One would think it was also cover the zone where they had just lost 2 military planes.
Reportedly, MH17 specifically requested permission to fly north of it and were duly approved, after having already over-flown ~700 miles of Ukrainian territory.
Yes. Reportedly. We should have had the actual air traffic controller tapes released by now. Why not ?
Absolutely. They assumed. But there is no excuse for assuming unless your life is in imminent danger, which theirs was not.
You are talking about how the US under Obama fights a war. When the rest of the world fights a war, they always assume they are in danger.
Later.
Actually, I was talking about how the US waged war during the Reagan Administration. Under Obama, they wouldn't have been there in the first place (Muzzies must be defeated, but Obama is one, at least for such purposes).