On 2007-06-30 21:12:44 -0700, Jay Honeck said:

The United States is signatory to treaties prohibiting firing upon
civilian aircraft, but regularly violates these treaties. This is
behavior that we used to associate with the worst aspects of the Soviet
Union and other rogue states.

Just curious: When has the US ever fired on civilian aircraft?

Here we have a thread on the US helping to shoot down a civilian
aircraft, and you ask that question. Remember, too, that a few years
ago the Bush administration asked for funds in the Coast Guard
Reauthorization Act to shoot down suspected drug dealers within the
borders of the US itself.

The Navy has continually threatened to shoot down private aircraft that
violate its security zones or, in the words of our local Navy PR
officer, they may shoot down aircraft who get "too close" to the
security zone. No one knows what "too close" is. Since I live near such
a zone, I am concerned that if the Navy ever does open fire my house
could be showered with spent ordnance and aircraft debris, or even a
stray missile. When I expressed these concerns to the PR officer, he
said that protecting civilians was not the job of the Navy.


--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor