Obama's Last Chance at Middle East Leadership

In the most serious public confrontation between a NATO member state and Russia since the 1950s, Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet Tuesday over Turkish territory. Russian President Putin reacted instantly, calling the downing a "stab In the back by the accomplices of terrorism," adding, "We cannot find another wording to what happened today. Our plane was shot down over the Syrian territory. The air-to-air missile came from an F-16 Turkish military plane. It fell in the Syrian territory four kilometers from the Turkish border. It was at an altitude of 6,000 meters one kilometer away from the Turkish border when it was hit. In any case, our pilot and our plane never threatened the Republic of Turkey." ~~~~~ That's the Russian story. But, Turkey says it warned the Russian jet it was violating Turkish airspace ten times before firing. In a letter to the UN Security Council, Turkey said it shot down the jet while it was in Turkish airspace. Along with a second plane, the aircraft had flown more than a mile into Turkey for 17 seconds, despite being warned to divert 10 times in five minutes during its approach, the letter said. Turkish President Erdogan stated : "Nobody should doubt that we made our best efforts to avoid this latest incident. But everyone should respect the right of Turkey to defend itself." Erdogan said that only Turkey's "cool-headedness" had prevented worse incidents in the past, alluding to Russian air strikes in Syria, during which it has violated Turkish airspace several times recently. ~~~~~ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cancelled a Wednesday visit to Turkey and advised Russians not to visit Turkey. The Russian defense ministry said it was preparing measures to respond. Private Turkish Haberturk TV showed the fighter jet going down in flames, trailing smoke behind as it crashed in a wooded area the TV called "Turkmen Mountain." A Turkey Anadolu Agency video showed two pilots parachuting out of the jet before it crashed. A deputy commander of rebel Turkmen forces in Syria said his men shot both pilots dead as they parachuted. The Russian military confirmed one pilot had been killed from the ground and another soldier died during a rescue operation. A senior Turkish official said at least one of the pilots could still be alive : "We're trying to verify the information and taking all necessary steps to facilitate their return." A video sent to Reuters appeared to show one of the pilots badly wounded and motionless on the ground. ~~~~~ NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg supported Turkey, rejecting suggestions that the incident happened outside Turkey's borders. Stoltenberg said : "The allied assessments that we have are consistent with the information we have from Turkey. We stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our NATO ally." ~~~~~ A US military spokesman said it was an issue between the Turkish and Russian governments and that US-led coalition operations in Syria and Iraq were continuing "as planned." President Obama said Turkey had "the right to defend itself." He and French President Hollande, meeting in Washington, encouraged calm. ~~~~~ Dear readers, Putin's separate Syria air strike campaign has resulted in Russian and NATO planes flying combat missions in the same airspace - a first since World War II. Russia is targeting US-coalition-supported rebel groups close to Turkish borders to support al-Assad regime ground operations. Putin's aggressive Syria/Iraq airstrike campaign has forced Obama to be slightly more active in his role as allied coalition leader, but analysts say the US needs to be much more proactive. Hollande said as much today in Washington. Putin is using Obama's laxity to encourage France and others to join Russia and Iran in Syria and Iraq, cutting out the US. Obama was wrong about the 2011 Iraq troop withdrawal and about not taking on al-Assad regime change in 2011 or 2012 when it was possible. This is Obama's last chance to positively impact the Middle East. But to do this, he needs to assume the required US leadership role now. NOW.