WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2020) US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in responding to comments made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the United States is not to blame for last week's downing of a Ukrainian aircraft that left 176 people dead.
On Monday, Trudeau told Global news that the 57 Canadians killed in the shootdown over Iran would be alive if there was no escalation of tensions in the region. The prime minister did not name specific countries although US-Iranian tensions have recently escalated to new heights.
"There is no blame here for America," McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday when asked about Trudeau's comments. "America stood up once again for freedom. Iran went past a red line they had not gone before, killing a US citizen. Iran shot down commercial innocent airliner. There is no doubt where the blame lies."
Leader of the opposition, Conservative Andrew Scheer, said that only Iran is to blame and called for additional sanctions on Tehran including designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity.
In the interview Trudeau also said the United States did not notify Canada about the imminent drone strike that killed IRGC Commander Qasem Soleimani despite Canadian troops playing an active role in Iraq and possibly being impacted by Iranian countermeasures.
Trudeau last week confirmed that Canadian troops were present at an air base near Erbil when Iran fired missiles upon Iraqi air bases housing US and NATO military personnel the night Ukrainian International Airlines (UIA) flight 752 was shot down.
