Nuclear Iran is now the world's #1 problem

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by d1x1e

nope i think what the vincennes did to iran air flight 655 more than made up for that don't you?...

Most of the people on that plane were fleeing the new regime. Ironically, it played into the hands of the Islamic revolutionary regime by taking out "dissidents" (to use the term loosely) and by providing additional justification for the anti-American sentiment upon which the revolution was based.

It was a huge mistake.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Beestie

Most of the people on that plane were fleeing the new regime. Ironically, it played into the hands of the Islamic revolutionary regime by taking out "dissidents" (to use the term loosely) and by providing additional justification for the anti-American sentiment upon which the revolution was based.

It was a huge mistake.

Here is the article on Iran Air flight 655 at Answers.com. I had heard about the medals before but wasn't too sure.

What it comes down to is that we screwed up and took a 'you have to break some eggs' attitude towards the incident. The moral of the story is do not expect justice in a war zone. War is about killing people, and innocent people die. The people who start wars should take this into account and be prepared to deal with the consequences.

Personally, I think we went overboard with the medals. Service ribbons are one thing, but commendations?

Medals awarded
While issuing notes of regret over the loss of human life, the U.S. government has, to date, neither admitted any wrongdoing or responsibility in this tragedy, nor apologized, but continues to blame Iranian hostile actions for the incident. The men of the Vincennes were all awarded combat-action ribbons. Commander Lustig, the air-warfare coordinator, even won the navy's Commendation Medal for "heroic achievement," his "ability to maintain his poise and confidence under fire" having enabled him to "quickly and precisely complete the firing procedure."[5] According to a 23 April 1990 article in The Washington Post, the Legion of Merit was presented to Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Commander Lustig on 3 July 1988. The citations did not mention the downing of the Iran Air flight at all. It should be noted that the Legion of Merit is often awarded to high ranking officers on successful completion of especially difficult duty assignments and/or last tours of duty before retirement.

The incident continued to overshadow U.S.-Iran relations for many years. Following the explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 six months later, the British and American governments initially blamed the PFLP-GC, a Palestinian militant group backed by Syria, with assumptions of assistance from Iran in retaliation for Iran Air Flight 655. [6] The blame was later shifted to Libya.

The Flight 655 incident has often been compared to that of Korean Air Flight 007 interception by the Soviet Air Force in 1983.

Vice President George H. W. Bush declared a month later, "I will never apologize for the United States of America, ever. I don't care what the facts are."

[Griff]

Just in case the Russians manage to avert WW(#) Condi has the next justification lined up. However, she stressed it was not just Tehran's nuclear policies which were concerning, but also what she described as its support for terrorism. The neo-coms are on the march.