Consolidated Syria Conflict Thread

[LongBlade]

That said I am more than a little surprised at how bad the press coverage has been over this incident. I really have to dig around to find mention of it. It's barely a leading headline in the NY Times.

[Staggerwing]

Of course there were a lot of innocents on this Russian plane...just like there were a lot of innocents on the plane shot down last year. The day shooting down civilian airliners becomes 'normal' is going to be a very bad day. Hopefully that day hasn't already passed.

Sadley, while not commonplace, shooting down passenger aircraft is not the rarity many people think it is:

List of airliner shootdown incidents

[Gusington]

^True - not quite commonplace. Hopefully it will stay that way.

[Centurion40]

I dunno. There were a lot of innocent lives aboard that plane.

+1

Yeah, my first thoughts carried a kind of heart-sickness for the families back home, getting the news that their loved ones have died on vacation.

[Centurion40]

Whatever happened to that guy anyway?

That's the point - nobody cared.

He would have made a good talk-show host in the new Iraq.

[Centurion40]

Any guesses as to how long it will be before Russian media agitators start claiming that the Russian plane was shot down by the US in retaliation for a 'misguided' belief Russia was involved in the downing of MH17 over the Ukraine?

Now we're thinking!

You're 100% correct.

I'd be shocked if this does not happen.

[LongBlade]

The plot thickens.

The Pentagon is certain the Russian airliner that exploded over the Sinai Peninsula Saturday was not shot down, a defense official with access to the latest intelligence report of the crash told Fox News.

"There is no way it was brought down by a missile or anti-aircraft fire," the official said.

source: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/11/03/pentagon-official-says-there-is-no-way-russian-airliner-was-shot-down/

[Sir Slash]

So we got a choice whether to believe the Russians or the Obama Administration. Kind of like whether you want a kick in the head or in the nuts.

[LongBlade]

Laugh

Out

Loud

[JasonPratt]

I did notice that IS militants were solidly confirmed as having claimed responsibility for bringing the plane down.

That means they would have gladly done so if they could have, regardless of whether they did do it.

[LongBlade]

A one sentence news flash out of the UK is rather chilling.

UK suspends Sinai flights, says Russian jet may have been brought down by explosive device.

source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_APNEWSALERT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-11-04-12-02-57

[Centurion40]

The Middle Eastern locals don't like foreigners nosing in their business.  The Ottomans had problems, the British had problems, the French had problems, the Americans have problems, and now it's the Russians turn.

[JasonPratt]

The Middle Eastern locals don't like other ME locals nosing in their business, either. ;)

A one sentence news flash out of the UK is rather chilling.

The AP article today (not sure if this link will work http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/news/story/1001/20151104/7002 ) is only really a small procedural step: the heat bloom is being officially recognized by a government as POSSIBLY being a bomb, something unofficially already known, therefore the government (Britain in this case) is suspending flights to and from the region.

"It's a political decision to err on the side of caution if it has been deemed possible that an explosive device was involved and there are concerns about the levels of security at the airport involved," he said. [...]

The infrared activity could mean many things, however, including a bomb blast or an engine on the plane exploding due to a malfunction. One of the officials who spoke condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the information publicly said a missile striking the Metrojet was ruled out, because neither a missile launch nor an engine burn had been detected.

Several airlines, including Lufthansa and Air France, stopped flying over Sinai after the crash, but British carriers had kept to their schedules.

Britain did not change its travel advice for Egypt, which advises against all but essential travel to Sinai — where Islamist militants have mounted gun and bomb attacks — but makes an exception for Sharm el-Sheikh.

[LongBlade]

The Middle Eastern locals don't like other ME locals nosing in their business, either. ;)

I'd be willing to speculate that if they managed to prevent islamofascists from meddling in our business, we'd manage to figure out how to not meddle in theirs...

[Centurion40]

The Middle Eastern locals don't like other ME locals nosing in their business, either. ;)

I'd be willing to speculate that if they managed to prevent islamofascists from meddling in our business, we'd manage to figure out how to not meddle in theirs... so long as they don't have any oil.

FTFY