TRUMP TWEET: "shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea"

Gotta admit - I have mixed feels about this one peeps. On one hand anyone who harasses our armed forces needs a lesson in what not to do. On the other hand . . . we really don’t need a war right now.

Not just Iran either. Russian fighter jets have been harassing our USN ships for a while too. What's good for Iran is good for Russia as well. You listening Mr. Putin?
 
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1252932181447630848
 

Interesting times, indeed.  This morning I remember the words of the Spirit:
'It will be as I say it is.'  It would be so great to pinpoint where we are in prophecy.  
But all I've determined so far is that each occurrence over the years isn't all that significant
compared to what has followed  (where we are today).

Of course that's the definition of progression, so we're PROGRESSING, by golly.  lol. We CAN say that much.
Perry mentioned that anything that affects the whole world is a direct fulfillment of prophecy.
We have       1.a global pandemic    2. a potential  global economic crash.
We haven't even talked about oil. eeeee. Is that already a crash?

I agree with your assessment, R. They're testing to see how weakened we might be-if this is their time to strike.  I think we have no choice but to crush them at the outset, because we really, literally can't afford  a protracted engagement.   Capture or neuter if we can, sink them if we can't.
If they aren't smart enough to stop,  think of another way.  
                                    >Two if by sea < ?

More on the subject below.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/04/trump-instructs-us-navy-to-shoot-and-destroy-iranian-ships-harassing-us-ships/

And speaking of Russian planes testing our defenses, it's not only our Navy ships being tested. Try Alaska on for size too. This is an ugly game being played.
 
Russian planes are testing US defenses for weaknesses, US general warns
 
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/04/russian-planes-are-testing-us-defenses-for-weaknesses-us-general-warns/

American Military News wrote:

April 22, 2020
 
General Terrence O’Shaughnessy, the U.S. Air Force general in charge of both U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), warned that Russia is looking for signs of weakness in U.S. air defenses amid the coronavirus pandemic.
 
O’Shaughnessy shared his warnings during a Pentagon press briefing on Tuesday, and pointed to several recent incidents between U.S. and Russian aircraft as examples of the kind of Russian behavior NORAD is monitoring and working to counteract.
 
One April 8 incident saw NORAD dispatch F-22 fighters to intercept a pair of Russian Ilyushin IL-38 reconnaissance planes after they were observed flying over the Bering Sea and entered into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.
 
“We wanted to make it very clear – which we did by the way we intercepted them – that there are no vulnerabilities as a result of COVID-19,” O’Shaughnessy said of the incident. “We are postured and maintain the ability to respond at a moment’s notice.”
 
[More at link]

These provocations have been going on forever.  That being said, I guess I spent too long in the military.  I like the Israeli approach.  You hit me with a twig, I respond with a sledgehammer. Godless regimes understand one thing.....determination and raw power.

If we are in such times that we cower, then the battle is already lost.  It's far better to go down swinging than to just take it.

The cartoon below is from 2017 but it applies just as well now as it did then.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EWNRPLFWAAAPtmG?format=jpg&name=small

Love the cartoon !!!    If we aren't tested now in our  "weakened" state, they won't ever do it. Pleased our President is a tough cookie.