Hmmmmmm

I’ll await your apologies if (when) it’s proven that this plane has been shot down.

Nobody has actually said otherwise, have they? Seems to me that everyone else is waiting until there's some actual update rather than wild guesswork.

Guess away, you don't need anyone to apologise to you for being reluctant in joining you in your guesswork, do you?

People were questioning your reasoning, as you seemed to think a plane on fire most likely indicated being shot down.

Are you sticking with that theory?

Here's mine - the ballistic missiles aimed at US bases didn't accidentally hit a plane, as the chances of that are infinitesimal - way less than even Ticino Tom knowing a handful of 160+ IQ Trump supporters.

The latest news is there were no casualties on the US bases.

It seems like a proportionate response. Iran claims they attacked the bases that launched the drones used in the killing, the people in the bases had enough time to get into their bunkers. Rocket attacks on US bases are a regular thing so they are used to them and know how to cope.

It looks more like a publicity thing than a serious attempt to kill people.

Can you say exactly what you refer to as i cannot recollect Airbus being in a position at any time, similar to the position Boeing is in now.


Boeing are big and make a large contribution to the US economy believe it or not, if Boeing were to go under and whilst it is highly unlikely, it is not inconcieveable, this would hurt the US economy which would very much suit Iran.


The reason it is unlikely they did it, in my opinion, is when they do something or retaliate, they do like to broadcast their actions as much as possible.



With all the hype around Soleimani's assasination, for that is what it was, the Iranian leadership needs to be seen taking a hard line stance against the US which means publishing their revenge actions. Failing this, they will be worried it is all hot air and the public could turn against them.

I'm hopeful that this perspective is accurate: "Iran's assault on US bases in Iraq might satisfy both sides". Iran's limited strike appears designed to give the US the opportunity to deescalate (back to proxy warfare). My speculative hypothesis is that Iran's top longterm priority is to get US troops removed from Iraq (which the Iraqi government has now requested). They didn't want to do anything that undermined their current advantage and momentum in that direction.

But, I'm happy about any rationale to deescalate from the brink.

Edit: They even warned Iraq about it beforehand: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ates-democrats

It's almost like the Iranians have gone through the motions just to humour Trump. Calling the Iraqis with "Look, we're going to chuck over a big show of missiles into the US compound. They know about it and we'll try not to make any more mess than necessary. It's just to shut that retarded orange gibbon up."

Not sure then who gets accused of more posturing: Iranians or that gibbon.

Does it matter?

It's only the escalation that matters and it seems to have been nipped in the bud by the Iranians.

For now.

It was very full. But what isn't known is baggage/cargo load. It could have been overloaded.

Glad peace-keeping gets understood so well.

To be fair, it was a tongue-in-cheek scenario. Perhaps I should have added a caveat in case anyone was gullible to think it was real.

Go ahead and question my reasoning, just no need to do it in a sarcastic and derogatory way.

I am sticking with my theory. I think that nervous Iranian defence forces shot that plane out the sky believing it to be immediate US reprisals for the ballistic missile strikes in Iraq. Three year old 737s tend not to fall out of the sky due to "engine failure".

The President of the Kurdistan region (autonomous region in northern Iraq) asked for the coalition forces to remain (i.e., US, Brittish, & French) to fight ISIS. This puts the Kurdistan region at odds with Iraq's Prime Minister regarding US troops (& Iran's ultimate goal of displacing US troops). We'll see how this plays out.

Iraq's Prime Minister "rejected but did not condemn" Iran's attack, and confirmed that he was notified about it ahead of time.

It does appear like there is a wink-wink Iraq/Iran relationship between the two leaders. IMO, the Solemoni assassination is playing out as a strategic blunder on Trump's part by pushing Iraq into Iran's hands. But, at this point, at least, it doesn't seem to be escalating into a full-blown war.

That is unless Trump decides to force it. I wouldn't bet on that happening, but his erratic nature and irrationality means anything is a possibility.

I didn't see any sarcasm in StirB's post.

Stick with whatever you wish just don't expect everyone to agree with you.

It was 4 years old, still well in Iranian teritorry and was the plane shot down before or after the rockets were launched ?


PS Rockets are very small fry compared to ballisitc missiles

If it does turn out that the Iranians downed this Ukranian plane by mistake then there is only one murderer-thats Trump and his mafia hit men !

You misunderstood my post!

I posted that you stated you did not believe reports from Iranian State TV and then a couple of posts later you quoted their report that the plane was on fire.
An unusual lack of consistency by you.

Depends. According to this, the crash was only a few minutes after take-off.

Aircraft do need sufficient speed and lift to keep flying. With a failure that soon after takeoff, one engine might not be enough to do the job to keep it in the air.