THE BELMONT CLUB: Sea Power vs The Earthquake. “Seapower exploits the fact that the sea represents the cheapest way to move vast quantities of material great distances. The US Navy, in particular, has developed ways of carting around its own airports, docks, field hospitals, communications facilities, barracks, warehouses and fuel depots — and maintaining them in the face of resistance. Originally conceived for the purposes of maritime warfare, these same capabilities are superlatively effective at providing assistance when the supporting infrastructure breaks down. The USN has been doing this so routinely since World War 2 that the world often forgets how prodigious this capability is. . . . Most of the time nobody remembers that the Navy exists, but when they need it, they all thank God that it’s there.”

UPDATE: Reader John Mitchell writes: “Is it just me or do others find it quite fitting, if not somewhat ironic, that President Obama has dispatched the USS Ronald Reagan to aid in the Japan relief effort?”