Courtney: Of Course, a Blockade Is an Act of War
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, questioned the geographic imbalance of the U.S. Navy fleet due to the war in Iran. Courtney then reiterated that, contrary to the Trump Administration’s claims, a military blockade is an act of war according to international law.
On the imbalance of the U.S. Navy fleet in Central Command vs. the Indo-Pacific:
“52% of the of the surface of the Earth is in the Indo-Pacific region. And because of this war, we have ships that are homeported in Yokosuka, Pearl Harbor that are now situated in Central Command,” Courtney said. “The National Defense Strategy states that the U.S. will build and sustain the 'strong denial defense along the first island chain.’ And, you know, right now, I don't know how that's possible given the fact that so many forces, Naval forces have been concentrated in Central Command.”
On a military blockade as an act of war:
“The international law, actually, in terms of blockades, was established in 1909 at the London Naval Conference, which the U.S. participated in and the U.S. Senate actually voted to endorse, and it defined blockades as an act of war,” Courtney said. “I mean, if we had a navy blockading the port of New York and New Jersey, we would treat that as an act of war. And the notion that somehow the ceasefire stopped the tolling of the War Powers Act in April, when we put a blockade a few days later, which is an act of war, again, fails the legal test, which you don't need to really get intense advice from Office of Legal Counsel.”
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