Remember them?

In the sunlit harbour a dozen warships lie neatly alongside. Ashore, hundreds of sailors relax as they always do: sightseeing,keeping fit, buying gifts, or just drinking lots of beer in a faded little garrison town that looks south across Morocco and north into Spain. In a few days the shipswill put to sea, take the first right past Cape Trafalgar, and go home.

The previous year, after a similar annual fleet exercise and at very …