Donald Trump seems to be eager to start a war with Iran, and naturally Australia is yapping at its heels like a good little vassal. The UK also asked New Zealand to get involved, but fortunately, we had a good excuse: we simply didn't have the toys available:
Britain asked New Zealand whether it could help patrol the Strait of Hormuz following the seizure of oil tankers by Iran, but we didn't have any boats to send, the Minister of Defence says.
[...]
New Zealand's Defence Minister, Ron Mark, says while no formal request for assistance was made, Britain approached New Zealand about whether it had any capacity to help.
"I've said right now both of my frigates are in Canada undergoing refit. We don't actually have any capabilities available," Mark told reporters.
"The bottom line that I can barely struggle to keep two P3s [surveillance aircraft] flying ... I just don't see that we have any spare capability right now to engage in that kind of a mission."
Which seems like we really dodged a bullet there. The lesson is obvious: you can't be involved in a US war if you don't have the capability. Which suggests that rather than replacing the frigates when they reach the end of their lifetime, we should simply ditch that capability, and focus on things which actually suit our needs.
Meanwhile, National is desperate for New Zealand to get involved in America's war, as usual. Lest we forget, their continued involvement in Afghanistan killed ten New Zealanders in an unjust war which was none of our business and not worth fighting. How many kiwis do they want to die for the America over Iran?
