Saturday, July 5, 2008

The Fourth of July and the Tragedy of July 3


Which is easier; to remeber or to forget? America is a powerful nation. The American people some times do not realize the vast implications of their government's decisions. As the American government and people now celebrate the 4 th of July, their independence day they should not forget the tragedy of the 3rd of July. Only then could it be a day of reawakening and change for the American people.

If they claim and believe to be a free and democratic nation they should also know that they are responsible for the actions of their government and that they will be held accountable for the indifference that they display in face of the tragic policies and adventures that their administration pursues beyond its borders ,as they term it: overseas. Americans are not always aware of the actions of their government and their military in the missions they follow overseas. The public are kept far away from the truth by government controlled media and therefore this makes their judgement and assessment very unrealistic and sometimes irrelevant . What has happened all these years afterwards indicates that the American government is not particularly clever in learning lessons either.
This event and ensuing news and rumours about the fact that the USS Vincennes Commander was decorated with a national medal for his dreadful action in obedience to the orders given by a higher rank are intriguing particularly since it coincided with Independence Day. Also there were rumors that his daughter committed suicide after she realized the shameful reality of her fathers mission.
Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian airliner shot down by US missiles on Sunday July 3, 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, toward the end of the Iran-Iraq War. It resulted in killing of 290 passengers, among them many women and children. Operated by Iran Air from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Dubai, UAE, the aircraft flying as IR655 was destroyed by the U.S. Navy's guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes between Bandar Abbas and Dubai, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard, including 66 children , ranking it seventh among the deadliest airliner fatalities. Vincennes was traversing the Straits of Hormuz, inside Iranian territorial waters, at the time of the attack and IR655 was within Iranian airspace. According to the US government, the crew mistakenly identified the Iranian Airbus A300 as an attacking F-14 Tomcat fighter. However, the Iranian government maintained that the Vincennes knowingly shot down a civilian aircraft. The event generated a great deal of controversy and criticism of the US. Some analysts have blamed US military commanders and the captain of the Vincennes for reckless and aggressive behavior in a tense and dangerous environment. You can read more : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Out of curiosity, who would you rather see in the White House after George Bush?

Anonymous said...

Dear Beloved Dr. Ebtekar,

Please find the English translation of this speech by our beloved Mr. Khatami, and post it here for the world to read:

http://tabnak.ir/pages/?cid=13458

this one is in Farsi, but you need to post the English version of it, please!!!!!

Every time our dear dear Mr. Khatami speaks, his words should get published at least by international media, even if the unfair and incredibly biased state-media in Iran (i.e., IRIB) refuses to post them!!!!!

Long Live Freedom of Speech!
Down with Oppression of Speech!

you need to start a new Reformist media to counter the unbelievably biased nonsense of IRIB! you need to find an opening inside PressTV and demand that they present Mr. Khatami's voice at least as much as they present Ahmadinejad's!!!!
you need to criticize PressTV and make them adhere to higher standards than their awful patron IRIB!
Long Live Free Press!

Anonymous said...

a very good article i thought more people should get to read:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/07/tisdallbriefing.iran?gusrc=rss&feed=commentisfree

let's give Iranians some breathing room, and we'll be pleasantly surprised to see a TRUE democratic republic there with more political clout and power in the hands of people like Mr. Khatami one day (within the 8 years of Obama's presidency) as opposed to the ultraconservative ayatollahs who've derailed their genuine revolution for the past 29 years! we over-throw their democratic prime-minister Mossadegh (1953) and put a despotic dictator (Shah) in his place for them, we send Saddam to bomb them with chemical weapons for 8 years, we shoot down their passenger airplanes and refuse to apologize, we support MKO or other terrorists to constantly threaten to change their regime for them, and this is what happens!!! let the Iranian people have some say, and you will be surprised by what they'll say!!!!
it will definitely NOT be "Death to America"!

Anonymous said...

Ok this is what happens when countries don trust each other. I don't believe for a second that the US navy would shoot down a civilian plane just to see it burn. It was a mistake. I also do not believe that they were in Iranian waters.