so, What do people make of this?

[appolose]

tombi123 said:

appolose said:

tombi123 said:

appolose said:

tombi123 said:

appolose said:

tombi123 said:
The captain of U.S.S Vincennes was responsible for shooting down an Iranian airliner, killing the 290 people onboard. The US Government gave him a medal.

Uh, wasn't that an accident?

Apparently. Still, poor form giving him a medal. Think of the families of the people who died.

But wouldn't it still be rather unjust  to punish a person over an accident (that is, not give him a medal he, apparently, otherwise earned)?

No. If he was good enough at his job to get a medal, he wouldn't have made that mistake. He is responsible for the deaths of 290 innocent people.

According to Wikipedia, he was given faulty information, and that's why he shot it down. That's not something he could have prevented.  Even so, earning a medal hardly means you're infallible.

I wasn't aware he was given false information.

That's what the Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Downing of Iran Air Flight 655 on 3 July 1988 report says, apparently.