NATO ambassadors to Turkey: Why didn’t you just escort that Russian plane out of your airspace?

[mystery-ak]

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/11/24/nato-ambassadors-to-turkey-why-didnt-you-just-escort-that-russian-plane-out-of-your-airspace/

NATO ambassadors to Turkey: Why didn’t you just escort that Russian plane out of your airspace?
posted at 4:01 pm on November 24, 2015 by Allahpundit

   

If you’re worried that Turkey’s going to use Article 5 of NATO to drag the U.S. and other western nations into a hot war with Russia, don’t be. Sounds from this response like NATO will fall apart before anyone goes to the mat for the Turks.

    NATO ambassadors called on Ankara to show “cool-headedness” on Tuesday following an emergency meeting in Brussels, after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, diplomats said.

    Diplomats present at the meeting told Reuters that while none of the 28 NATO envoys defended Russia’s actions, many expressed concern that Turkey did not escort the Russian warplane out of its airspace.

On the one hand, this wasn’t the first violation of Turkish airspace lately by a Russian jet. Erdogan’s complained about it to NATO before; NATO’s secretary-general said last month that the frequency and duration of the intrusions made it hard to believe Russia isn’t doing it purposefully. Turkey got tired of asking Russia nicely to stay out — and asking, and asking, as they reportedly warned the pilots of the jet that was brought down today 10 times in five minutes to scram ASAP. (Did Russia actually violate their airspace today, though? Moscow denies it.) On the other hand, the point of Article 5 obviously isn’t to trigger a regional war because a Russian jet en route to a target in Syria strayed a mile into Turkish territory or whatever it was. The paradigm case for Article 5 is hundreds of Russian tanks rolling towards Warsaw or Berlin, not one jet being a little too cute about Russia’s new hegemony in western Syria. Show of hands: Who thinks Europe’s militaries are going to spring into action after a long hiatus from major wars to enforce the integrity of Turkish airspace to the last inch?

Putin called the shootdown a “stab in the back” by western allies who are supposed to be fighting ISIS with him and warned of “very serious consequences,” but he might be willing to endure one embarrassment without retaliating in the name of avoiding escalation. Would he be willing to endure two, though?

    Turkmen forces in Syria shot dead the two pilots of a Russian jet downed by Turkish warplanes near the border with Turkey on Tuesday as they descended with parachutes, a deputy commander of a Turkmen brigade told reporters.

    “Both of the pilots were retrieved dead. Our comrades opened fire into the air and they died in the air,” Alpaslan Celik, a deputy commander in a Syrian Turkmen brigade said near the Syrian village of Yamadi as he held what he said was a piece of a pilot’s parachute.

Turkmen are ethnic Turks in Syria who have no association with the state of Turkey, but that’s not the point. The point is that killing the pilots, while they were defenseless on their way to the ground, will make the affront of the jet being shot down sting even more in Russia. And there’s actually yet another incident in Syria today that the Kremlin can use for anti-western propaganda if it wants, and this one’s on video too. Watch the clip below of Syrian rebels using a TOW missile, presumably supplied by Uncle Sam, to take out a Russian-made helicopter being operated by Assad’s army. RT, a Russian house organ, has already picked it up and claimed that not only was the helicopter on a search-and-rescue mission for the downed jet pilots but a Russian marine was killed in the TOW strike. Why this is circulating so widely online, apart from the gee whiz factor, I don’t know; Russia’s been bombing U.S.-allied rebels since they began flying sorties in Syria so it’s not as if America’s allies attacking Russia’s allies is some strange new escalation of the reality on the ground. The proxy war has been raging for weeks. But between the jet blowing up, the pilots being machine-gunned as they fell to earth, and now U.S. weapons being used to undermine the Russian/Syrian “counterterrorist” effort, there’s ample reason to think things will get worse before they get better. I’m just grateful we’ve got Cool Hand Luke in the White House, laying down “red lines” he doesn’t intend to enforce and issuing warnings that Assad must go which he has no means to follow through on, at the helm of this ship at it enters choppy waters.

[Scottftlc]

I'm not entirely convinced Obama and Erdogan didn't do this on purpose...to fracture an alliance to really get rid of ISIS...it isn't inconceivable to me that they are protecting ISIS.

[240B]

I'm not entirely convinced Obama and Erdogan didn't do this on purpose...to fracture an alliance to really get rid of ISIS...it isn't inconceivable to me that they are protecting ISIS.

Obama's interests seem to center around protecting and defending all forms of radical Islam all over the world. Point by point to follow.

He has shown open support for the Muslim Brotherhood from day one. There are accusations that Obama has allowed members of the MB to infiltrate the White House and the Pentagon.

Obama has always been very soft on the Taliban, and has insisted on them to be viewed not as an enemy, but rather as a potential ally, against the protests of the vast majority of our political and military analysts, and even against the frenzied protests of the local people and government who would be slaughtered by them.

Obama's love for Hamas, Hezbollah, and the PLO is well known. Even though these are three of the bloodiest and most deadly terrorist organizations on Earth, both to their own people, and to the West. While Hamas was in the process of bombing Israel with thousands of rockets aimed at civilian centers in an unprovoked attack, Obama was busy yelling at Israel, not at the terrorists, for having the gall to defend themselves. He cut arms shipments to Israel, not to the terrorists, and many, myself included, believe he was looking for any excuse or pretext to attack Israel to defend Hamas.

Obama essentially gave Libya to Al Quadia on a silver platter. He had American forces fighting along with and in support of Al Quadia forces to illegally overthrow the sovereign nation of Libya with no approval from Congress, or the U.N., or our allies, or anyone else. This was a war that overthrew a nation, resulted in the death of its President, and changed North Africa and Europe forever, and it was all done by the spoken word of Obama, simply because he wanted to.

Also, after Bin Laden was killed, Obama had him buried at sea in a full blown religious Islamic ceremony.

Having said all of that, it is important to note that Obama's antipathy for Israel is famous. But, he does not care for Egypt, or Jordan, or the Kurds, all of which are relatively moderate Muslims, and are not openly hostile to Israel and the West.

So yes, it is entirely possible that Obama sides with ISIS over the Western nations. Obama may view ISIS as the victims, and Russia as the 'White Oppressor'. Whether or not Obama is ready to fight Russia to defend ISIS remains unknown. But I would not put it out of the realm possibly.