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Top US air defense commander: Shootdown of Russian jet had to be pre-planned


Washington's Blog
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
McInerney
© en.wikipedia.org
LT. General Thomas G. McInerney
Lt. General Tom McInerney is an expert on handling threats from fighter jets.

McInerney served as:
  • Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) - the military agency responsible for protecting the United States and Canada from foreign jet attacks - for the Alaska region
  • Commander of the Alaskan Air Command
  • Commander of 11th Air Force in Alaska
  • Commander of the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Clark Air Base, Philippines
  • Commander of the 313th Air Division, Kadena AIr Base, Japan
  • Commander of 3rd Air Force, Royal Air Force Station Mildenhall, England
  • Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force
  • A command pilot wiht more than 4,100 flying hours, including 407 combat missions
In his role as NORAD commander for Alaska, McInerney dealt with more Russian fighter jet incursions (which he calls "bear penetrations") than anyone else in the world. So McInerney knows how to tell innocent from hostile incursions by foreign fighter jets, standard rules of engagement of foreign fighter jets, how to read radar tracks, and the other things he would need to know to form an informed opinion about the shootdown of a foreign jet.

Yesterday, McInerney told Fox News - much to the surprise of the reporter interviewing him - that assuming the Turkish version of the flight path of the Russian jet is accurate, Russia wasn't threatening Turkey, and that Turkey's shoot down of the Russian jet "had to be pre-planned", as the jet wasn't in Turkish air space long enough for anything other than a premeditated attack to have brought it down.

Comment: The assessment that the Russian jet was in Syrian airspace when it was shot down was based on detection of the heat signature of the jet, confirmed by an anonymous official.

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Chess

Three potential reasons the Russian Su-24 was shot down


Sputnik
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 11:47 UTC
fuerza aerea rusa russia airforce
© Sputnik/ Ministerio de Defensa de Rusia
Ankara had no legitimate reason to shoot down the Russian bomber involved in anti-ISIL operation in Syria since the aircraft never left Syrian airspace, giving credence to the fact that Turkey could have ulterior motives.

These could well include dragging NATO into the Syrian conflict, ruining efforts to create a broad anti-ISIL coalition and even retaliating for ruining illegal oil business with the brutal group.

Wagging the dog: Turkey wants NATO in and Russia out of Syria

Islamist-leaning Turkey has long wanted Bashar al-Assad gone. To that end Ankara has been overtly supporting radical groups, who are trying to overthrow Syria's legitimate leader. However, since Russia became involved in counterterrorism efforts following a request from Damascus, ousting al-Assad is no longer an option.

Comment: Also see:

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Bad Guys

Erdoğan 'warns' Russia not to shoot down Turkish jets when they violate Syrian airspace


Sputnik
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 11:40 UTC
Turkey
© Sputnik/ Vladimir Astapkovich
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Moscow against using its S-400 air defense system to shoot down Turkish fighter jets if they violate Syrian airspace just days after Ankara had brought down a Russian Su-24 bomber.

Turkey must assess its own moves against Russia's downed Su-24 aircraft before deeming the deployment of Russian S-400 air defense systems in Syria an act of aggression, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, commenting on recent statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On Wednesday, Erdogan said that Turkey would call the use of S-400 missile systems against Turkish aircraft an act of aggression against his country's sovereignty.

Comment: Somehow, to Turkey, when they shoot down a non-hostile Russian jet it's 'defensive', but when Russia responds by defending their air force in Syria it's 'aggressive'. Obviously either Turkey's been in the NATO club for too long, and they have mush for brains, or they're deliberately leading Russia-Turkish relations into 'gridlock. It could be both.

Check out:

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Jet5

Greek protesters burn US, Turkish flags, want out of NATO after downing of Russian jet


Sputnik News
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 06:13 UTC
Syntagma Square
© REUTERS/ Alkis Konstantinidis
People make their way in central Syntagma Square as the parliament building is pictured in the background in Athens.
A crowd of Greek citizens gathered in the center of Athens to express their condemnation of the attack on the Russian Su-24 bomber. The protesters burnt Turkish and American flags and demanded that Greece withdraws from NATO.

On Tuesday, a Russian Su-24 aircraft was shot down while on a mission against terrorists in northern Syria by a Turkish F-16 fighter in response to an alleged violation of the Turkish airspace.

About one hundred Greeks gathered Thursday on the Athens' central Square Syntagma and headed towards the Turkish embassy, Ria Novosti reported. They were stopped by police 300 meters away from the Embassy, right next to the monument in honor of Greek pilots that died in an incident with the Turkish air force near Imia island in 1996. After that incident, the two NATO countries were on the verge of war.

"How symbolic!" one of the demonstrators exclaimed.
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Jet3

Turkish opposition parties slam government policies towards Syria and Russia

Hala al-Zain/ Barry
SANA
Thu, 26 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
su-24 shootdown
© Unknown
Turkish opposition parties lashed out the Turkish Justice and Development Party's "AKP" government's policies towards Syria and downing a Russian SU-24 fighter over Syria last Tuesday.

The regime of Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned Turkey into a state which exports terrorism to achieve his interests and greed in the region, Leader of Turkish leftist Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu said in a speech on Wednesday.
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Footprints

China announces agreement for its first military base in Africa

Dave Majumdar
National Interest
Tue, 24 Nov 2015 02:59 UTC
chinese military
© Andy Wong/Associated Press
The People's Republic of China is setting up its first military base in Africa as it continues its evolution into a global superpower. Beijing has signed a ten-year leasing agreement with Djibouti to build a logistical hub in that nation, which is located in the Horn of Africa.

"They are going to build a base in Djibouti, so that will be their first military location in Africa," U.S. Army Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of U.S. Africa Command, recently told defense reporters according to The Hill's Kristina Wong.

It was only a matter of time before China set up overseas bases in the region. Beijing has enormous economic interests in the region that it needs to protect. China has set up deals to supply its growing economy—which even as it slows down is expanding at close to seven percent per annum—with raw materials.

According to the Economist, China is the African continent's biggest trading partner with trade worth more than $160 billion per year. Over the past decade, more than a million Chinese laborers and merchants have moved to Africa to work. Essentially, Africa ships raw material to China, which is then exported back as finished products.

Comment: China positioning itself to extend its Silk Road project ever further?

China announces new "Silk Road" initiative through Russia and India

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Better Earth

Russia glad to offer services to help Japan shut down Fukushima reactors


RT
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:25 UTC
Image
© Yomiuri Shimbun / Reuters
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)'s tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's (R to L) No.4, No.3 No.2 and No.1 reactor buildings are seen in Fukushima prefecture
Russia's state nuclear energy company Rosatom is ready to help Japan shut down the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. A huge earthquake and a resulting tsunami hit the plant in March 2011, causing three nuclear meltdowns and a massive radiation leak.

Japan has been struggling in its cleanup effort in the aftermath of the nuclear accident. As of March 2015, about 600,000 tons of contaminated water was contained within tanks at the site, with the cleanup estimated to take up to 40 years.
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Newspaper

European Commission President Putin's agent?: Struggle for an independent Europe

Crimson Alter
Fort Russ
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 00:44 UTC
Translated for Fort Russ by J. Arnoldski
Juncker_Putin
© Unknown
"'Putin's agents' in Europe have been invigorated"

The pseudo-patriotic approach with the slogan "Let Europe burn" is a negation of our successful national historical experience. We won all of our great victories in alliance with countries and political elites which would cause a normal Russian person to gag. It is unlikely that Stalin felt any personal sympathy for Churchill and relations between London and Moscow have never been cloudless. But, for our country, cooperation with Great Britain was profitable and Stalin guaranteed this. In relation to contemporary Europe, we need to think just as pragmatically using our head and not our spinal cord.

The certainty of such parlor philosophers as to the fact that "Europe is under the Yankees" and that anyone who suggests "we need Berlin" or a split in the European political elite is an enemy and propagandist of the "fridge party" is surprising. Apparently, in Beijing they don't read such "patriotic" bloggers since China is not only not rejecting the idea of involving Europe in its "New Silk Road" project, but is in fact intensifying diplomatic efforts in the European direction. In a recent interview. Sergey Ivanov clearly noted the existence of a split in the European political elite. Answering the question as to whether or not sanctions against Russia led to a split of the elites, Ivanonv remarked: "Yes. Only in a mirror image. It appears to me that the it is not our elite that has been split, but the one abroad."

However, some still prefer to believe the unscientific fiction of offended "patriots" and not an influential Kremlin official who is an experienced intelligence officer and a specialist on Western Europe.
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Newspaper

Su-24 shoot down fall out: Azerbaijan recalls Consul General from Turkey


Fort Russ
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 00:36 UTC
Translated by Kristina Rus
Baku
© Unknown
Baku, capital of Azerbaijan
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree to recall the Consul General of Azerbaijan in Istanbul and at the same time the permanent representative of Azerbaijan in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, Hasan Zeynalov, reports the official website of the President.

Another decree of the President recalled from office the permanent representative of Azerbaijan to the UN office at Geneva and other international organizations, Murad Najafbeyli.
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Attention

Fanning the flames: Moscow warns against US plans to continue training Ukrainian troopers


ITAR-TASS
Thu, 26 Nov 2015 20:36 UTC
Ukraine army
© Nikolay Lazarenko/Ukrainian president's press service/TASS
The United States has launched a new phase of training of Ukrainian servicemen, a fact, which may have negative consequences for the future of the Donbas truce, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

She recalled that 300 US instructors from the 173rd US airborne brigade had trained three battalions - 780 people - for Ukraine's National Guard in a period from April to November. "It is noteworthy that the training completed at a time when the situation on the line of contact in Donbas started getting worse and the newly trained people were apparently sent there," Zakharova said.

Comment: Looks like Ukraine is preparing for another push into Donbass with rumors that more tanks have been moved toward the region.

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