Blockading the straits of Malacca

This program the US is running to intercept ships, ostensibly to intercept WMD and drug trade has gotten so little attention. It amounts to little more than a soft, or maybe threatened, blockade south of China and North Korea. From what I've been able to gather, the effort starts at the shores of West Asia and extends south to Australia, but the significant sea presence is military ships in the Straits of Malacca, a 120 mile wide passage north of Indonesia which is the primary eastward shipping lanes for China. Not coincidentally, almost all China's oil imports pass through this screen.

It also has to be said that the Straits of Malacca are also the most heavily pirated shipping lane in the world with attacks taking place once every three days or so.

As you might guess, my issues with this are the inherent escalation of these actions, and the fact that " it could violate international law."

Little short of time right now, just use this as a mention, but I will try to find some better descriptions and activity of this operations later today.

Pakistan, which a year ago was at the center of a nuclear proliferation scandal, observed for the first time exercises held by forces from 13 nations -- including Australia, France, Germany, Britain and the United States -- under the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).

The PSI scheme, in which ships and aircraft suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction (WMD) can be intercepted, has the support of more than 60 countries, though some legal experts say it could violate international law.

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