CBS News reported on Thursday that U.S. officials were confident that Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner that was carrying 176 people. The airliner crash occurred shortly after takeoff from Tehran International Airport shortly after Iran’s missile attack on U.S. targets in Iraq on Tuesday.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a Democratic presidential candidate, suggested that the Trump administration shared blame with Iran for the downed airliner.
“Innocent civilians are now dead because they were caught in the middle of an unnecessary and unwanted military tit for tat,” Buttigieg tweeted. “My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of all 176 souls lost aboard this flight.”
These civilians were not caught in the middle of anything considering the U.S. did not launch any airstrikes in Iran. The U.S. has not responded to Iran’s missile strikes that caused minimal damage and caused no casualties.
The airliner was shot down because the Iranian air defense is utterly incompetent, period.
Assigning blame to the Trump administration, even shared blame, for this loss is beyond the pale.
Buttigieg isn’t the only one.
Seth Abrahamson, a Newsweek columnist, blamed Sean Hannity who apparently said on-air that an airstrike was imminent.
Yes, because Fox News is warned about military operations before they happen. Obviously, Hannity was wrong. Even so, Iran can’t tell the difference between an airliner that took off from its own capital city and incoming strike fighters or bombers?
Good grief. This response is shameful.