This afternoon the US Navy destroyer the USS Truxtun passed through the Bosphorus on its way to the Black Sea.
Considering the fact that this has drawn a great deal of media attention due to the current events in Ukraine, was it really necessary for the guns at the front and rear of the ship to be very, very conspicuously manned as it passed through the strait?
From my experience, having lived in Istanbul for a long time, this is not what normally happens when warships pass through the Bosphorus. And it is also my experience that other traffic in the Bosphorus is severely or completely restricted when warships pass through the strait.
Additionally, the destroyer was escorted by the Turkish Coast Guard.
The media in Turkey has taken great notice of this and reported a great deal about it, and very much not in a flattering manner.
Was this really necessary?
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Update: In the comments many have said that the title is inflammatory.
It is and I meant it to be.
To those of you who have been inflamed by the title, have you considered, even for a second, how the manning of the guns on this US Navy destroyer which was being escorted by Turkish Coast Guard vessels and whose passage was disrupting activity in the Bosphorus due to the restrictions placed on traffic in the Bosphorus for the security of the warship might have inflamed many people in Turkey today?
Or is feeling inflamed only something that Americans have a right to feel?