Showdown on the Syrian Border: Vijay Prashad on Turkey's Downing of Russian Jet

We look at Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane near the Turkey-Syria border on Tuesday–one of the most serious clashes between a NATO member country and Russia in half a century. Turkey says it repeatedly warned the Russian pilots they were violating Turkish airspace. Russia claims they plane never strayed from Syrian airspace. “There are some serious questions on the table about Turkey’s role in this conflict,” says journalist Vijay Prashad, in a web exclusive interview. He suggests Turkey may be providing support to both the Islamic State and various proxy forces fighting in the area where the Russian jet was shot down. He also argues there is no international backing for American and French retaliatory bombings in Raqqa, Syria. Prashad's recent article is Showdown on the Syrian border.