Where this was said
Iran Air Flight 655: The History America Forgot
At 16:25 · chapter starts 14:30
Recording on July 5th, Meiselas pauses to note that two days earlier marked the anniversary of one of the most consequential and least-discussed incidents in U.S.-Iran relations: the July 3, 1988 shootdown of Iran Air Flight 655 by the USS Vincennes over the Strait of Hormuz. All 290 passengers were killed, including experienced Iranian commercial pilots who had themselves trained in the United States. The U.S. military claimed it was issuing warnings — but on military radio frequencies to a commercial aircraft that had no military radio equipment. The pilots never saw the missiles coming. Meiselas contextualizes the U.S. presence: American warships were in the Persian Gulf because of the Iran-Iraq War, and U.S. forces were on high alert after Iraqi forces had mistakenly attacked a U.S. ship weeks earlier, killing 37 soldiers. President George H.W. Bush publicly declared he would never apologize; a settlement of over $100 million was quietly paid in approximately 1996 — without any formal acceptance of responsibility. Meiselas argues that understanding this history is not optional: it explains why Iranians are 'livid,' why 'death to America' chants persist, and why any realistic policy must grapple with these deep-seated grievances rather than dismissing them. [1] — Ben Meiselas "On July 3, 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 people aboard, including experi…" 14:20
On July 3, 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 people aboard; the U.S. never formally apologized.
The U.S. paid over $100 million in a 1996 settlement for downing Iran Air Flight 655 but never formally accepted responsibility for the action.
Trump propagandist Mark Levin watched the Ayatollah's funeral — tens of millions of mourners, hundreds of global dignitaries — and called it 'opportunity lost.' Meiselas asks the obvious follow-up: what exactly is the endgame? Millions of Americans dying in a ground war for Netanyahu?
