The Past Has Come Again
It is often fascinating to watch international politics play out, the method by which countries trying to act as saints when they are the devils that run rampant, and yet at the end of the day world order wins, the country with the mightiest muscles win to dictate to weaklings how they should behave. While these big countries try to let time heal the catastrophes they have committed in hopes that it would soon be forgotten from history books, more often than not it catches up to them, like waking sleeping dogs.
This was the case in the wake of Malaysia Airline flight MH17, which was shot down either by Russian or separatist rebels in Ukraine. In midst of this there have been calls into a full investigation in to what transpired in that doomsday attack. However, this brought back events which happened almost 2 decades ago when the Iranian Air flight 665 was shot down by the U.S Navy guide missile cruiser back in 3rd July 1988.
The flight took off from the airport at 10:27 a.m Iranian time, after having ascended the pilots were instructed to turn on their transponders to emit squak code which was typical of any commercial airline. The U.S naval ship Vincennes were pursuing Iranian ship vessels and entered the territorial waters of Iran. The flight at this point was ascending and was transmitting squak code contrary to the code used for military flight. After receiving no response for the multiple challenges issues by the Vincennes, the vessel deployed 2 surface-to-air missiles resulting in the destruction of the plane resulting in the death of 290 passengers including the crew.
The incident resulted in wide controversy with Iran asking the Security Council to condemn the attack of the United States however, due to the sheer power yielded by the U.S.A, by reasons of political alliances of the countries within the Security Council, the Security Council only expressing deep regret over the actions of the U.S.A.
It was not up till 1996, almost a year after the incident, that the U.S.A afforded relief by paying families of the victim.
In an age where genocide was vehemently opposed and criminals for such actions tried at specially created court, as was the case in Ruwanda, it is almost shocking that the United States Government was allowed to walk out with just a slap on the wrist. Ideally the officers in the Vincennes should be tried for mass murder since clearly this was nothing short of it. They should not be allowed to say that it was a mistake on their part as this would be equivalent to a murder stating that it was a mistake even though there is clear evidence that it was per-meditated.
However, the sad truth is that law, be it national or international, is very much subjective. Even though there are organizations such as the United Nations to implement international laws and maintain international peace, we often find that this is not applied in uniformity. The U.N has become politicized with the countries with deep pockets controlling the agenda of the U.N.
Having said that, it is imperative to bring those who are guilty of bring down Malaysian Airline flight MH17 to justice.
This was the case in the wake of Malaysia Airline flight MH17, which was shot down either by Russian or separatist rebels in Ukraine. In midst of this there have been calls into a full investigation in to what transpired in that doomsday attack. However, this brought back events which happened almost 2 decades ago when the Iranian Air flight 665 was shot down by the U.S Navy guide missile cruiser back in 3rd July 1988.
The flight took off from the airport at 10:27 a.m Iranian time, after having ascended the pilots were instructed to turn on their transponders to emit squak code which was typical of any commercial airline. The U.S naval ship Vincennes were pursuing Iranian ship vessels and entered the territorial waters of Iran. The flight at this point was ascending and was transmitting squak code contrary to the code used for military flight. After receiving no response for the multiple challenges issues by the Vincennes, the vessel deployed 2 surface-to-air missiles resulting in the destruction of the plane resulting in the death of 290 passengers including the crew.
The incident resulted in wide controversy with Iran asking the Security Council to condemn the attack of the United States however, due to the sheer power yielded by the U.S.A, by reasons of political alliances of the countries within the Security Council, the Security Council only expressing deep regret over the actions of the U.S.A.
It was not up till 1996, almost a year after the incident, that the U.S.A afforded relief by paying families of the victim.
In an age where genocide was vehemently opposed and criminals for such actions tried at specially created court, as was the case in Ruwanda, it is almost shocking that the United States Government was allowed to walk out with just a slap on the wrist. Ideally the officers in the Vincennes should be tried for mass murder since clearly this was nothing short of it. They should not be allowed to say that it was a mistake on their part as this would be equivalent to a murder stating that it was a mistake even though there is clear evidence that it was per-meditated.
However, the sad truth is that law, be it national or international, is very much subjective. Even though there are organizations such as the United Nations to implement international laws and maintain international peace, we often find that this is not applied in uniformity. The U.N has become politicized with the countries with deep pockets controlling the agenda of the U.N.
Having said that, it is imperative to bring those who are guilty of bring down Malaysian Airline flight MH17 to justice.
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