An "international goal" Not a global goal? Or a democratic goal? Curious? Loaded words leaving one wondering if they were chosen intentionally. Thinking about "a Jewish led international boycott of German products” , and history repeating? Considering this oped comes from Jewish News the question has to be asked if this is the real meaning of the headline? Victor Rosenthal (excerpted)
"The shooting down of a Ukrainian commercial airliner immediately after takeoff from Teheran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport last week is still shrouded in mystery. 176 passengers and crew died in the ensuing crash after one or two missiles from a sophisticated Russian Tor-M1 anti-aircraft battery exploded near the plane. The Iranian regime initially denied any connection to the incident, but in the face of overwhelming evidence was forced to admit that their air defense system had downed the plane.The Iranians said that it was a human error in which a “junior officer” mistook the plane for an American cruise missile. According to Brig.-Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, “The operator identified the plane as a cruise missile but was unable to contact the central air defense command to confirm it. So he had to choose between shooting it down or not, and he choose [sic] to do it.” Hajizadeh added that the operator “had 10 seconds to make a decision.”
Unable to contact central air defense command? Jamming?
"In remarks broadcast on Iranian state television, Hajizadeh took full responsibility for the incident. “When I found out what had happened, I wanted to die. I said, I would rather die rather than be a witness to such an incident,” he said.Nevertheless, it is hard to understand how such a “mistake” could have been made. A cruise missile flies much faster than a commercial aircraft, and would have been at a lower altitude. Several other commercial flights had taken off from the airport that day, and surely operators would have been familiar with the profile. The plane had a functioning transponder, which “squawks” its identification, and this would have been picked up by military radars as well as the airport tower (which had just communicated with the pilots)" Had they "just" communicated?
It's not that difficult to understand how this incident might have taken place. One can or should certainly be able to grasp the idea of errors made under pressure. It's not novel or unusual Was the plane's transponder squawking it's identification? It had been reported there was no communication from the plane prior to the incident taking place. We're communications being jammed. As Iran has suggested.
The Tor-M1 battery near the airport would be integrated with other radar equipment in the local air defense system, and the blip would have been marked for the operator as a commercial airliner. According to a source familiar with the system, to target the airliner the operator would have had to make a “command override choice.”
Was there a blip present to indicate this was a commercial airliner?Or was spoofing involved?
"Perhaps a poorly-trained operator panicked? Hard to believe. Did someone for some reason want to destroy a commercial flight? We don’t know, and we may never find out"
But what the heck the author will suggest an intentional shoot down in order to paint a specific image in your mind.
"The regime’s expansionism threatens the peace of the region as well as the world. The regime is engaged in terrorist mischief-making around the world, and has made one of the greatest nations in the world the captive of a medieval Islamist ideology that should not exist in the 21st century. It is the epicenter of global anti-Semitism. And it is pursuing nuclear weapons."
Iran's expansionism? Where have I heard this kind of talk before? Pro Israel authors always talk about expansionary plans allegedly held by others, but, not theirs. Weird, huh?
"Iran’s aggression is precisely the kind of behavior that the United Nations was created to combat. And yet, more often than not, U.N. mechanisms work to abet rather than to hamper it.The most desirable outcome would be for the Iranian people to overthrow the regime and establish an enlightened, democratic government in its place. Failing that, almost any government more concerned with the welfare of its people than with exporting its revolutionary Islamism, dominating the region, destroying Israel and threatening the rest of the world would be an improvement.
Although the general principle that nations should not interfere in the internal affairs of other nations is a worthy one, Iran under its revolutionary regime pursues policies that make it an existential danger to other nations. Ignoring its behavior and allowing it to continue, especially along with the development of nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them all over the world, is foolhardy"
If we switched out Iran for Israel would Mr Rosenthal, while sitting in Israel, advocate an international goal of regime change for his nation of residence? You know he wouldn't. You can, of course, read Mr Rosenthal's entire oped at the link provided. Interesting the MEK was having a rally/meet and greet in California just this past week end.
PennyJanuary 13, 2020 at 4:31 PMOh I forgot to add to this postthe MEK and their supporters just had a meet and greet in California- that is in the US. And the MEK is a terror group, oh, but wait, not anymore... though Iran would beg to differNCRI and MEK Supporters Hold Convention in California: Solidarity With Iran Protests and Airliner Victims https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/iran-resistance/27219-ncri-…"Members of the Iranian American community in California, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), held a convention in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 11, in support of the nationwide Iran protests and the Iranian resistance movement, NCRI, and MEK.This event was also attended by American dignitaries such as former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, former U.S. Marines commandant General James Conway, Senator Robert Torricelli, Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, and Professor Ivan Sasha Sheehan. They delivered speeches in support of the Iranian people’s struggle to establish a free and democratic country."