Does nobody remember the rebels declaring the airspace off-limits to all aircraft backed-up by the promise to shoot any offending aircraft down?<p>Many are quick to say the rebels should have known the difference between a military transport and a civilian plane - but shortly before the shootdown, the Ukraine military had been flying similar airplanes as troop transports - and with the unlikeliness of the airline being able to hear and respond to the rebels on radio (listening on different frequencies), it&#x27;s easy to see how the sequence of events led to the downing of the airline.<p>We also should remember the rebel leader&#x27;s announcement on twitter that they had just shot down a military transport - only to redact the comment immediately following the news stories that began to run.<p>In the end, this is an unfortunate tragedy -- but what sane airline knowingly flies over a self-declared war zone?<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cbsnews.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;pro-russian-ukrainian-rebel-leader-claims-shoot-down-of-malaysia-airlines-jet&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cbsnews.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;pro-russian-ukrainian-rebel-lead...</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.telegraph.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;worldnews&#x2F;europe&#x2F;ukraine&#x2F;10899657&#x2F;Ukraine-rebels-shoot-down-plane-carrying-49.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.telegraph.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;worldnews&#x2F;europe&#x2F;ukraine&#x2F;108...</a>