You are here

Preventing confusion

Sep 25,2018 - Last updated at Sep 25,2018

The shooting down of a Russian military plane last week off the coast of Syria ended this time peacefully, but such incidents may not always end the same way. Major wars had erupted in the past over similar “accidents” and more determined efforts must, therefore, be undertaken as a matter of highest priority to prevent the recurrence of similar shooting down of warplanes in the sky of Syria or over its territorial waters.

The sober and measured reaction of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the incident prevented it from escalating into a major conflict; both military and diplomatic. The Russian leader commented at the time that a "chain of tragic and chance circumstances” led to the tragedy. Putin's statesmanship this time saved the region a major military show down which could have escalated the Syrian conflict into wider proportions.

At first, fingers pointed to France as the possible culprit because it had a naval unit deployed in the area capable of shooting down hostile aircrafts. Then, after further scrutiny and cool-headed search for the truth, Moscow shifted the blame to Israel because it had warplanes operating in the vicinity, only to find later on that it was not Israel after all that brought down the Russian IL-200 carrying 15 senior Russian officers, but Damascus' missile defence system deployed in the area.

Damascus and Moscow are close allies and Russia did not want to incriminate the Syrian government as a matter of principle and policy because they are fighting on the same side and for the same strategic objective in Syria.

Similar confusion or error of judgement in the sky of Syria could happen again, especially when it is now over crowded by many warplanes belonging to several nations, including the US. The bottom line is what can, or rather should, be taken by all parties involved in the Syrian conflict in one capacity or another to prevent the recurrence of similar tragedies and loss of life in Syria.

Of course the best solution is to end the Syrian conflict on legitimate and fair grounds as soon as possible, but pending the arrival at this end game, all parties are called upon to agree on a formula or mechanism to prevent similar accidents from occurring again.

up
35 users have voted, including you.


Newsletter

Get top stories and blog posts emailed to you each day.

PDF