Turkey has the right to defend its territorial integrity and airspace. The Russians have been quite brazen over the last few years trying to provoke/probe American and NATO airspace, and unfortunately for them, they got burned this time. Can you actually trust any Russian media reports? There is no free apolitical media left in Russia. The open VHF and UHF frequencies were used by Turkey to warn the Russian pilots as monitored by independent media sources.
These Russian pilots and planes are no match for American/NATO pilots. Even the F-16s which are over 30 yrs in service are superior to the SU-24s. Good for Turkey in defending itself. I don't condone the shooting up of parachuting pilots of course.
Latest news is that Putin has vowed "revenge" against Turkey. What does that mean exactly. Can we or do we even want to read Putins mind here? Will Obama finally listen and take into account his military intelligence on these matters. This is the first conflict of late where America does not have air superiority in numbers in such a conflict.
The Turks have the right to defend the indigenous Turkmens in northern Syria. The president of Turkey and Mr. Hollande are real leaders. One is a Muslim brotherhood member and the other an avowed socialist. They make Obama look like a pathetic wimp.
It will be interesting how this all plays out. God save America from this Obama/Clinton middle east policy. If the Turks evoke NATOs article 5, ie. collective NATO defense, will NATO come to Turkeys aide? Does Obama have the stomach for a fight? Americans are way ahead of Obama on this issue.