So let's be clear. The US didn't "down" anyone -- the US does not have jurisdiction over any of the airspace in question:

> The day after his TV interview, Morales's Dassault Falcon 900, carrying him back to Bolivia from Russia, took off from Vnukovo Airport, but was rerouted to Austria when France, Spain, Portugal and Italy[2] reportedly denied access to their airspace, allegedly due to suspicions that Snowden was on board.

I'm sure the US applied diplomatic pressure, but those countries are all developed, rich economies who were perfectly capable of saying no and preserving their sovereignty. It was done with full consent of the countries in question.