Was the Turkish downing of the Russian SU-24 planned in advance?
The video below discusses the downing of the Russian bomber. While the host cutting the General McInerney short was probably due to hard commercial breaks, I did find it of interest that the most damning part of the interview was cut short. McInerney was basically saying that the incident had to have been pre planned. Since we know that the Russians had provided the US with its flight plans, the Turkish F-16 may have been laying-in-wait for just such an opportunity. I have been considering this for several days and have been reluctant to conclude this was the case.
I suggest that the words of an expert might be of interest.
Here is how the Washington Blog described McInerney.
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 with more than 4,100 flying hours, including 407 combat missions
The Turkish government must think this will help them domestically, but it seems really dumb to me.