

Bolivia to file UN complaint over airspace blockade - Libertatea
http://rt.com/news/bolivia-un-complaint-plane-601/

======
noarchy
You don't have to ponder this much to see what kind of abuse of power this is.
As a brief thought experiment, imagine a country trying to ground Air Force
One (the US presidential plane), and then asking to search it. I'm thinking
you'd see calls for war, from political pundits in the US.

~~~
dageshi
It's likely not really about Snowden anymore, it's about making an example of
Snowden to dissuade any future whistle-blowers from doing what he did.

So we can expect massively disproportionate actions like this.

And you know what... that's great. Because you know what it does? It
reinforces a sense that at the heart of the American government there's an
intelligence community that's turned into a feral beast. A beast that
seemingly can't be controlled by anyone we elect and it's wandering around the
world pissing off people indiscriminately in its wild attempts to get Snowden
back.

Snowden has revealed the nature of the beast and the beast itself can't help
but make things worse for itself.

So with this latest escapade, they've thoroughly pissed off the South
Americans, who will likely be absolutely furious with America, but even more
so europe. The european populace is going to be scratching its head wondering
why the hell they're denying flights into their airspace at the behest of
people who apparently spend all their time spying on them?

Seems like a complete and utter mess to me. The beast can't help itself, it's
panicking, running around the world doing increasingly stupid and desperate
things to get Snowden back.

The beast has lost its anonymity, it's showing itself up by taking actions
obviously not in the best interests of the USA but rather out of pure panic.

It's making itself vulnerable.

~~~
xradionut
"It's making itself vulnerable."

It's not vulnerable, it's more dangerous.

It's just that more people are finally see the men behind the curtains and
realizing that they are just as petty and human as the rest of us, but have
insane amounts of power. And are not willing to give up any of that power or
even display any true global leadership or responsibility.

Realize that "these people" have absolute power. And as time goes on, don't
need as much as the population around to maintain their status or luxuries.
What would you do in their place if faced with a angry populous?

~~~
dageshi
No, this morning they just look incompetent. When was the last time you ever
heard of any presidential plane _ever_ being stopped and searched in transit
through a foreign airport? Or passage through airspace being denied?

I can't remember it ever happening. Dictators can fly around the world with
impunity but they'll contrive to ground the plane of a democratically elected
president and search it, for some guy who published a bunch of powerpoint
presentations?

And they did all this... with all the consequences it's going to have and they
didn't even get Snowden!

~~~
jbooth
Rather than incompetent, it looks brazen to me. They don't do this unless they
know they can get away with it, and that makes it scary.

------
steeve
This is really, _really_ serious. Even more so that Snowden wasn't even on
board, so effectively France, Spain, Portugal and Italy refused airspace to a
_presidential jet_ over _claims_ by the US govt (which by the way turned out
to be false).

This is crazy.

~~~
ghshephard
I don't know how serious it is - Bolivia is ranked #93 in the world in terms
of GDP, and isn't particularly strategic. They can complain, but, at the end
of the day, this won't amount to much.

~~~
alan_cx
No idea why you are voted down here. From a US POV Bolivia is nothing. Replies
about US reputation are irrelevant. We clearly see that US reputation is
irrelevant, since it has the financial and military power force its will.

~~~
sheri
Because Bolivia is 'nothing' from a US POV, doesn't make it any less wrong.
Apart from right and wrong, there are several examples where countries which
were 'nothing', are creating several problems for the US. Most of the middle-
east, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc are countries which at some point were
'nothing'. It is because of this heavy-handed approach that he was being
downvoted.

------
nicholassmith
Good for Bolivia. This has started becoming a farce now, on hand you've had
Obama stating that the U.S. wasn't going to spend political currency wheeling
and dealing to get Snowden back, and handwaving over the core issue of
overreach. Then on the other you've got the U.S. making veiled threats about
repercussions to anyone willing to offer him asylum.

~~~
chunkyslink
As a Brit I've seen every US government since I was old enough to take notice,
act like this. They go through the official media outlets saying one thing and
then do completely the opposite. I've often wondered how the American people
who seem so intelligent on the one hand fall for this each and every time.

Or is it rather that on the whole they have all these nice houses in nice safe
places (no wars etc) with hundreds of TV channels to watch that in a way no
one can be bothered to do anything about the way their leaders make them look
internationally.

~~~
pi18n
Well it's like how can certain computer programmers be Christian
fundamentalists[1]? They were taught that way as a child and have no
influences that really refute what they believe. I thought USA was the bee's
knees until I had a chance to interact with citizens of other countries.

[1] I think programmer implies they have critical thinking capabilities, and I
think as empiricists we all must reject fundamentalism as a hypothesis.

~~~
christianfn
I'm a programmer and a Christian fundamentalist.

Do you think because I have a religion that I am a poor empiricist? Or that
because I know programming languages in the high double-digits I am a poor
believer?

Einstein's 1930 NYT article [1] might serve as common ground for us to discuss
this rationally. I have to point out, though, that my faith is not out of
"fear, social morality, [or] a cosmic religious feeling." I believe as I do
because it is an essential part of who I am (identity).

I actually agree with you that there is plenty of unwarranted, blind
nationalism in the USA.

[1] Summary
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Albert_Eins...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Albert_Einstein#Cosmic_spirituality)

~~~
panacea
What sort of programmer? Are you a computer scientist, or a computer engineer?
I sincerely don't mean any offence, but I wonder if there are two ends of the
spectrum of code and computer programming. Do you muck about in fractal
algorithms or learn how best to utilise the latest protocols and languages for
functional requirements?

~~~
shadowfox
Hmm. I am curious as to why you think these two categories would think
differently.

------
ramblerman
I'm not generally a conspiracy theorist, but you have to wonder what we still
don't know if this is the extent to which the US is willing to go to get this
guy.

Not only are they further torpedoing their international image, I would
imagine they severely strained their reach with nations like France when it
turns out he wasn't on board.

~~~
shubb
I haven't seen anyone elsewhere point out that maybe he is onboard.

It may not be the case, but there must have been some convincing information
to convince various countries to do this, and our evidence against is the
departure site and the president's word.

There is an ongoing tension between a block of south American countries (see
the Argentinian tweets on github), and the USA. Non-violent aggressive acts
like this, or conversely offering asylum, are part of it.

The US has strongly resisted any external influence on the rest of the
continent, as a doctrine. Now a block is forming locally, they will go to
great lengths to resist it. I think an explanation for why the block is upset
in turn can be found in the leaked cables.

~~~
enko
> I haven't seen anyone elsewhere point out that maybe he is onboard.

I've seen speculation along those lines, especially since it emerged they
didn't allow a proper search. A "walk-through" indeed - I would be willing to
bet there's at least 10 places he could have been hiding.

It will be absolutely hilarious if he turns out to have been on board all
along. Apparently, however, the plane left from a different airport, so I
don't know how he could have gotten from one to the other without having to
officially enter Russia.

------
danmaz74
As a EU citizen, I'm really ashamed of this. Are we the guard dogs of US
interest, even when the US so obviously disregards our own interests - and
rights - as in this case?

~~~
dublinclontarf
Don't you mean a citizen of an EU country? Last I heard the EU wasn't a state.

~~~
netrus
Try to google "world citizen". Language is a tool, not a prison.

------
ramblerman
France's involvement in particular makes my blood boil. To feign complete
outrage over being spied upon yet happily tarnish relations with a sovereign
nation to catch the whistleblower.

~~~
lazyjones
I'm not surprised, considering how corrupt politicians are everywhere
(including the EU) and how useful PRISM must be for threatening/blackmailing
them into submission.

~~~
cLeEOGPw
Maybe US even used PRISM data to blackmail those officials? It's crazy, but
after all this I would not throw the possibility away.

~~~
lazyjones
In the (very) recent light of Austria's decision to search Morales' plane (I'm
Austrian; Morales is claiming that he was basically "kidnapped" now according
to local newspapers), this is actually a plausible explanation, because the
only other would assume so much stupidity and recklessness on behalf of our
politicians that I cannot imagine it, even though the foreign ministry is held
by the ÖVP (of Ernst Strasser fame:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Strasser#2011_cash_for_i...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Strasser#2011_cash_for_influence_scandal)).

------
jotaass
As an european this disgusts me to no end. It can really hurt your patriotism
and sense of pride in your country when you realize it's not actually a
country at all, just a subservient state, willing to do anything to avoid
drawing the attention of the big fat bully. In the end we're all afraid to
fight for anything when life is too hard already, I guess.

~~~
danmaz74
As a fellow european, I absolutely agree. The only way out I see is to become
a federal country, but I don't see that happening with all our internal
infighting. Divide et impera.

~~~
sesqu
Some people react to bullying by learning how to bully; some people by
learning how not to. It's hard to see either tactic working out.

------
scrrr
It seems like the USA own Europe.

What happened yesterday is very serious.

~~~
killerpopiller
the USA are THE bully of our age and every country practically gives in.
Nobody of our spineless politicians wants a bloody nose as in an early career
end.

And that is really sad. The US frightens countries, people, practically
everybody. The threats are real (e.g. the ongoing drone wars) and the US seems
to be the number one terror organisation in the world.

~~~
outworlder
Let's imagine that the US collapses tomorrow, Soviet Union style. Do you think
the world will be a better place? I think it will be much worse, as someone
will take its place and its either Russia or China.

I am really, really hoping that the US citizens will eventually be able to fix
the government.

~~~
andyhmltn
I don't think anyone's suggesting the US does no good. Hopefully it can
change, but after the last election I'm doubtful.

------
beedogs
As a US citizen (for another couple weeks), I'm really getting tired of
America's shit.

~~~
willvarfar
Advice: wait three more weeks before continuing in this vein.

~~~
andyhmltn
May I ask why?

~~~
peterjancelis
Was probably just a joke saying to wait until he got rid of his US
citizenship.

"A couple of weeks" = 2 weeks. "Wait 3 weeks" = the week after the couple of
weeks are over.

------
Shivetya
Act of Aggression?

More like acts of obsequiousness.

Whats the world coming too when even Russia is emasculated before the United
States. Its expected, though I would prefer otherwise, that the EU countries
bend over, but damn its getting silly now.

As I posted in another thread, here is a fine preview of a one world
government, you cannot run, you cannot hide. Truth and justice are at the whim
of those who run the place.

~~~
w0utert
>> _Whats the world coming too when even Russia is emasculated before the
United States. Its expected, though I would prefer otherwise, that the EU
countries bend over, but damn its getting silly now._

I don't think Russia is very eager to get into discussions about the ethics of
international espionage and the way intelligence agencies operate. Somehow I
also don't think they have much sympathy for whistleblowers exposing said
ethics. The last guy who was a little too open about how the FSB and KGB
operates was 'mysteriously' poisoned with pollonium.

------
vrepsys
This is getting really weird: this morning French and Spanish officials have
denied refusing to let that plane in.

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-
snowden-a...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-
asylum-live#block-51d3eba3e4b0e80ab6523aa8)

~~~
reidrac
The Spanish press is reporting that after the plane was delayed (it was
expected to land in the Canary Islands) they had to confirm the permission,
and it was granted as expected.

The Spanish foreign ministry said they never denied landing or requested to
inspect the plane (in Spanish soil).

Apparently the Spanish ambassador asked Evo Morales to allow the Austrian
police to inspect the plane, and he finally did.

All this thing is confusing, indeed.

~~~
sounds
No, Morales landed in the (Spanish-controlled) Canary Islands to refuel after
he was denied access to France, et al.

The quote from Morales in this article may be part of the source for the
confusion, but as you say the Spanish press reports there was some delay, and
I imagine Morales was pretty upset already. His quote seems to be lumping
Spain in with the others.

What's your source for the Spanish press, if I may ask?

I realize that I'm not citing any great sources for what happened in Spain,
I'm working on it...

Here's one that lists France, Portugal, and Italy as nations denying Morales
access to their airspace: [http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/us-usa-
security-sn...](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/us-usa-security-
snowden-bolivia-idUSBRE9611AT20130703)

~~~
reidrac
> What's your source for the Spanish press, if I may ask?

In case you don't know Spanish press is completely partisan, some newspapers
lie openly without any kind of remorse.

That said, I was reading El País (center-left) and it didn't look like they
were blaming the Spanish government (conservatives) in this situation.

As I said, all this thing is confusing.

Source:
[http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2013/07/03/act...](http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2013/07/03/actualidad/1372811536_087887.html)

EDIT: according to the foreign ministry, Evo Morales was granted permission
for a refuel stop in the Canary Islands on Tuesday and if that had to be
reviewed and delayed until Wednesday was because other EU countries didn't
authorise the plane to enter their aerial space.

Source: [http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1861995/0/margallo/evo-
moral...](http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1861995/0/margallo/evo-morales-
avion/caso-snowden/)

------
ed_blackburn
Presumably all communication on board is recorded on the blackbox? If so
perhaps an unedited copy of the dialogue can be published?

~~~
heidar
You can listen to it here: [http://audioboo.fm/boos/1482009-bolivia-air-force-
fuerza-aer...](http://audioboo.fm/boos/1482009-bolivia-air-force-fuerza-aerea-
boliviana-fab001-flight-precaution-landing-vienna-austria)

Source: [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-
snowden-a...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-
asylum-live#block-51d3d7d8e4b0300b24e64d90)

~~~
deletes
This conversation between the plane and a (tower) operator, seems more like
when the plane is just about to land in Austria.

~~~
heidar
Here's where I got the link:
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-
snowden-a...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-
asylum-live#block-51d3d7d8e4b0300b24e64d90)

I should have linked this in the first place.

------
znowi
Excuse me, but this is fucking outrageous! Once a supporter of Obama, I come
to loathe him and the rest of American political establishment. They're doing
a stellar job at bolstering anti-American sentiments worldwide. How far can a
single country go in exercising its might and power? This has to stop, people.
It will not end well.

------
T-zex
Unsurprisingly its Austria, their politicians would obey KGB [1][2] and now
NSA.

[1] [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-
europe-14202371](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14202371)

[2]
[http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/07/lit...](http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/07/lithuania-
and-austria)

------
wmeredith
Isn't all the international posturing over the last few weeks the sort of
stuff that starts wars? WTF happened to America? I love this country, but the
government is completely off the rails. They think the law doesn't apply to
them. Makes me sick.

~~~
tomjen3
Schoolyard bullies think they can get away with anything, and they can, right
until the day one of their victims strike back.

And yes, I hate it too. I love the US (even though I am not a citizen) and all
the good your country has done for the world, but somehow the last 3
presidents went completely of the rails and went into full-blown paranoia. As
a result the US is loosing the respect and hope of the world, for no good
reason. Point out a genuine threat and the EU and the rest of NATO will stand
with you, spy on Iran, who is your enemy, but understand that the EU is not
your enemy. We are your friend and wants only the best for you.

~~~
Dewie
> I love the US (even though I am not a citizen)

I sometimes find nationalism strange, but it's also understandable and may be
constructive on some level. People being patriotic for countries that they are
not citizens of? Now that's straight up hilarious...

------
ryguytilidie
If I was the Bolivian president I would have called a press conference and
mocked these countries for essentially becoming US territories and not being
independent for about an hour or so. A few "how do you sleep at night knowing
that your citizens voted for you but that the US government actually controls
you" would have been slipped in there. Embarrass the shit out of them WHILE
making their citizens furious at their own leader.

~~~
vpeters25
Not a good idea to insult the countries your plane needs to fly over while you
are asking for their permission.

Now, right after President Morales' plane lands safely in Bolivia ....

------
retrogradeorbit
The curtain falls and we see the true nature of the global hegemony, and how
far it reaches.

~~~
ihsw
The TPP and TAFTA will solidify the global hegemony, and no I'm not trying to
be sensationalist or paranoid: this is the nature of economic agreements
between countries (shattered borders, economic and legislative integration).

------
mtgx
What's funny is that all of those countries are now denying that they did this
to him. Do they really think they can get away with that, and it won't be
proven that they did it, or that the public will even believe them?

US and its immediate allies are making their situation worse and worse for
themselves.

~~~
tcoppi
Or, you know, maybe they actually didn't deny his flight the airspace?

~~~
marvin
This explanation borders on the ridiculous. You are claiming that the
president and vice-precident of Bolivia turned their plane around of their own
volition and then fabricated a search by Austrian officials in order to create
an international diplomatic scandal.

~~~
tcoppi
I am claiming nothing of the sort, you are putting words in my mouth. I am
merely suggesting that everyone is very quick to jump to conclusions when very
little is factually known at this point. The guardian's liveblog is covering
all of this better than I can explain here, so I'll defer to them:
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-
snowden-a...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-
asylum-live#block-51d419c6e4b00d0b2b8588a4)

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-
snowden-a...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-
asylum-live#block-51d4172be4b0e80ab6523ac2)

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-
snowden-a...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-
asylum-live#block-51d3d7d8e4b0300b24e64d90)

~~~
interurban
Well, the article has a quote from an Austrian minister that they searched the
plane, not sure how that could be taken any other way.

------
guictx
Yesterday evening, at 9:24 PM GMT, the portuguese public TV station showed a
news piece
([http://www.rtp.pt/noticias/index.php?article=663664&tm=7&lay...](http://www.rtp.pt/noticias/index.php?article=663664&tm=7&layout=122&visual=61))
saying that Edward Snowden had already left Moscow on the Bolivian
presidential aircraft. According to the report, the fact Snowden was on the
plane was the reason invoked by the portuguese government to deny landing.

There's no indication of source for this report, neither a search on the
internet on the following hour revealed anything similar.

So I'm guessing now that this was probably planted to make sure the portuguese
government had something to corroborate their decision.

Really shameful...

------
Fuxy
Well at least we know know which countries are US lapdogs France, Spain and
Portugal. You could probably add UK to that. Let's see who else shows their
colors.

~~~
antr
It has been officially confirmed that Spain and France did not refuse
airspace. It seems that the airspace restrictions announcement (by unknown
source) was made to disrupt the flight, and create a halo of sovereign support
towards limiting Snowden's freedom of movement.

As far as I'm concerned, the only US lapdog in Europe is the UK.

~~~
sveme
Wait a second - do you have a trustworthy reference? Are you (or the media)
suggesting that the US managed to infiltrate European air traffic control and
hoaxed the bolivian plane to land?

I would not trust those official announcements, more likely that we'll have to
dissect them carefully to see what they are not saying, e.g.: "We did not
officially refuse them access to our airspace." (But the airspace was so
crowded that due to security reasons no further planes could be allowed).

~~~
antr
No, I'm not suggesting that "the US managed to infiltrate European air traffic
control and hoaxed the bolivian plane to land?"

~~~
westicle
Perhaps you'd be good enough to enlighten us as to what you are trying to say.
Because it is not obvious to me.

------
fmax30
This just made me realize that how desperate the US government is to capture
Snowden , Kinda makes you think he (snowden) has something up his sleeve that
the US doesn't want out. Now I am interested.

~~~
anvandare
I'm thinking it's more about sending a message to other (potential) leakers:
"This is how powerful we are, this is how far we'll go to hunt you down.
Nobody is going to help you, and no one is going to stop us."

------
milhous
I'm embarrassed as an American. They love bullying smaller countries but would
never dare force down a plane carrying the Chinese or Russian President. That
could be construed as an act of war.

~~~
chiph
I really don't understand why we are going out of our way to piss-off everyone
else on the planet. _Surely_ Hanlon's Razor can't be at work here.

~~~
flyinRyan
Maybe Obama really _is_ an extremist muslim trying to destroy America? Things
are getting bizarre enough that that no longer seems one of the craziest ideas
I've heard.

------
vlasta2
Stopping a presidential plane because there _may_ be someone as dangerous as
Snowden onboard? That is completely ridiculous and out of proportion. Not only
did no European country officially offer Snowden asylum, we have even made
fools of ourselves by this action. I feel personally ashamed by what Europe
did. Although my country has no direct involvement in this incident, it
happened awfully close and it is depressing. Did Europe lost all sense and
morals?

------
spdy
What did Snowden really see when he took off. If states get so nervous that
they are willing to ground an elected leader just for powerplays their is some
serious stuff going on.

Someone really high up pulls on many strings.

Snowden did not leave main media attention for over 3 weeks now. Lets hope he
has a death man switch on his data.

------
drunkenmasta
you would think that with "intelligence" agencies looking into it they would
be able to tell whether or not Snowden was in an airport terminal or was
getting on a plane. All this "we have no idea where Snowden is" sounds like BS
to me. If Snowden was a free man we would be seeing his face doing a video
interview.

------
joezydeco
Last night there were a bunch of RSA-encoded tweets from @cryptomeorg
apparently directed toward Manning, Jonsdottir, and maybe Assange/Snowden.

Now they've been deleted. Really spooky stuff going on.

------
oscardelben
"Im not going to be scrambling jets to find some 29 year old hacker."

~~~
haakon
Well he turned 30, so Obama didn't lie.

------
ra
overreaching incompetent bullying.

~~~
alan_cx
Incompetent? No way. The US Government is the biggest, best bully in the game.
They have perfected it to a new degree.

~~~
andyjohnson0
Incompetent because Snowden isn't on the plane.

~~~
taneliv
Unless they only wanted to show the extent of their power over other nations.
A strong signal, I might add. It could also be in the interests of US
government to see which countries they control fully, and which put up a
fight.

~~~
ra
I don't think so. To some of those countries the US is already 'the boy who
cried wolf'.

If anything it will motivate latin american nations to work together on the
issue. If they act together for Snowdon's safety, it's much harder for the US
to bully any single nation that accepts him.

------
X4
The first victim of war is truth.

~~~
Create
Barack Obama: 'Won't scramble jets for Snowden' there have been some "useful
conversations" [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-
canada-23085138](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23085138)

~~~
X4
Look at that Bodylanguage and his eye movements and double-check what he
actually means

[http://s1.hubimg.com/u/1776076_f520.jpg](http://s1.hubimg.com/u/1776076_f520.jpg)
Wow, Thank you for the insightful video!

------
personlurking
I wonder what would have happened had the plane just kept flying. No one is
going to shoot down a presidential plane.

~~~
rahoulb
All they'd have to say is that the plane was a danger to other planes in the
area. If it was ignoring air traffic control orders then that is probably all
the justification they need, president or not.

------
jsz0
_You don 't have to ponder this much to see what kind of abuse of power this
is_

How so? These countries have every right to deny aircraft entry into their
airspace. Seems like they don't want to take any risks getting involved in the
Snowden situation. Totally their choice.

------
rbadaro
According to the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Portugal did not deny
access to their airspace. They did deny landing and reflueling permission in
advance (on the 1st of July) for "technical reasons".

------
patrickg_zill
Is it an act of war to search a diplomatic pouch or not? And isn't the
entirety of the plane, essentially a diplomatic pouch?

~~~
tantalor
_Is it an act of war to search a diplomatic pouch or not?_

It might be viewed as aggressive or politically scandalous, but I don't think
it has caused war in the past.

 _And isn 't the entirety of the plane, essentially a diplomatic pouch?_

You have to clearly mark the container as a diplomatic bag, and even then I
doubt a plane would qualify. It has to be a sealed container, like a shipping
crate.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_bag](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_bag)

~~~
tomjen3
Yeah, but embassy cars are considered unsearchable.

------
mehmehshoe
This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be
lucky to live through it.

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sigzero
Complaining to the UN reminds me of "Stop! Or I will shout stop again!".

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Uchikoma
According to German media, France and Spain deny that they blocked the
airspace.

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tantalor
How does "cancelled air permits" become "airspace blockade"?

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Noxchi
Why did his plane have to land? What's Austria going to do, shoot it down?

~~~
iaskwhy
My understanding is that there's not enough fuel to cross the ocean so they
needed some place to refuel. Given noone would give permission they probably
decided it was for the best to land in Austria.

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Buzaga
New meme: Evo Morales can't participate in street fighter because he can't
land on opponent's countries... :(

[https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-
frc3/10113...](https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-
frc3/1011323_549548581754197_439025613_n.jpg)

