The Danger In Threats
The Danger In Threats
Paul Craig Roberts
The high tensions caused by Washington between the US and Iran are to blame for the Ukrainian airliner that was shot down. “Human error at a time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster.” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/stunning-reversal-iran-admits-accidentally-shooting-down-ukrainian-passenger-jet#comment_stream
Just as the Iranian commander misinterpreted the airliner’s maneuver as a strike on a military base, an American or a Russian can conclude that a false warning of incoming ICBMs, of which the Cold War had many, is real.
During the Cold War as each side was working to reduce tensions, there was no hair-trigger in place. Now that the US has caused high tensions with Russia as it has with Iran, false alarms are extremely dangerous.
This is the message that Stephen Cohen, myself, and others have continually given.
Hopefully, some good will come from the loss of 176 lives by sobering up the warharks in Washington who are forever issuing threats. The responsibility for raising tensions to such dangerous levels in both Iran and Russia is entirely Washington’s. This reckless and irresponsible behavior must stop before the unnecessary tensions cause Armageddon.
‘I wish I was dead’: Senior IRGC commander accepts responsibility for downing Ukrainian jet, says it was mistaken for missile
11 Jan, 2020 10:13 / Updated 10 hours ago
© Reuters / Nazanin Tabatabaee
A top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officer has revealed that the Ukrainian jet was mistaken for an incoming cruise missile and that the commander of the anti-aircraft unit had only 10 seconds to make the decision.
“After hearing about the crash of the Ukrainian plane, I wished to die”, Hajizadeh said during a press conference on Saturday.
I wish I had died and not witnessed such an accident
The commander explained that the incident had occurred as the country was bracing for potential US strikes and that the “likelihood of conflict” between the two nations has been “unprecedented” since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
According to an early assessment, the Ukrainian plane was erroneously identified as an incoming cruise missile, which resulted in the tragedy. Air-defense units received a warning that cruise missiles had been fired at the country and stayed on high alert at the time of the incident, Hajizadeh stated.
The commander of the anti-aircraft unit had sought confirmation for the launch from his superiors, but experienced communication problems and had to make the decision –which turned out to be wrong– on his own. The officer only had 10 seconds to make the decision, Hajizadeh added.
Hajizadeh stated that the IRGC notified the authorities that it had likely hit the plane back right after the incident, yet this information was not disclosed to the public while the crash site was being investigated. Neither IRGC nor the country’s military sought to hide the incident, the due procedure was to be followed, he explained.
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