One has to dig deeper to understand the United States Navy gunboat DDG-53 “John Paul Jones” excursion into the Indian Ocean, on what is being called a FONOPS or Freedom of Naval Operations “assertion”, means. This is the American’s Official notice.
A good response would ideally have been provided by a Chief Petty Officer (Main Engine) of the Indian Navy’s Western Command and along the lines of “Yes, your Signal noted, but why so far away from us, darling? Do let us know if you need help since you appear to be lost.” After which there are umpteen methods to remind the US 7th Fleet’s Task Force 74 of how they got their ass whipped when they came visiting in 1971.
Disclosure – I am amongst the few civilian seafarers to have dry-docked a merchant ship in Yokosuka, which is the home base of the US 7th Fleet. This was way back in 1975, and I do know that the Task Force 74 episode of the US 7th Fleet still rankles them, decades later, last mentioned by me to one of their naval persons at a jetty off Ventura County. You have to understand the Umrikan White Man’s ego to get to the root of why the DDG-53 was specifically sent to the Indian Ocean but kept so far away from India’s coast.
That the Umrikans continue to have commercial loot based foreign policies, be it slaves, rubber, cotton, sugarcane, opium, oil, coolies, doctors, engineers or anything else that they can lay their hands on and then not pay for, is not a big secret. That we as free Indians do not understand the deeper diplomatic cover ops that the Umrikans play is not their fault, but ours, for which, please consider?
- We are illegal aliens, usually shown as brown with black hair, while they are honoured guests, usually shown as white with blond hair.
- We need to sign FATCA declarations for even our domestic bank accounts, while they just need to show their driving licences or similar.
- We need to provide full tax and banking details for visas, they manage to get visas and OCIs with just a driving licence for identification.
- We stand in long lines at their airports as “aliens” while they get preferential entry/exit as “honoured guests”.
- Literally anyone and everyone can provide refuelling and restocking to their ships off India, while Indian ships have to jump through hoops before receiving even fresh water.
- Their passenger cruise ships could waltz in and out of Indian seaports flying Mickey Mouse Flags of Convenience, while our Indian Flag ships are subjected to massive inspections.
The gunboat John Paul Jones DDG-53 was sent with a purpose. It was the first US Navy ship to launch Tomahawk missiles on Afghanistan. In Operation “Enduring Freedom”, the US message to its friends, Afghanistan, was simple. That the missiles flew over the airspace of another of the US friends, Pakistan, should not be lost on India and Indians too.
So who was John Paul Jones, anyways? At best, the man was a mercenary, who sailed under and fought for the flags of Great Britain, Scotland, France, Russia, and at the other end, a pirate who was tasked by Catherine 2 of Russia to “get them to Constantinople”. That he during this period “frolicked” with an assortment of 12 year old girls is well documented too.
What do I like John Paul Jones for? Let’s leave a cryptic clue to this article with this song.
The FONOPS by the US Navy gunboat DDG-53 should not be taken lightly. White man speaks with forked tongue, as the Red Indians discovered a bit too late.
Veeresh Malik was a seafarer. And a lot more besides. A decade in facial biometrics, which took him into the world of finance, gaming, preventive defence and money laundering before the subliminal mind management technology blew his brains out. His romance with the media endures since 1994, duly responded by Outlook, among others.
A survivor of two brain-strokes, triggered by a ship explosion in the 70s, Veeresh moved beyond fear decades ago.
