dave_j

As much as I dislike Trump and his stupidity, in this instance he merely set the stage upon which others acted.
This aircraft was downed because those designing the Iranian defence structure failed to address ALL possible scenarios and we have all witnessed time and again, it's the unexpected that bites you in the bum.
Iranian faults stretch from allowing the aircraft to take off to failing to communicate with the man with his finger on the button to siting an AA battery along a recognised flight path.
But we can all point the finger after the event, just be thankful that you weren't the guy who'll inevitably be blamed for simply doing his job to the best he could.

scrubbedexpat091

I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall in the room where the decision was made and what happened and why they suspected the Ukrainian Flight as being suspicious but not the other flights that departed in the hours before.

Even after 2 flights cancelled but 4 other flights departed, those were all Iranian airlines flights though.

spouse of scouse

I don't blame the US (or Trump) for the act of shooting down the plane. I do blame Trump for an overt act of aggression against a radical Islamic regime that supports terrorism. He had a choice, and he chose to provoke.

Oakvillian

I have heard several people refer to this missile strike as an accident. That is deeply misleading. The aircraft was clearly deliberately targeted by the SAM operator, and it's not as if somebody leaned on the trigger button my mistake when reaching for their cup of coffee. It was an error, for sure; it was a mistake, absolutely. But it was demonstrably not an accident.

Words matter.

sharkus

To quote Hot Fuzz:
Danny Butterman: Hey, why can't we say "accident," again?
Nicholas Angel: Because "accident" implies there's nobody to blame.

Paul_Shepherd

Couldn't agree more...... words do matter, this was not an "accident". It was an act first, ask questions later situation...... which is simply not good enough.

dave_j

Absolutely. Call it an accident and nothing changes. If nothing else is done then Iran will devise a system that'll prevent this from happening again, the problem is that there's another, different, series of events that they might not think of.
It's not satisfactory because it'll spread the blame if you start to investigate why it happened, but someone has to be pilloried and it'll be the squad in charge of the missiles.
I'm tempted to ask the question, 'Why aren't other instances of 'collateral damage' subject to a similar scrutiny and condemnation?'
The disgusting answer is that these innocents don't die in the full light of media frenzy.... and because it's all too frequent to be newsworthy.

BristolUK

"You mean that red disc wasn't a coaster?"

Britcat

One of the versions in Ukraine is that Iran’s air defense specifically shot down a Boeing.

Paul_Shepherd

But what would be the motive in that - shooting down a civilian airliner?

Britcat

To prevent a big war Iran vs USA.
A downed passenger plane is just a small sacrifice