It's a helpful exercise for naive young people who always believe the simple publicly-reported stories, and haven't yet had the life experience to know there's often more to the story, which only comes out years later (if ever), or via private conversations to deeply-knowledgeable personnel!

No, it's really not a helpful exercise. An actual helpful exercise is to determine when an official story doesn't make sense, and to understand that there is probably more to it. In this case, the official story make perfect sense. Doubting it is just creating fairy tales.

> perfect sense

So you just inherently believe all that is reported as fact?

Remember when the Gulf of Tonkin incident was “for real really real” and we invaded Vietnam?

Or the WMDs in Iraq?

I’m not tinfoil hatting - Just calling out how interesting it is 3 major events in a documented as fragile industry happen so close.

That’s literally all I mentioned in my orig comment.

> Remember when the Gulf of Tonkin incident was “for real really real” and we invaded Vietnam?

Well, no, the US military was (openly) in Vietnam in support of South Vietnam long before the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Heck, the US military was there (again overtly) in support of France for several years before South Vietnam existed as such. And, ironically, they were there in support of the Viet Minh – which later became both North Vietnam and the Viet Cong – even before that, with almost no break between, starting in July 1945.

Insofar as there was an international incident that led to the US invasion of Vietnam it was – though it took a few years for the response – Pearl Harbor, not the Gulf of Tonkin. All the subsequent fighting in Indochina was breakdown in relation between erstwhile allies who were all already present, after the Japanese were driven out and had surrendered.

My point was that the Tonkin incident was reported incorrectly and did not match fact; as we found out some decades later.

Tying that to this thread: why is what’s reported about the airlines taken to be fact? (And I’m not speaking as if I mean this is malicious (as the Tonkin incident was) - just reported incorrect from fact for other “capital friendly” (face saving) reasons.)

Didn’t someone say “believe half of what you read…” somewhere?