Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine

[Sailor]

Looks like this was by a truck or track mounted SAM.

****

KIEV, Ukraine (CBSDC/AP) – An adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister says a Malaysian passenger plane carrying 295 people has been shot down over a town in the east of the country.

Anton Gerashenko says on his Facebook page the Boeing 777 plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) when it was hit Thursday by a missile fired from a Buk launcher.

CBS News had yet to confirm if the plane was shot down.
The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur before it went down, according to Reuters.

More here:
washington.cbslocal.com/2014/07/17/ukraine-adviser-malaysian-airlines-jet-shot-down-by-missile-near-ukraine-russia-border/

[warrior1972]

I've got a question....

I agree that is ALWAYS wrong to shoot down a civilian airliner, ANYBODY'S civilian airliner. (remember the USS VINCENNES and the Iranian airliner? I've always thought Lockerbie was retaliation for that. And I'm not saying that justifies Lockerbie, only that it explains why Lockerbie happened. )


I agree that it was murder.

I agree that the act was perpetrated by pro-Russian Ukrainian rebels.

I agree that the equipment used was obvious supplied by Russia.

Here's the question.

What the hell were they doing flying in such dangerous airspace in the first place?

Just a question.

[Sailor]

A good question my friend. Normal routing from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur would take the plane about 300 miles SOUTH of the point where it was shot down according to an interview I heard with a senior airline pilot.

MY question is "who pulled the fucking trigger?" At least some of those "separatists" appear to be Russian military in mufftie. I doubt very much your standard MK1a1 rebel (nee farmer or factory worker) has the expertise needed to operate the SA-11 or 17 system. Yet these guys have been knocking down transports and ground attack aircraft on a regular basis.

Accident or no, if there is a link to Russia as I suspect then Putin could be slammed hard. It may indeed be an accident, Russia has nothing to gain and much to lose by blowing an airliner from the sky.

[101ABN]

The hardware says "Made in Russia'.

Whoever pulled the trigger was trained by Russians as was whoever was tasked with target acquisition and ID.

So who gave the order to fire?

Hard for Putin to duck responsibility here, methinks.

[101ABN]

[Sailor]

Methinks you're right 101.