Comments on: They Know Better

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 28 Nov 2015 04:37:37 +0000

There is Borscht, and then there is the real Borscht. Real Borscht is a long term project that is rarely seen where people don’t want to tie up their stove for most of a day. It’s like good bean soup.

There is definitely a lack of good will between Turkey and its neighbors, as they were all under Ottoman rule for centuries with the exception of Russia.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 16:32:37 +0000

No bad taste perceived, Bryan — hey, I like the food from both adversaries’ cultures, though I doubt I’ll ever repeat on borscht. 🙂 It’s just that both also have a history of military engagement almost as hair-trigger (hair-scimitar?) as the US, and you know I’m not a great fan of war.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 03:24:45 +0000

The Turks and Russians/Soviets/Russians have been going at it so long, the Russians should have assumed that the Turks would have shot them down. It was arrogance on the Russian side that led them to refuse to collaborate with the other people in the area. The Turks would assume that aircraft flying without NATO IFF transmitters are ‘bad guys’.

Sorry I showed bad taste on that one, Steve, but the situation was criminally stupid. Yes, Kryten, the crew would have been better off if they had landed in Turkey rather than the area they had been dropping bombs on. Russian said that the Turks knew they were a Russian aircraft, but the Turks would have locked on and launched well before they would seen aircraft markings.

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 02:03:02 +0000

Well said Steve! 😀 Shame on you Bryan… tch, tch… Baiting Mr. Bates like that! Ahem… 😉 😛

I have no idea what the Russians were thinking (assuming they were). Could have told them that Su-24 would get shot down. *shrug*

Sadly for the crew, they would have been better off in Turkey (probably).

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 00:05:36 +0000

I will not go for a cheap laugh about Turkey and Thanksgiving, I’ll leave that for Steve Bates.

I'm afraid you won't get the opportunity to leave that one to me, at least not this time. When peoples become tetchy about borders, I try not to give them reason to become itchy about triggers.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 04:57:48 +0000

The Turkish military has a great deal of independence from the government, so Erdogon doesn’t have the power over the military that Putin or Obama have.

Russia is an ally of Syria and has refused to coordinate its missions with the other forces fighting against ISIS.

By: DMC

DMC — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 23:23:05 +0000

There’s an extensive and erudite discussion over at Ian Welch’s blog in the comments. It seems Erdogon may have more than purely political motivations.