CL US Navy destroyer sat powerless off the South China Sea for four days this week, no engines, no toilets, waiting on a tow. It is the clearest photograph of the region anyone has produced all year: enormous capability, dead in the water, and nobody quite sure who is coming to help.-- CL

MB The Iranians and the Emiratis reached the same conclusion: stop pretending trade continues while missiles fly. Chinese tankers agree, quietly reversing course in the strait rather than testing whether "standoff" means anything more than "no one has been hit yet." The US Navy, meanwhile, has a destroyer adrift with no power and no toilets. Apt metaphor for regional strategy, or just Tuesday., MB-- MB