in March 1987, the Reagan Administration, intent on excluding the Russians, told the Kuwaitis that the United States would take on the whole job of reflagging or nothing at all. It would not go “halvsies” with the Russians. Thus, eleven Kuwaiti tankers were reflagged with the Stars and Stripes, qualifying the ships for American naval escorts. A few months later, U.S. naval vessels were patrolling the Gulf.
