A civilian plane squawking the latest IFF in its' own airspace, over it's own territory, was identified, targeted and shot down by the highest tech and most highly trained people in the world? That ship and it's crew was either completely incompetent or following orders. A message was sent to the Iranians, and it was that the Americans are competent, NOT that the Americans are incompetent.

Think about it. If the US was so inept, so incompetent, so poorly equipped they would have started WWIII long before now. All kinds of airplanes would have been shot down. They shot that plane down as a provocation, a warning and on purpose. A civilian airliner at altitude with it's IFF on does not look like an attacking F-14 and anyone who believes it does is beyond redemption.

The excuses don't pass the smell test. Believe any nonsense you want to, swallow the pap for the masses, and ignore the facts and reality. When one is thinking backwards, justifying a previously formed conclusion, any excuse will do.

(The U2 was a weather plane, Korean flight 007 was on course, American RB-47s were in international territory, etc. and so on. "Reality" is whatever you can get Americans to believe.)