Several Republican candidates have highlighted last month’s tense stand-off, in which Iranian forces arrested the sailors at gunpoint, as a symptom of a weakened military under President Obama.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told an audience on the stump in South Carolina that if he’s elected president, sailors weren’t going to be “on their knees with their hands over their heads.” And Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush have portrayed the incident as a sign of the U.S. military’s eroding power.
An investigation continues into an apparent navigation error by the riverine boat crews that saw them cut through Iranian territorial waters. .
Cruz highlighted the incident in a Feb. 16 speech aboard the museum carrier Yorktown in Charleston, South Carolina.
Three days earlier, Rubio cited the incident as a sign that Obama’s policies have emboldened America’s adversaries.
“Around the world, America’s reputation is in decline,” Rubio said during the Feb. 13 CBS News debate. “Our allies don’t trust us, our adversaries don’t fear us, Iran captures our sailors and parades them before the world on video.”

Rubio is going after Obama on his Iran policy and the perception of American weakness, said Bryan McGrath, a retired destroyer skipper who is supporting his campaign.
A spokesman for the Navy secretary declined to comment on the candidates’ statements, citing the ongoing investigation.

Source: Navy Times, Feb 19, 2016