It’s fascinating to see how segments about the alleged downing of MH17 in the US news remembers Reagan’s reaction to the shoot-down of KAL007.
Of course, if you want to emphasize “the president’s” reaction it’s an appropriate comparison. But a more recent and inverse example would be Iran Air flight 655. It was shot down approximately five years after the KAL007 and by USS Vincennes.
As was already mentioned in a German satirical TV broadcast: can you remember the tough economical sanctions against the USA that followed the incident? Neither do I.
However, while the mainstream news broadcasts seem to have forgotten about the 1988 shoot-down of the Iran Air flight, Jon Stewart mentioned it in a segment a few days after the MH17 downing and compared it directly to the 1983 incident caused by the Soviets when Reagan had to end his vacation early – which he didn’t do in the case of Iran Air flight 655. And the USA has yet to apologize formally or accept responsibility.
// Oliver