UK should remember prelude to Lockerbie bombing before joining any US attack on Iran – Kenny MacAskill

The USA is ramping up for war on Iran and the UK’s slavishly following, with memories of Iraq all too distant in the minds of some.
A missile is fired from the USS Vincennes during exercises in the Gulf of Mexico in 1985 (Picture: AP)A missile is fired from the USS Vincennes during exercises in the Gulf of Mexico in 1985 (Picture: AP)
A missile is fired from the USS Vincennes during exercises in the Gulf of Mexico in 1985 (Picture: AP)

Shooting down a US military drone seems arguably legitimate, given the incursion into Iranian territory – and by a giant war machine, not an adult toy.

Besides, given past form of America in the area, it’s hugely suspicious. The prelude to the Lockerbie bombing after all was the shooting down of an Iranian airliner by the USS Vincennes in July 1988.

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I’m no lover of the Iranian regime and they have sins to answer for, many against their own people.

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Moreover though, I hate to be judgemental about peoples and every Iranian I have ever met has been lovely.

Of course, many of them had fled the current regime and some may also have been responsible for the situation giving rise to it, with the greed and avarice amidst mass poverty, under the Shah.

But the solution in Iran isn’t to wage war but support moderate reform. President Hassan Rouhani and others need encouraged, not disparaged. Iran’s president is a graduate of Glasgow Caley and, by all account, a Scottophile. Disparaging Iran will only driving people into the arms of the Mullahs.

Change is wanted in Iran by young people, who just want a better life and a bit of fun.

America should back off and the UK should stop supinely supporting them.

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