Russian Jet Shot Down By NATO Member

This morning two Turkish F-16 fighters shot down a Russian jet, claiming that it was in Turkey’s airspace after it had ignored repeated warnings.

There are two problems with this story. The first is that Russia claims to have evidence that the Russian jet never left Syrian airspace.  The second is that even if the Russian jet had strayed into Turkish airspace, Turkey knew there was zero threat to its security from a single Russian jet. Everybody and their uncle knows what Russian jets are doing in the area.

This means that NATO, of which Turkey is a member, had given a greenlight to the idea of shooting down Russian planes.

That’s a major provocation. And Russia is likely livid.

To make matters worse, a Russian rescue helicopter dispatched to the area was then shot down by a US-made TOW missile supplied to the so-called FSA “rebels” –who we now know are composed of many foreign fighters and mercenaries recruited by the West to fight against the Assad government.

And to escalate the situation even further, while the two Russian pilots were parachuting to safety, the Syrian mercenaries and rebels killed them using machine guns even before the bodies made it to the ground.

As we’ve noted in recent pieces, this is how world wars get started.

The Data

Here’s the data:

Russian warplane shot down near Turkey-Syria border

Nov 24, 2015

Turkey says it has shot down a Russian-made warplane on the Syrian border for violating Turkish airspace.

Two Turkish officials told Al Jazeera the plane was shot down on Tuesday by the Turkish military according to the rules of engagement.

Reports said the plane crashed in Syrian territory in Latakia's Yamadi village.

A Turkish military statement said the plane violated Turkish airspace in Hatay province and was warned "10 times in five minutes".

"Our two F-16 planes on air patrol duty intervened … on November 24, 2015, 9:24am, according to the rules of engagement," the statement said.

(Source)

Well, if the “rules of engagement” allow anybody to shoot down an intruding aircraft that has not been specifically welcomed into a region, then all the NATO planes operating in northern Syria are now targets.