Before America celebrates its greatness tomorrow, let’s take time to remember that our country is not perfect.
In 1983, the U.S. was outraged when a Soviet jet shot down a Korean airliner killing 269. Five years later, the U.S. was on the other side of a similar tragedy. With the Iran-Iraq War ongoing, a U.S. fleet was cruising the Persian Gulf to protect Western interests. On July 3, 1988, the cruiser USS Vincennes was on patrol near Iran. It engaged some Iranian gunboats and chased them into Iranian territorial waters. At the same time, Iran Air Flight 655 took off from Bandar Abbas International Airport. The 290 passengers and crew (including 66 kids) had seven minutes to live. The plane was picked up on the Vincennes’ radar and identified as a F-14 fighter from the Iranian Air Force. One year earlier, the USS Stark had been hit by a missile from an Iraqi jet, killing 37 sailors. The crew of the Vincennes was determined that the same fate would not befall them. The ship made numerous attempts to warn off the potentially hostile plane. Unfortunately, the Iranian jet was not monitoring that particular frequency. With the supposed F-14 approaching launch range, the Vincennes fired two missiles. One hit the plane and it disintegrated, killing everyone. The U.S. had some ‘splainin to do. It was described as a tragic accident. The Vincennes was following appropriate rules of engagement. President Reagan issued a statement of deep regret, but not an apology. In 1996, the U.S. paid Iran $131 million (of which $61 million went to the families). Although certainly an accident, there are some factors that make the U.S. the villain in the incident. The Vincennes’ Captain William Rogers III had a reputation for aggression. He had chased the gunboats into Iranian territorial waters. It took some creative thinking to identify the airliner as a jet getting ready to launch a missile. For instance, the airliner was climbing, when an aggressor would have been descending to attack. It seems obvious the crew of the ship allowed stress to get the best of them. One expert described it as an example of “scenario fulfillment”. The crew had trained for defending against this time of attack and they played it out like their training. Also, the attitude of taking no risks (after the Stark incident) played a role. The incident was quicky forgotten in the U.S., but it still enrages Iranians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/middleeast/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk/index.html
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