According to the Iranian government, Vincennes negligently shot down the civilian aircraft: the airliner was making IFF squawks in Mode III (not Mode II used by Iranian military planes), a signal that identified it as a civilian craft.[4][5] According to the United States government, the crew incorrectly identified the Iranian Airbus A300 as an attacking F-14A Tomcat fighter, a plane made in the United States and operated at that time by only two forces worldwide, the United States Navy and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. While the Iranian F-14s had been supplied by manufacturer Grumman in an air-to-air configuration only in the 1970s,[6][7] the crew of Vincennes had been briefed when entering the region that the Iranian F-14s had an iron bomb capability as well as Maverick missile and unguided rockets for air-to-surface.[8] The 53 page Pentagon report issued almost two months after the incident, while not directly stating the point, found that almost all of the immediate details given of the shooting-down were erroneous, yet absolved the officers and crew.[9] According to Noam Chomsky and others,[9][10] compared to the reaction generated by the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, the incident triggered few reactions at the time.[11] The event generated a great deal of criticism of the United States. Some analysts blamed the captain of Vincennes for reckless and aggressive behavior in a tense and dangerous environment.[12][13]
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 22:08:43 +0000
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