157 WHO'S DONE IT ?

In the present manufactured anti Russia hysteria, Chris Trotter (Press 22/07) stands out as a beacon of reason and logic. That MH17 was downed by a missile is beyond reasonable doubt. But since the in February re-kindled Cold War following the by US/NATO engineered violent coup detat in Kiev, Russia has been subjected to severe economic sanctions and an intense vilification campaign. It is hard to believe that Russia would offer the west such an opportune casu beli.  So the climate was already ripe to accuse Russia of this senseless act. But what has Russia got to gain and who benefited from this despicable crime? The Kiev regime for months now has been shelling and bombarding from the air several cities at an unprecedented scale, causing hundreds and thousands of refugees to flee over the border into Russia. The separatists in the past have indeed downed several planes without the use of surface to air missiles designed for use at high altitudes, the so called Buk, which are too easy to detect and require highly specialized trained crews. They did not need them since the planes they successfully shot down were within reach of shoulder mounted rocket launchers or what ever else they were using.  So what really happened depends entirely on the conversations that took place between the ill-fated plane's crew and Kiev air traffic control who, in my view deliberately failed to divert the plane to a safe flight corridor.. Kiev refuses to release these recordings. It has now also come to light that the plane for some time was shadowed by a Ukraine fighter jet equipped with missiles,  at a distance of three to four kms. The black boxes have now been handed over by the separatists in good order  to the Malaysian authorities. If they would have been guilty of the crime they would most certainly have hidden them or have tampered with  them.