Oops, my mistake! The article does point out how the captain, his crew, and the air-warfare coordinator got medals for their heroic actions. Here is the link again for your viewing pleasure geocities.com
The relevant passages are:
The navy's most expensive surface warship, designed to track and shoot down as many as 200 incoming missiles at once, had blown apart an innocent civilian airliner in its first time in combat. What's more, NEWSWEEK has learned , the Vincennes was inside Iranian territorial waters a the time of the shoot-down - in clear violation of international law. The top Pentagon brass understood from the beginning that if the whole truth about the Vincennes came out, it would means months of humiliating headlines. So the U.S. Navy did what all navies do after terrible blunders at sea: it told lies and handed out medals...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," enabled him to "quickly and precisely complete the firing procedure." Given the target he was firing at, the commendation seems rather surreal.
Please explain to me how those actions are justifiable? Do you remember a candle vigil held here for families of the innocent who were murdered before their holy holiday? Was there a statement of regret and attempt to correct the "mistake"? Did the American public gave a damn that their tax dollars and their authority was used to murder innocent civilians inside a country with which they were not at war?
And if you cannot answer those questions, can you tell me why the American people should not be held responsible for it?
thanks in advance,
Sun Tzu
P.S. What would the American response had been if a Cuban jet fighter had shot down an American Airline within the US waters? |
