| 1988: | The battleship Vincennes accidentally shoots down an Iranian airliner, killing 290 people. President Reagan calls it an "understandable accident" and sees no possible comparison with the incident in which Soviet fighters mistook Korean Air Lines flight 007 for a military intruder and shot it down. George Bush takes a firm position: "I will never apologize for the United States of America. I don't care what the facts are!" |