USS Vincennes recognizes Iran airliner as civil

What if the USS Vincennes had recognized the Iran Air A300 as civilian passenger, not as a Iranian F-14.

There was speculation that some of Iran's high clerics had some influence in the bombing of PanAm 103 in retaliation for the shootdown of the Iran Air Airbus.....
 
What if the USS Vincennes had recognized the Iran Air A300 as civilian passenger, not as a Iranian F-14.

There was speculation that some of Iran's high clerics had some influence in the bombing of PanAm 103 in retaliation for the shootdown of the Iran Air Airbus.....

Yes, quite likely. It could have been viewed as an intentionaly act by the US or accidental, either Iran does not wish the US to get away with it. And if Libya gets blamed - so what.
 
you probably need a different guy in command of the vincennes, according to several accounts, the captain was very aggressive and probably was looking for a fight, pardon me but his name escapes me at the moment
 
you probably need a different guy in command of the vincennes, according to several accounts, the captain was very aggressive and probably was looking for a fight, pardon me but his name escapes me at the moment

Captain William Rogers. No he wasn't looking for a fight....

The official account was that Rogers first backed off on firing on the aircraft for fearing it might be civilian. However, when a tactical officer incorrectly identified the aircraft as descending towards the Vincennces, Capt Rogers gave the go-ahead for shootdown....
 
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