Speaking to a group of Republican ethnic leaders (7 Aug 1988), George H W Bush, at the time Vice President of the United States in the Reagan administration commented on a separate occasion, saying, "I will never apologize for the United States — I don't care what the facts are... I'm not an apologize-for-America kind of guy."
The quote, although unrelated to the downing of the Iranian air liner, has been attributed as such.
George H W Bush also defended his country’s atrocity against Iranian civilians at the United Nations by arguing that the US attack had been a wartime incident and that the crew of the Vincennes had acted appropriately to the situation.
The former US President died on Friday at the age of 94, a family spokesman said.
