Let’s be clear here – the United States Navy could have (and should have) blown these Iranian boats out of the water. That they did not was excessive restraint exercised out of Administration policy to avoid a shooting war with Iran.

But that isn’t enough for at least reporter with the Washington Post.

In contrast to the military's professionalism and restraint, the Bush administration wasted no time falling back on its knee-jerk rules of engagement. President Bush called the incident "a provocative act" and "dangerous situation." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continued to play up the Iranian threat. "The United States is going to defend its interests, it's going to defend the interests of its allies," she said defensively. "Iran is the single most important, greatest threat to the kind of Middle East we all want to see. It's a supporter of terrorism in Iraq, in Lebanon, in the Palestinian territories. It has nuclear ambitions."

Yeah, verbally condemning acts of war and pointing out the many misdeeds of Mahmoud the Mad and the Mullahcracy in Iran is irresponsible behavior to this idiot, who previously called our troops overpaid, pampered mercenaries and declared them to be enemies of American liberty. It strikes me that he has never met an American enemy he didn’t like, and that he would have found some reason to condemn the Bush Administration no matter what the outcome of the incident had been.

Show restraint and condemn the provocation -- WRONG.

Show restraint and suffer an attack -- WRONG.

Show restraint and remain silent -- WRONG.

Sink the enemy -- WRONG.

And since Arkin doesn't bless us with his wisdom on what would have been the right course of action, we know that he'll be able to condemn the Administration if they take a different course of action in the future. After all, being a journalist means never having to take a position that makes a real difference in terms of lives and national security.

Maybe he is angling for an endowed chair at Columbia University, so he can join these Islamist-lovers on their pro-jihadi junket.