Two weeks later, at a summit with Prime Minister Harold MacMillan of Great Britain and Premier Charles deGaulle of France that had been in the works for months, Khrushchev asked Eisenhower to apologize (bully is asked to own up to what he did). Eisenhower refused and the summit collapsed when an understandably upset Khrushchev stormed out. [3]
In August of 1964, President Johnson claimed that the USS Maddox, on an intelligence-gathering mission that, of course, took place in international waters, had been fired upon by North Vietnamese forces. LBJ went on television immediately to tell us about this attack, to say that retaliation was taking place as he spoke, and that he was asking Congress for the authority to "take all necessary measures in support of freedom and in defense of peace in South East Asia." [4]
It was later shown that our ships had not been fired on on that day and it was acknowledged that the Maddox was not only gathering intelligence but was helping to direct covert activities by South Vietnam and US Forces against the North and that the US vessel had been in Vietnamese waters. (LBJ, a master at bullying, knew how to get what he wanted, but in the end he met his comeuppance when he couldn't bully his way to peace -- and millions paid with their lives). [5]
On July 2 of this year, people in Iran marked the 24th anniversary of the 1988 downing of an Iranian civilian airliner, killing 290 people, in the Strait of Hormuz by the crew of the US Vincennes, an Aegis guided-missile cruiser with the latest in electronic equipment. The crew claimed to be tracking one of the F-14 jets, which we had sold to Iran before the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, and which is a third of the size of an Airbus S300.
They claimed to have warned off the plane, which was en route from Banda Abbas, Iran, to Dubai, Qatar, and was traveling in a recognized international air corridor. Evidence from the Vincennes showed that when the crew claimed the plane-bus-jet was heading straight for them, the airbus was not descending, but its nose was actually pointing up in order to reach its usual altitude for its flight path to Qatar. [6]
But bullies don't say they're sorry. In fact, Vice-President George H.W.Bush said just that later in the summer, "I will never apologize for the United States of America. Ever. I don't care what the facts are." [7]
In 1996, in the face of a suit filed at the International Court of Justice, the US ended up paying millions in compensation to victims' families but made them ex gratia , that is, the payments were made as a favor, and not in recognition of any wrongdoing. By this time US military higher-ups admitted that the Vincennes was within Iran's territorial waters, that the airbus pilots had issued the standard friend or foe code to identify their plane, and that the captain had been overly aggressive (a bully) in his actions. Later on, the entire crew was awarded Combat Action Ribbons that are given for "active participation in ground or air combat during specifically-listed military operations."
None of the government's pronouncements or media reports ever mention that planes/drones/dirigibles must have permission to enter the air space of another country.
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