Iran thought to have shot down Ukrainian 737 by mistake

This is an interesting philosophy...essentially that all actions have unintended consequences, even if indirectly connected.

How far should we take it?

Since Trump was elected, does that mean that all those who voted for Trump have the blood of these passengers on their hands?
Since Hillary didn't run a better campaign and defeat Trump, does that mean she has the blood of these passengers on her hands?
Since Obama didn't have a better foreign policy to engage Iran, does that mean he has the blood of these passengers on his hands?
Since America didn't exist in 1775, does this mean that all the Founding Fathers who created America have the blood of these passengers on their hands?

 

If you want to defend US against moral culpability for these deaths on the basis that they were “unintended”, then the same goes for Iran. It was a tragic accident, by all accounts. The question is who has responsibility for not exercising sufficient care and caution to avoid bad mistakes like this. Clearly Iran, but in that sense you could absolutely put some responsibility on the US too (in particular, the warhawks and those that empowered them). Escalating tensions and issuing constant threats of overwhelming and disproportionate violence against a country is a dangerous game, and you have to be prepared to accept some responsibility for the consequences of it.

 

A 'do no harm' principle is one framework you could work with. The world is intricately interdependent and every single action has consequences. It's impossible to see all the links and the best you can do is not intentionally do harm.

An overly simplified flow

I will bomb your cultural site (harm) -> air defense active -> bomb American military sites in Iraq (harm) -> air defense active and high alert -> shot down a passenger plane

Another overly simplified flow

Iran Suleimani: kill many American (harm) -> Trump: strike and kill Suleimani (harm) -> Iran: we will retaliate (harm) -> Trump: we will bomb your cultural site if you do (harm) -> ...

In that framework, Trump's voters that didn't intend on causing harm do not have "blood on their hand". Hillary's failure to defeat Trump does not have "blood on her hand". And so on...

 

I largely agree with this. I certainly don't think Trump and the US is responsible for this and I am very uncomfortable with cries that "Trump has the blood of those passengers on his hands!" The responsibility directly lies with the Iranian military and what by all accounts is a horrible and avoidable accident.

The point though that this idea that we can have a bloodless or limited bloodshed military adventure is very dangerous thinking especially in a place like the Middle East.

One of the unpredictable things though about this whole situation is that the downing of the plane might've in an odd way reduced tensions. I think it's obvious that Iran didn't plan this and are having a very difficult time dealing with it. They've had many shifting stories about it and it took them days before admitting what was increasingly becoming very obvious. Now that there are protests in Iran breaking out over this and international condemnation this situation has taken away much of the propaganda advantage Iran had of portraying themselves as a victim. Iran's regime isn't stupid and once they saw they lost that advantage might've deterred them from further escalating.

 

Such a sad situation.

 

There is a difference between taking responsibility vs being held accountable. Good leadership understands this (which is not Trump FWIW). Iran is being held accountable for this. If the American people feel Trump should be held accountable, it will happen at the booth.

Its not fair to berate Trump for this endlessly. There is a price to be paid for American imperialism. There will always be a price to be paid.