Syria Shoots Down Turkish military aircraft

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...008420668.html



An Excerpt:

"The Syrian Defense Ministry said the Turkish plane was hit over Syria's territorial waters Friday after it crossed into its territory about half a mile offshore, Syrian state media reported. The ministry said it discovered the plane was Turkish only after it had been shot down. Syrian officials characterized the shooting down of the jet as a protocol response to a violation of airspace, not an act of aggression against Turkey."




Comment: Definitely not good, lots of possiblilities here, some of which could involve NATO. I really was hoping to stay out of this one. We're in no shape to start up another major conflict much less one that could very well involve in the entire region. If we somehow get involved in this abortion we'll find ourselves in open conflict with Iran as well, since they have IRGC-Qods Force personnel on the ground as "advisors." Meanwhile we've already started our drawdown. However, if Turkey wants to go in there by themselves then more power to them!

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And here's the Turkish response:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06...ilitary-plane/

[david1833]

Sounds like Syria is a little jumpy.

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Sounds like Syria is a little jumpy.

Yeah they are. Even if Turkey were to go in alone, the Asad regime would have a hard time defending against a military that's up to NATO standards. Also, if Turkey's operations in the tri-border region are any indicator, they don't play by the same rules we do...

[Loathe]

Dayum, this could get interesting.

[Recon133]

Hope we sit this one out and let the ragheads kill each other.

[Old All American]

Hope we sit this one out and let the ragheads kill each other.

Don't know what shape Turkey is in now, but they were some mean sobs back in my day. But with the current nut-job in charge there it's bad against worst- yeah, let them kill each other.

[blackflagg509]

I'll have to keep up on the news tomorrow morning to see how this situation develops.

[VoTrooper99]

The article says the Turkish F-4 had only penetrated the Syrian airspace by one kilometer when it was shot down. Holy shit they're quick on the trigger. Unless it was paralell to the border, the damn thing was probably in Syria for about 30 seconds.

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The article says the Turkish F-4 had only penetrated the Syrian airspace by one kilometer when it was shot down. Holy shit they're quick on the trigger. Unless it was paralell to the border, the damn thing was probably in Syria for about 30 seconds.

I know right? Says quite a bit on where their mindset is, know what I mean?


@ Old All American- They're still some mean SOBs. Their operations in the tri-border region combating the PKK (aka "KGK" or "Kongra-Gel") is a good example of this. During my 5th deployment, they actually executed a limited ground operation into Northern Iraq targeting PKK camps. Interesting thing about this is Turkey has even collaborated with Iran on targeting Kurdish rebels. The PKK does alot of work and sharing of resources/camps with Iranian Kurd groups like the PJAK and Komala. As a side note, this is why the still unresolved issue surrounding Iraq's Article 140 (involving the future of Kirkuk and it's oil) is so important. So what does this have to do with Syria? There are some noticable pockets of Kurds in Syria that are beginning to show some early signs of moving towards initiating kinetic operations. Turkey can't-AND WON'T-let that happen. I suspect the Kurdish issue will be one of the factors playing into whatever decision Turkey makes regarding Syria. Personally, I can see Turkey eventually getting involved with Syria to put their southern neighbor in check and further blunt the Kurdish nationalist agenda. Erdohan is slowly becoming more of a player in the region, and although he is considered a conservative Muslim, he's actually alot more moderate than the Brotherhood and Al Qaida. To be quite honest I really don't see any "good guys" in this one and I would like to sit this one out as well...

[Old All American]

I know right? Says quite a bit on where their mindset is, know what I mean?


@ Old All American- They're still some mean SOBs. Their operations in the tri-border region combating the PKK (aka "KGK" or "Kongra-Gel") is a good example of this. During my 5th deployment, they actually executed a limited ground operation into Northern Iraq targeting PKK camps. Interesting thing about this is Turkey has even collaborated with Iran on targeting Kurdish rebels. The PKK does alot of work and sharing of resources/camps with Iranian Kurd groups like the PJAK and Komala. As a side note, this is why the still unresolved issue surrounding Iraq's Article 140 (involving the future of Kirkuk and it's oil) is so important. So what does this have to do with Syria? There are some noticable pockets of Kurds in Syria that are beginning to show some early signs of moving towards initiating kinetic operations. Turkey can't-AND WON'T-let that happen. I suspect the Kurdish issue will be one of the factors playing into whatever decision Turkey makes regarding Syria. Personally, I can see Turkey eventually getting involved with Syria to put their southern neighbor in check and further blunt the Kurdish nationalist agenda. Erdohan is slowly becoming more of a player in the region, and although he is considered a conservative Muslim, he's actually alot more moderate than the Brotherhood and Al Qaida. To be quite honest I really don't see any "good guys" in this one and I would like to sit this one out as well...

With most of these rug-riding dictators and movements today it's like trying to decide whether you would rather be stuck in a cage with a hungry tiger or a starving lion.

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With most of these rug-riding dictators and movements today it's like trying to decide whether you would rather be stuck in a cage with a hungry tiger or a starving lion.

Pretty much. Take Libya for instance. I'd rather have dealt with the starving lion (Qadaffi) than the hungry tiger (Al Qaida). At least the starving lion was weak enough to actually come clean about his WMD program and actually provide intel on Al Qaida training camps in Eastern Libya. It was a win-win situation because Qadaffi was a more orientated to socialism and was just as much in the jihadists' gunsights as America. It still pisses me off our President supported the very same terrorists who fought under the AQI banner as foreign fighters in Iraq- with many of the senior rebel commanders having American blood on their hands.

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UPDATE: Turkey calls for emergency NATO meeting:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...rzV_story.html



Looks like they're invoking article 4 of the NATO charter. They're claiming their jet fighter was in international waters when it was brought down by Syrian air defenses.


An Excerpt:

“It was an act of war,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said in a telephone interview. “They shot down a plane over international waters, and this is unacceptable.” Turkey sent a diplomatic note to Syria stating that under international law, Turkey “reserves the right to respond,” he added.

[IEDmagnet]

Pretty much. Take Libya for instance. I'd rather have dealt with the starving lion (Qadaffi) than the hungry tiger (Al Qaida). At least the starving lion was weak enough to actually come clean about his WMD program and actually provide intel on Al Qaida training camps in Eastern Libya. It was a win-win situation because Qadaffi was a more orientated to socialism and was just as much in the jihadists' gunsights as America. It still pisses me off our President supported the very same terrorists who fought under the AQI banner as foreign fighters in Iraq- with many of the senior rebel commanders having American blood on their hands.

Hate to sound like the guy with a foil hat, but does it not seem like everyone who helps us against AQ is turning up dead? Doesn't seem like the powers that be are doing a wonderful job protecting the identities of our CIs.

As for the aircraft incident, this may be the beginning of something much larger than any of us imagined.

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Hate to sound like the guy with a foil hat, but does it not seem like everyone who helps us against AQ is turning up dead? Doesn't seem like the powers that be are doing a wonderful job protecting the identities of our CIs.

As for the aircraft incident, this may be the beginning of something much larger than any of us imagined.

No, it doesn't sound like you have a "tin foil hat" at all. There's been some weird shit going on since JAN 2009. Just to throw this out there, wouldn't it be interesting if the F4 Syria shot down was unmanned? Talk about Gulf of Tonkin revisted! Now THAT would be "tin foil hat." Still, as much of a conspiracy theory as that sounds, nothing surprises me anymore. But seriously, I think you're right about this possibly being the beginning of something much larger. It has the potential to ignite the entire region, and quite possibly Third World War material...