Friday, August 21, 2009

cant and hypocrisy

"Compassion? Compassion for him?" She cannot comprehend why a mass murderer of such infamy would be freed rather than treated for his cancer in prison. And she understands even less why he would be allowed to return to the country she holds ultimately responsible for the bombing. A natural reaction of the family of one of the 270 victims of PanAm 103 atrocity.

The White House said it "On this day, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families who live every day with the loss of their loved ones. We recognise the effects of such a loss weigh upon a family forever."

Iran Air Flight 655, was a civilian airliner shot down by US missiles from the USS Vincennes commanded by Captain William C. Rogers ,on Sunday July 3, 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard, including 66 children.

National Geographic Channel broadcast a documentary which confirmed that the airliner was transmitting an Identification friend or foe code for a civilian aircraft.
John Barry and Roger Charles of Newsweek wrote that Captain William C. Rogers acted recklessly and without due care in their 13 July 1992 article. They also accused the U.S. government of a cover-up.
An analysis of the events by the International Strategic Studies Association described the deployment of an Aegis cruiser in the zone as irresponsible and felt that the expense of the ship had played a major part in the setting of a low threshold for opening fire.The Vincennes had been nicknamed 'Robocruiser' by crew members and other US Navy ships, both in reference to its Aegis system, and to the supposed aggressive tendencies of its captain.
Admiral William J. Crowe admitted on American television show Nightline that the Vincennes was inside Iranian territorial waters when it launched the missiles.
Commander David Carlson, commanding officer of the USS Sides, the warship stationed near to the Vincennes at the time of the incident, is reported to have said that the destruction of the aircraft "marked the horrifying climax to Captain Rogers' aggressiveness..."
Craig, Morales & Oliver, in a slide presentation published in M.I.T.'s Spring 2004 Aeronautics & Astronautics, as the "USS Vincennes Incident," commented that Captain Rogers had "an undeniable and unequivocal tendency towards what I call 'picking a fight.'"

In 1990, Rogers was awarded the Legion of Merit "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service as commanding officer ... " The award was given for his service as the Commanding Officer of the Vincennes

The U.S. denied having any responsibility or liability for what had happened.

In August 1988 the then Vice President George H. W. Bush said of the incident "I'll never apologize for the United States of America, ever. I don't care what the facts are."

Groups conducting terrorism of the violent kind take their cue from the tactics of their State enemy who have engaged in acts of terrorism against them or their people.

1 comment:

hallblithe said...

This is an excellent, timely post Comrade. We need more of them.
For Socialism,
R