A different type of crash occurred over the Black Sea this week, with Russian military aircraft intercepting an American drone in international airspace.

The two Russian warplanes dumped fuel on and around the drone which eventually crashed into the Black Sea. Quite a serious escalation.

But how did the Pentagon respond to this?

Well the people who are meant to keep us safe had an interesting critique of Russia’s actions. In a statement the Pentagon condemned the Russian Su-27 pilots for downing the MQ-9 in “a reckless, environmentally unsound, and unprofessional manner.”

US European Command meantime condemned the Russian pilots for behavior which was “unsafe and unprofessional.”

Oh no!

Anything but that.

What a terrible indictment of Russian behavior.

Not just “unsafe” in their war tactics, but “environmentally unsound.”

I don’t know why the Pentagon doesn’t ratchet this rhetoric up the whole way.

Why not issue an announcement saying that the Russian pilots should be made to sit on the naughty step until they have thought about their actions?

Truly, from the banks to the Pentagon our institutions are no longer governed by grown-ups.