that we've helped for many, many years. We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic. sake. Franco, explain why U.S. allies are not that enthusiastic, to use the president's words. Is this because they are opposed to the war or because they think this particular mission is dangerous or because President Trump has been insulting them regularly? Yeah, Mayor Louise, I think it's a mix of all of those. I mean, the German defense minister, though, declared that this is not our war. We did not start it, adding that he wanted a diplomatic solution.

4:02The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, he said at a news conference that the UK will not be drawn into a wider war despite any political pressure. Trump, again, is particularly unhappy with the UK. So definitely some political differences, but Trump also seemed to indicate some security concerns. You know, he talked about the Iranian Navy and Air Force having very little firepower left. He seems to be aimed at reassuring these allies that there's only a small risk for helping them out. Greg, just to back us up, walk me through how oil tanker escorts have worked in the past, because the U.S.

4:38has done it. Remind us when and how. Yeah, that's exactly right. Iran and Iraq fought this brutal war through most of the 1980s, and both those countries attacked the ships and oil facilities of the other side. And by 1987, the U.S. agreed to launch a naval convoy to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers from Iranian attacks. U.S. flags were raised on Kuwaiti oil tankers, and the U.S. Navy ships escorted these tankers from one end of the Gulf to the other. This is 600 miles or so. And overall, this went very well. It achieved what it was trying to do, but there were some serious problems along the way. During this operation, an Iraqi plane mistakenly fired on a U.S.

5:20ship, the USS Stark. The Iraqis thought this was an Iranian ship, and 37 U.S. sailors were killed. Hmm. Which dozens of U.S. sailors being killed is obviously not something anyone wants to repeat. And could this perhaps even be more complicated now? Absolutely. And one key reason is simply drones. They just weren't a factor in the 1980s. Now Iran has them by the thousands, and it's probably impossible to eliminate all of them and fully extinguish this threat. Iran can easily launch drones from land and target ships in the narrow Strait of Hormuz. It's just 21 miles wide at the narrowest point.

5:59And Trump says the U.S. has wiped out Iran's mine-laying boats, more than 30 of them. But Iran has these small speedboats or patrol boats that they could use to attack as well. So the U.S. is inflicting this major damage on Iran's traditional weapons, but it'll be very difficult to account for all the small mobile weapons, particularly fast boats and drones. And just one final key point on that, this would be so much larger than it was before. Today, there are more than a thousand ships in the Gulf trying to get into the Gulf or out of the Gulf. And the U.S. has around 20 Navy ships in the region.

6:36Franco, Team President Trump has created and now finds himself in a tough situation. Was this avoidable? Yeah. I mean, clearly the U.S. made a choice to go at this alone with Israel. and with as with so many other global issues Trump moved forward with little to no consultation with European allies and those allies were very surprised and have since kind of taken this defensive posture both tactically and politically so I think you do have to wonder if the U.S. had consulted with these allies before would such an ask that he's making now be different you know maybe he never would have gotten the buy-in but if he did you know I think you can say it could be different.

7:17Greg, bottom line, can President Trump end this war before he finds a way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz? Well, that's looking increasingly difficult. Initially, it seemed he could end this war more or less when he wanted. Now he's looking at a global economic problem that didn't exist before this war was launched, and one that would be very hard to walk away from. So as of today, Iran controls the oil flow and could continue to exert this control if Trump decided to end the war and just pull out U.S. troops. All right, NPR correspondents Greg Myrie and Franco Ordonez, thanks to you both. Sure thing, Mary Louise.

7:56This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre and Karen Zamora with audio engineering by Ted Meebane. It was edited by Andrew Sussman, Rebecca Metzler, and Courtney Dornig. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly. This message comes from American Giant. The things people depend on most help them stay ready for anything, like a good hoodie that will last for years. The American Giant classic full-zip hoodie is styled for everyday comfort and crafted in the USA for a lifetime of durability. So it's ready for everything from a casual stroll to a hard day at work.

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