All the talk about closed airways and declared war zone etc. etc. What do the NOTAMS say? Which ATC was controlling this flight? Were they in radio contact? Was a MayDay put out? Were there any other a/c on the same route? What's happened to the route now? Why was it open if the skies had been proved dangerous in the previous days?
The military boys might be able to tell us what level of identification is needed for a ground launch to an airborne target? If the a/c was squawking a civilian transponder code, and on a filed flight plan, and if it was VMC it should have been identifiable as civilian. Someone with lots of pips on their shoulder must have given the fire order. How many aggressive military large twin engined a/c are there?
After the US carrier shot down the civilian by the Italian coast, their mitigating circumstances was it seemed it was on an aggressive flight profile. This one was high-level straight & level.
Lots of questions; no answers, yet. Perhaps the first person to fall on their sword will give us a clue.