by TONY ILTIS
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 — Flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur — with 298 people aboard crashed in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border on Thursday. Ukrainian officials said it was shot down by pro-Russia militants, possibly with a heavy, Soviet-era ground-to-air missile. People inspect the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Hrabove, Ukraine, Thursday (July 17, 2014). PHOTO/AP/The Indian Express
Green Left Weekly — Malaysian Airlines lost its second Boeing 777 this year on July 17, when flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was apparently hit by a missile over war-torn eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. The incident happened while the Ukrainian army was carrying out a huge land and air offensive to crush breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine, over whose territory the plane was shot down.
Most passengers were Dutch, but 38 Australians were also killed.
Immediately after the tragedy, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott became one of the first world leaders to blame Russia.
On July 18, he said: “This aircraft didn’t come down through accident. It was shot down. It did not crash, it was downed and it was downed over territory controlled by Russian backed rebels. It was downed by a missile which seems to have been launched by Russian backed rebels …
“This really is a test for Russia … how transparent and fair dinkum is it going to be? There can be no excuses. No buck-passing. No blame shifting.”
The US government joined Abbott in blaming Russia, with the Western media largely not questioning their assumptions, despite the facts being unclear.
Abbott and foreign minister Julie Bishop also took the lead in accusing Russia and its alleged eastern Ukrainian “proxies” of hampering investigation of the disaster and in stopping the repatriation of dead passengers.
In Washington on July 21, Bishop accused Russia of using the bodies “as hostages and pawns”, the Australian Bbroadcasting Corporation reported.
Again, other Western leaders and media followed suit. On July 22, Abbott announced “Operation Bring Them Home” and despatched former head of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), retired air chief marshal Angus Houston, to Europe to coordinate the operation.
The Russian media has provided a mirror image to Western coverage – seeking to prove the attack was the Ukrainian government’s crime.
The US and European Union have responded by placing sanctions on Russia.
LINKS for more