Does anyone want a land war in Asia? There’s no appetite for war on the left, center, or even most of the right. And yet we cannot allow other countries to shoot down our fantastically overpriced drones.

The President seems to be of two minds, himself, and it’s easy to see why. We need in in-between measure to punish Iran’s insolence while not creating a drawn-out conflict. We could seize assets equal to the value of the drone, but I think we’ve already seized all we can get. Likewise, sanctions are already dialed up on Iran, aren’t they.

Respectable nations used to punish wrongdoers with a nice shore bombardment, which would really be our best option. The problem: Tomahawk missiles cost more than a million bucks a piece. Why through good money after bad?

This is why we should not have retired our battleships. They are, admittedly, no good in a naval battle anymore. Carriers made them obsolete in that way. But parking the USS Iowa off the coast of a rogue nation’s largest port? That will get their attention. And with technology from the 1940s, you can’t beat the price. That’s fiscal conservatism and conservative foreign policy rolled into one. Anchors aweigh!