Netanyahu Regime Responsible for Downing Russian Aircraft, Blames Syria for Its High Crime
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
Washington and Israel consistently blame victims for their high crimes of war and against humanity.
The agendas of both countries and their imperial allies threaten world peace and stability like no others since WW II - things today more perilous than ever because of super-weapons ruling regimes of these countries may be willing to use.
The Netanyahu regime bears full responsibility for the downing of a Russian reconnaissance aircraft on Tuesday, killing its 15 crew members.
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu angrily responded to the incident, mincing no words, saying Israeli “actions will not be left unanswered by us.”
IDF pilots deliberately and maliciously used the Russian IL-20 surveillance aircraft as cover while terror-bombing Syrian sites, naked aggression like many times before.
They left the Russian aircraft vulnerable to be struck by Syrian ground-to-air missiles, targeting hostile IDF warplanes - clearly acting on high-level orders from Israel’s war ministry, perhaps from Netanyahu personally.
He and his regime caused the deaths of 15 Russian crew members, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu saying “the strike was delivered using our Ilyushin-20 as cover,” putting it in harm’s way to protect IDF warplanes and pilots.
An IDF statement claiming its pilots didn’t see a clearly visible Russian IL-20 at an altitude of 5 km heading for the Khmeimim airbase was a bald-faced lie.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov called Israel’s action “hostile.”
An IDF apology rang hollow. It shamefully justified the unjustifiable. It lied claiming a facility targeted was involved in transferring weapons “on behalf of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon” - no evidence cited.
It disgracefully blamed Syria, Iran and Hezbollah for its despicable war crime, one of countless others it committed throughout years of war - besides decades of genocidal high crimes against Palestinians.
In his phone conversation with Israeli war minister Lieberman, Shoigu minced no words, saying Israel is solely to blame for downing Russia’s IL-20 aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea.
Putin issued an unacceptable weak-kneed response to the incident, contradicting his defense minister, absolving Israel for what happened, saying:
“It looks like a chain of tragic circumstances, because the Israeli plane didn’t shoot down our jet.”
Israel bears full responsibility for what happened. Putin clearly knows what he failed to publicly state, along with not saying the incident demands a strong response - short of declaring war on Israel.
“Russia’s retaliatory measures…will be directed primarily at stepping up security of Russian military officers in Syria, our military facilities in the Syrian Arab Republic. These will be the steps everyone will notice,” he said - leaving important questions unanswered.
Why does he tolerate Israeli and US-led aggression in Syria? Why hasn’t he permitted delivery of sophisticated S-300 air defense systems sold to Syria earlier?
Why has he failed to denounce and challenge their regular terror-bombing, massacring civilians, killing government forces, destroying or damaging military sites, along with vital infrastructure - waging naked aggression without declaring it?
Why has Putin given US-led NATO and Israeli warplanes free reign to illegally attack Syrian targets unaccountably, including civilian ones?
It’s one thing to want good relations with these countries, quite another turning a blind eye to their high crimes of war and against humanity.
Why hasn’t Putin denounced their support for ISIS and other cutthroat killer jihadists, used as imperial foot soldiers?
Why does he consider America, Israel, and their imperial partners, waging naked aggression in the country Russian “partners,” their hostile officials “colleagues.”
Why do Russian officials and the country’s English language media falsely call US-led naked aggression for regime change in Syria “civil war” when there’s nothing remotely “civil” about it.
Why do they falsely distinguish between good and bad terrorists in Syria - jihadists v. so-called moderates, rebels, or opposition forces when all anti-Assad elements are cutthroat killer fanatics, differences among them in name only?
No moderates exist. Why don’t Russian officials explain it without equivocation? Why do they call for separating some terrorists from others when they’re all the same?
Putin deserves high praise for intervening in September 2015, turning certain defeat for Syria into hoped for triumph - changing the dynamic on the ground by joining the battle to defeat ISIS and al-Nusra in the country.
What about countless thousands of other terrorists just as bloodthirsty? Is Putin willing to let them continue waging war for regime change, serving US interests, instead of targeting all jihadists for elimination, either by combat or getting them to surrender their arms and cease fighting?
True enough, he’s only obligated to preserve and protect Russian security and other interests, not aid other countries in their own struggles.
But he came to the aid of an ally in need, Assad and Syria victimized by US-led aggression, still raging with no end of it in prospect because bipartisan neocon hardliners infesting Washington want endless war and regime change.
Having cast the die to help defeat the scourge of US-supported terrorism in Syria, doing it part way isn’t good enough.
Eliminating it entirely is essential. Anything less is unacceptable. Delaying the essential liberation of Idlib lets what Sergey Lavrov called an “abscess” fester.
Putin acted responsibly by getting involved. He should go all-out to triumph over terrorism in Syria because it’s the right thing to do.
There are times when resoluteness against imperial viciousness is vital. This is one of those times.
The alternative is letting US-led dark forces triumph over fundamental freedoms essential to preserve and protect.
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