‘Collateral damage’: Canadian CEO says ‘narcissist’ Trump to blame after Iran downs Ukraine airliner
WASHINGTON – The chief executive of a Canadian company whose colleague lost his wife and son when Iran shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane last week said in a series of tweets that the real blame for the tragedy belongs to President Donald Trump.
Michael McCain, the CEO of Maple Leaf Foods – which employs more than 12,000 people, according to its website – posted his “personal reflections” on the tensions between the U.S. and Iran from the company’s Twitter account.
“I am very angry, and time isn’t making me less angry. A MLF colleague of mine lost his wife and family this week to a needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran,” McCain said.
Protests have roiled Iran since officials admitted an air defense system incorrectly identified Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 as an incoming cruise missile and shot the jet down. All 176 people on board were killed, including 82 Iranians and 62 Canadians. Iran had denied any role in the downing of the plane for days, initially attributing the accident to mechanical problems.
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Iran’s military was in a state of heightened readiness when the incident occurred, hours after the regime fired ballistic missiles at U.S. troops in Iraq in response for a drone attack that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran’s top military and political leaders, in Baghdad.
McCain denounced Trump as “a narcissist” who “tears world accomplishments apart.” He called the downed plane “collateral damage” from the U.S. government’s “irresponsible, dangerous, ill-conceived behavior.”
“63 Canadians needlessly lost their lives in the crossfire, including the family of one of my MLF colleagues (his wife + 11 year old son)! We are mourning and I am livid,” McCain said.
McCain implied Trump, “unconstrained by checks/balances,” “concocted” a plan to ramp tensions with Iran in order to distract from his impeachment. He acknowledged “Iran is a dangerous state” but said the 2015 nuclear agreement that Trump pulled the U.S. out of had been an effective attempt at containment.
He also questioned the effectiveness of killing Soleimani. “There are a hundred more like him, standing next in line,” McCain tweeted.
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Like McCain, Iranian officials have also said the U.S. shares in the blame for the incident. Ali Rabiei, a government spokesman, said the killing of Soleimani and fears of further U.S. attacks had put the military on edge, creating the conditions that led to the downing of the Ukraine flight.
Some of Trump’s domestic political opponents have also leveled similar charges at the administration.
On Thursday, Rep. Jackie Speier told CNN that Iran’s shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was “another example of collateral damage from the actions that have been taken in a provocative way by the president of the United States.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters Saturday that Iran “must take full responsibility” for shooting down the plane.
“The reality is there have been significant tensions in that region for a long time,” Trudeau said when asked if Soleimani’s killing might have played a role in the tragedy. “Even in a moment of heightened tensions, this should never have happened.”
Defense Secretary Mark Esper differed. “To somehow allow Iran to play the victim card with the international community is just ridiculous,” Esper told ABC’ News “This Week” on Sunday. “These tensions started many years ago – 20 years ago, 40 years ago – and escalated in the past 12 months, led by the terrorist leader, Qasem Soleimani.”
Contributing: John Bacon, Michael James and Grace Hauck, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
