This goes both way, however. If Russia used the incident as a justification for retaliation, they would make it easy for the US to play the innocent one and poi

This goes both way, however. If Russia used the incident as a justification for retaliation, they would make it easy for the US to play the innocent one and point the political finger to old enemy Russia - a believable story the rest of the west would have to support. The Defense industry profits either way.