DENVER — Violence surged again in the war with Iran on Monday as U.S. forces launched Project Freedom in the Strait of Hormuz, even as Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colorado, pushed a new effort in Congress to rein in the conflict.
The project's mission is to guide ships through the Iran-blocked Strait of Hormuz.
According to Central Command, the US military sank six small Iranian boats on Monday.
Iran launched missiles and drones at American Navy ships.
Iran's military command has warned that ships passing through the strait must coordinate with them.
By the end of the first day of the operation, two ships with US flags made it out of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander.
The U.S. and Israel first attacked Iran on Feb. 28, prompting Iran to close the strait.
On Friday, Crow introduced a war powers resolution to end the war in Iran.
“We have to end this cycle of insanity, and I'm here to say the buck stops with me. I'm going to do everything possible to rein in this endless cycle of conflict,” Crow said.
Previous War Powers Resolutions have failed along party lines.
Crow is a former Army Ranger who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also serves on the House Armed Services Committee.
He has criticized the administration for lacking a strategy and a clear exit plan.
“They started a war without fully thinking it through, without bringing our allies along with us, without explaining to the American people, to Coloradans, to Congress, what they were doing,” Crow said. “We have an adversary, in this case, Iran, which is a 6,000-year-old society, an adversary that believes that time is on its side and just wants to wait us out while we spend tens of billions of dollars with blockades and with enormous military presence.”
Meanwhile, more military resources are being thrown at Project Freedom, including guided-missile Destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, and 15,000 service members.
Crow says there are now 55,000 service members in the Middle East.
There’s been little recent progress in negotiations to end the war.
