Remember the U.S.S. Stark incident?

[NNN0LHI]

An Iraqi warplane accidentally fired two Exocet missiles into one of our naval ships just about cracking it in half, killing thirty-seven U.S. sailors, and the US was such good friends with Saddam that just an apology was good enough for Reagan and the American people. After reading Reagan's statement after the incident I can't tell if he was more concerned with our dead sailors or Iraqs sovereignty and territorial integrity.

And the ironic thing is that we just tried him for doing stuff that we knew and approved of while he was doing it and was his big buddy. I can remember those days well.

Don

http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/051887b.htm

Statement on the Attack Against the U.S.S. Stark

May 18, 1987

I have an announcement here that I would like to make that is aimed directly at you of the press. I know and I share the sense of concern and anger that Americans feel over the yesterday's tragedy in the Persian Gulf. We have protested this attack in the strongest terms and are investigating the circumstances of the incident. When our investigation of the facts is completed, I will report to the American people about this matter and any further steps that are warranted. For that reason I have convened a meeting of the National Security Planning Group to review the entire situation in the Persian Gulf.

In the meanwhile, I want to express my deepest sympathies to the families of the brave men killed and injured yesterday aboard the U.S.S. Stark. Their loss and suffering will not be in vain. The mission of the men of the U.S.S. Stark, safeguarding the interests of the United States and the free world in the Gulf, remains crucial to our national security and to the security of our friends throughout the world. The hazards to our men and women in uniform in the defense of freedom can never be understated. The officers and crew of the U.S.S. Stark deserve our highest admiration and appreciation. And I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for their prompt assistance in responding to the stricken U.S.S. Stark.

This tragic incident underscores the need to bring the Iran-Iraq war to the promptest possible end. We and the rest of the international community must redouble our diplomatic efforts to hasten the settlement that will preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both Iran and Iraq. At the same time, we remain deeply committed to supporting the self-defense of our friends in the gulf and to ensuring the free flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Note: The President spoke to reporters at 11:38 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. The ship was mistakenly attacked by an Iraqi Air Force plane. Thirty-seven U.S. sailors were killed.

[Selatius]

1. My God, Bush would love the Iranians to make the same mistake today.

A USS Stark-style incident or a Tonkin Gulf-style incident would give Bush the power to drag the US off the deep end.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Or we could accidentally shoot down another Iranian Jetliner. That would do it too

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/flight801/stories/july88crash.htm

Navy Missile Downs Iranian Jetliner

By George C. Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 4, 1988; Page A01

A U.S. warship fighting gunboats in the Persian Gulf yesterday mistook an Iranian civilian jetliner for an attacking Iranian F14 fighter plane and blew it out of the hazy sky with a heat-seeking missile, the Pentagon announced. Iran said 290 persons were aboard the European-made A300 Airbus and that all had perished.

"The U.S. government deeply regrets this incident," Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon news conference.

The disaster occurred at mid-morning over the Strait of Hormuz, when the airliner, Iran Air Flight 655, on what Iran described as a routine 140-mile flight from its coastal city of Bandar Abbas southwest to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, apparently strayed too close to two U.S. Navy warships that were engaged in a battle with Iranian gunboats.

The USS Vincennes, a cruiser equipped with the most sophisticated radar and electronic battle gear in the Navy's surface arsenal, tracked the oncoming plane electronically, warned it to keep away, and when it did not fired two Standard surface-to-air missiles.

Navy officials said the Vincennes' combat teams believed the airliner to be an Iranian F14 jet fighter. No visual contact was made with the aircraft until it was struck and blew up about six miles from the Vincennes; the plane's wreckage fell in Iranian territorial waters, Navy officials said.

Iranian vessels and helicopters searched for survivors, but there was no indication last night that anyone survived what apparently is the sixth worst aviation disaster. Iranian television broadcast scenes of bodies floating amid scattered debris.