Yanks upset about Pan Am Flight 103? What about Iran Air Flight 655?

Just recently there’s been a lot of hoo-hah about Pan Am Flight 103 – the US aircraft bombed above Lockerbie. America is upset that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Libyan accused of planting the bomb, has been released from prison on compassionate grounds.

What I’d like to know is, how do the Yanks feel about Iran Air 655, the airliner shot down by the USS Vincennes?

For those who don’t know (or who “can’t remember”), IR655 was shot down by the USS Vincennes on 3 July 1988. The air liner was in Iranian airspace at the time… and the Vincennes was in Iranian territorial waters. It was clearly an unacceptable action. Yet the US government tried to justify it by claiming that the aircraft was a hostile target. Even when the USA accepted it was a civilian aircraft, they tried to defend the attack by claiming that Captain William C Rogers thought the plane was an F-14 Tomcat fighter. 274 crew and passengers were killed, including 238 Iranian civilians. The plane was transmitting a friend or foe signal identifying it as an airliner. It was flying in a commercial air corridor. But the Yanks still maintain the attack was somehow justified. The USA defends its right to murder innocent civilians.

So come on, US citizens, tell me this: if it should turn out that the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 was in revenge for the destruction of Iran Air 655, would you still bleat about it? Do you condemn the killing of Americans yet defend the USA’s “right” to kill foreign civilians?

BTW: there is compelling evidence that Megrahi did not bomb the Lockerbie aircraft. There is reason to believe that the CIA fabricated the evidence against him. So tell me: the guy is very likely innocent and is dying of cancer; do you still think he should die in prison? Will you hand Captain Rogers over to Iran so he dies in one of their prisons? Or do you think it’s okay for your country to murder innocents?

A criminal’s guide to the police

Well here’s an interesting site. Just Cause Law Collective is a manual on how to deal with the police and the courts – mostly aimed at political campaigners like the anti-G20 protesters, but it’s relevant to anyone whose activities might bring them into conflict with the cops (which means just about everyone really). There are articles on subjects like “Arrest and Questioning”, “Searches”, “Jail and Bail”, and there are also fun comic strips like the one I’ve reproduced (or “blatantly ripped off”) below. Go check it out – I promise, you’ll be surprised and shocked at what the cops get up to and what they can get away with… You’ll be damned pleased you took the time to educate yourself.

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