patth@ccnysci.UUCP (Patt Haring) (09/04/89)
MTS BULLETIN: 11:59 AM 9/2/89 ref: 107.WPS ITN/CNN "USA NEWS" Saturday, 2nd. September, 1989 Report re. "Vincennes"/Iran Air Flight 655 ========================================== Lou Waters (reporter): "A US Naval Commander assigned last summer to the Persian Gulf, says the battleship Vincennes had no good reason to shoot down that Iranian Airbus, July 3rd., 1988. All 290 passengers and crew on the airliner were killed. The downing was described at the time as an act of self defence. Later, a Naval investigator blamed the mistaken attack on stress, which he said caused the crew to misinterpret vital data. But Commander David Carlson gives a strikingly different account. Writing in the Navy journal ["Proceedings"], Carlson states that the Vincennes' actions 'appeared to be consistently aggressive and became a topic of ward room conversation'. The Vincennes, writes Carlson, was so aggressive, other crews referred to the battleship as 'ROBO Cruiser'. Concluding, Carlson states: 'View it as you will, Iran flight 655 was shot down for no good reason. In that same article, Carlson suggests the Vincennes crew was out to prove the reliability of the ship's missile defence system, he says the crew saw an opportunity for action and pressed hard for permission to fire." --- Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=- -- Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-