“Mine is a “false assertion”, backed up by an aviation author who has no way of knowing what the Russians are doing in Syria??”
He is not there.
He cites nobody who is there.
He cites no national intelligence source that is there.
He cites no first-hand witnesses whatsoever.
He just makes an outrageous assertion, backed by no first-hand information and expects everyone to believe it.
Who does that?
Tom Cooper is a well known, widely read, and vetted aviation author.
The links I supplied attest to that.
Any direct reporting in Syria or Yemen or many of the warring areas of the ME is spotty at best.
Authors like Cooper rely on their network of intel contacts and local witnesses in local language news.
Yup, it can be murky stuff.
I don’t absolutely trust any of it, it is often wrong.
But authors like Cooper make their living with this reporting, its their job. I trust that Cooper and others like him do their best to get it right.
Simply because getting it wrong can cost them their reputation and their income.
If you look at the video of the Russian pilot killing himself, that’s a pretty direct source, that’s direct reporting that Cooper didn’t offer, but I did.
It may seem outrageous, because we are not privy to Cooper’s intel and sources.
But if Cooper made a habit of outrageous reporting he wouldn’t be doing it for long.
Remember, that all these media outlets have editors. They ask the same vetting questions you and I do in order to protect the integrity of their publication.