In 1988, during the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, the high-tech cruiser USS Vincennes was stationed in the Persian Gulf as part of a Joint Task Force. On July 3 of that year, the ship's commander, Capt. Will Rogers III, apparently mistook a civilian Iranian airbus for an attacking war plane. He ordered his crew members to fire. The airbus was shot down, killing all 290 passengers and crew members.
A friend who had just returned from a "People's Peace Delegation" trip to Iran, cosponsored by the Virginia Anti-War Network and The Richmond Defender newspaper, met with Naval Capt. Habib Ahmadzadeh and several other members of Iran's navy, who discussed the destruction of the Iranian Airbus. On the tenth anniversary of that tragedy, Capt. Ahmadzadeh was serving on a frigate in the Gulf when his ship passed over the submerged wreckage of the airbus. Capt. Ahmadzadeh took the occasion to write a letter to Capt. Rogers who, to date, has not responded.
With his permission and his hope that his letter can open a "genuine dialog among civilizations," Capt. Ahmadzadeh's letter is reproduced, below the fold.