"His Migs managed to shoot down a couple of light planes a few years back."

Hardly really measures up to what the US Vincennes did on the 3rd July 1988, when it shot down a civilian airliner,killing 290 people, all civilians, largely women and children. President Reagan described it as "a proper defensive action".

And then Reagan went off to a 4th of July celebration, and none of the flags flown that day were put at half-mast. And a few weeks later the Captain of the Vincennes was given a medal. Puboic opinion polls gave it that 80% of Americans thought what had happened had been justified.

It probably wasn't an intentional atrocity, it was a mistake - a gung-ho commander breaking all the rules because he wanted to use his weaponry, resulting in a massacre of innocent people; and then those in charge decided it would be better to cover it all up, blame the victims, and decorate the man responsible, instead of court-martialling him. Things like this happen in all countries. They've certainly happened in the British armed forces, certainly happened in France - yes, and very likely in Cuba too.