[h=1]Fighting erupts in Ukraine as crash investigators arrive[/h]

DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukrainian army tanks were reported to be launching an assault to break pro-Russian rebels' hold on the eastern city of Donetsk on
Monday in the first major outbreak of hostilities in the area since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down last week.


A separatist leader said Ukrainian government forces were trying to break into Donetsk and fighting was under way near the railway station.


Sergei Kavtaradze, of the rebels' self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said at least four tanks and armored vehicles were trying to break through into the city.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said the operation was in progress but would not comment on reports of troops entering Donetsk. "The active phase of the anti-terrorist operation is continuing. We are not about to announce any troop movements," Vladyslav Seleznyov said.


Reuters journalists also saw two rebel tanks heading towards Donetsk railway station.




As international horror deepened over the fate of the remains of the 298 victims of the air disaster, the first international investigators reached rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on Monday.


Three members of a Dutch disaster victims identification team arrived in Donetsk and were expected to visit a railway station near the crash site where nearly 200 bodies have been stored in refrigerated wagons.


Rescuers said they had found a total of 251 bodies and 86 body fragments at the crash site and a second refrigerated train had arrived.


The shooting down of the airliner on Thursday has sharply deepened the Ukrainian crisis, in which separatists in the Russian-speaking east have been fighting government forces since protesters in Kiev forced out a pro-Moscow president and Russia annexed Crimea in March.


The United States and its allies have pointed the finger at the pro-Russian rebels and at Moscow itself over the downing of the plane although Russia has denied involvement.




SHOCK TURNS TO ANGER


U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out what he called overwhelming evidence of Russian complicity in the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines plane.


Kerry demanded that Moscow take responsibility for actions of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine whom Washington suspects of downing the jet with a missile, and expressed disgust at their "grotesque" mishandling of the bodies.


Television images of the rebel-controlled crash sites, where the remains of victims had lain decomposing in fields among their personal belongings, have turned initial shock and sorrow after Thursday's disaster into anger.


Emotions ran high in the Netherlands, the home country of about two thirds of the 298 people who died in the Boeing 777. The Dutch foreign minister has said the nation is "furious" to hear bodies were being "dragged around", while relatives and church leaders demanded they be rapidly returned home.





But the departure of dozens of corpses loaded into the refrigerated railway wagons was delayed on Sunday as Ukrainian officials and rebels traded blame over why the train had not yet left the war zone, and where or when international investigators would be able to check it.


The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to vote on Monday on a resolution that would condemn the downing of the plane, and demands that those responsible be held accountable and that armed groups not compromise the integrity of the crash site.


In an apparent attempt at compromise with Moscow, the wording of the resolution, drafted by Australia, was changed to characterize the incident as the "downing" of the flight, instead of "shooting down", according to the final draft obtained by Reuters. Diplomats said it was unclear if Russia would support the final version.


In Washington, Kerry criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and threatened "additional steps" against Moscow.


"Drunken separatists have been piling bodies into trucks and removing them from the site," he said on NBC television on Sunday. "What's happening is really grotesque and it is contrary to everything President Putin and Russia said they would do."





Russia has blamed the Ukrainian military for the disaster. But while stopping short of directly blaming Moscow, Kerry put forward the most detailed U.S. accusations so far, based on the latest U.S. intelligence assessments.


British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond urged Moscow to ensure international investigators had access to the crash sites. "Russia risks becoming a pariah state if it does not behave properly," he told Sky television.


Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he had spoken to Putin for the first time about the disaster. At least 27 Australian passengers were on the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.


Abbott said an Australian investigation team was in Kiev but had been unable to travel to the site. He said there had been some improvement with the Ukrainian government offering access.


"But there's still a hell of a long way to go before anyone could be satisfied with the way that site is being treated," Abbott said. "It's more like a garden cleanup than a forensic investigation. This is completely unacceptable."





After lying for two days in the summer heat, the bodies had been removed from much of the crash site by Sunday, leaving only bloodstained military stretchers along the side of the road.


As Ukraine accused the rebels of hiding evidence relating to the loss of the airliner, a separatist leader said items thought to be the stricken jet's "black boxes" were now in rebel hands.


Investigators from the U.N. aviation agency arrived in Ukraine to help to investigate the crash, but a senior official said safety concerns prevented them from reaching the crash site.




U.S. CASE


Kerry said the United States had seen supplies moving into Ukraine from Russia in the last month, including a 150-vehicle convoy of armored personnel carriers, tanks and rocket launchers given to the separatists.





It had also intercepted conversations about the transfer to separatists of the Russian radar-guided SA-11 missile system, which it blames for the Boeing 777's destruction. "It's pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia," Kerry said in an interview on CNN.


Kerry's evidence of a Russian connection tracked closely an official unclassified U.S. intelligence summary released over the weekend. It said intelligence analysts confirmed the authenticity of an audiotape conversation provided to the media by Ukrainian authorities of a known separatist leader boasting of downing the plane.


"We also have information indicating that Russia is providing training to separatist fighters at a facility in southwest Russia" that includes missile systems, it said.


The United States has already imposed sanctions on individuals and businesses close to Putin but Kerry indicated that President Barack Obama might go further. "The president is prepared to take additional steps," he told Fox News, although he ruled out sending in U.S. troops.


European Union ministers should be ready to announce a fresh round of sanctions at a meeting of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council this week, said a statement from British Prime Minister David Cameron's office, issued after telephone calls with French President Francois Hollander and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

 

This last airline disaster sure stopped the talking about the other one.
Why is that? Are the people on this plane of so much more importance that the other plane?
Or is there another reason?

 

It depends on what the news chiefs deem is 'worthy' of air time. In this case, it is used to distract the masses from yet more of pres Obama's domestic and foreign failures.

 

Obama: Pro-Russia separatists stealing Malaysia Airlines crash evidence


President Obama on Monday bluntly accused pro-Moscow separatist fighters in Ukraine of stealing evidence and improperly removing bodies from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and pressed Russia to compel the rebels to stop blocking an international investigation.

“What exactly are they trying to hide?” Obama asked in a hastily arranged statement on the South Lawn of the White House. “The burden now is on Russia to insist that the separatists stop tampering with the evidence.”

The president noted that it has been four days since the passenger jet went down, killing all 298 people aboard. The United States blames a surface-to-air missile fired from territory controlled by the rebels, who have extensive support from Moscow, including advanced weapons and training.
International investigators — including an American team — have traveled to Ukraine to carry out a full investigation.

“Unfortunately, the Russian-backed separatists who control the area continue to block the investigation. They’ve repeatedly prevented international investigators from gaining full access to the wreckage,” including by firing their weapons into the air when the teams approached the site, Obama charged.

“These separatists are removing evidence from the crash site,” the president said. “Moreover, these Russian-backed separatists are removing bodies from the crash site, oftentimes without the care that we would normally expect.”

“Russia has extraordinary influence over these separatists — no one denies that,” Obama underlined. “Russia has urged them on. Russia has trained them. We know that Russia has armed them with military equipment and weapons including anti-aircraft weapons.”

“Given its direct influence over the separatists, Russia — and President Putin in particular — has a direct responsibility to compel them to cooperate
with the investigation,” Obama said.


And once again, as another crisis comes to the fore Pres Obama has the chance to do something and make the situation better in the world, and does nothing.

 

[h=1]Obama Seen Gaining on Putin as U.S. Prods EU on Sanctions[/h]
President Barack Obama’s response to the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine reflects the consensus of U.S. officials that time, evidence, and world opinion are increasingly on his side as he takes on Russian President Vladimir Putin.


Secretary of State John Kerry cited the tragedy yesterday in an effort to prod Europeans into expanding sanctions against Russia, even at some peril to their own economies, in an effort to break Putin’s support for pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists. “We are trying to encourage our European friends to realize this is a wake-up call,” Kerry said on “Fox News Sunday,” invoking a phrase used last week by Obama.


U.S. officials, some speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss administration strategy, said the shooting down of the civilian jetliner —- blamed by the U.S. on pro-Russian separatists armed by Russia —- should ignite anti-Putin sentiment and push reluctant EU countries to catch up to the more stringent sanctions the U.S. had imposed last week. Dutch and other European citizens were among the 298 passengers and crew that perished.

This gives Obama confidence that the U.S. and EU can prevail over Putin in the short-run -- overcoming European reluctance to expand sanctions -- just as the Obama administration believes it will prevail in the long-run over a Russia that has a battered economy and a leader who is overplaying a weak hand, the officials said.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg U.S. President Barack Obama.


[h=2]EU Shifting[/h] While the timing for EU decisions isn’t set, two European diplomats said previously resistant members such as Italy now are shifting. The bloc’s foreign ministers are scheduled to meet tomorrow, and top leaders also may meet as early as this week, according to the diplomats, who asked that they not be identified because the plans haven’t been announced.


The U.S. and its allies have the capability to further squeeze Russia through punitive measures such as sanctions against entire sectors of its economy, though they want to leave open a course for Putin to back down, according to several officials.


Europeans may hesitate to ramp up a fight when they need Putin’s influence with the rebels to permit the recovery of passengers’ remains and an international investigation.


The EU foreign ministers at their meeting in Brussels will consider blacklisting more Putin associates and, for the first time, Russian companies accused of profiting from Ukraine’s woes.

[h=2]Defense Industry[/h] The U.K. is pushing for the EU to sanction the entire Russian defense industry, a British official said in London on condition of anonymity. France has repeatedly rebuffed calls to cancel its sale of two Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia.


The airline disaster follows months of U.S. efforts to persuade the Europeans to raise the costs on Putin for his efforts to destabilize Ukraine. Obama now is “absolutely prepared” to consider more sanctions, and the EU should do likewise, Kerry said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”


The top U.S. diplomat appeared on five U.S. Sunday morning talk shows to make the case for further action.


“Since sanctions are the administration’s default instrument of coercive statecraft, I would expect an escalation of U.S. sanctions pressure, specifically targeting more Russian financial institutions, energy companies and military firms,” said Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonprofit group that focuses on national security issues.

[h=2]Putin’s Options[/h] “People are looking for sanctions that are severe enough to change Putin’s mind, but won’t do harm to the U.S. and European economies,” said Andrew Weiss, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who specializes in Russia and Eurasia.


Putin has levers of influence too, including sending Russian forces into eastern Ukraine, as he did in Crimea; reducing natural gas supplies to Europe; and undermining international negotiations seeking to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, one of Obama’s top diplomatic priorities.


Some of the U.S. officials said they see Putin fighting a losing geopolitical battle over time as neighboring states such as Ukraine, once regarded as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union, shift toward western European economies. That also may make him unpredictable and dangerous, they said.

[h=2]Russian Economy[/h] The long-term strategy, these officials said, is to further isolate Putin, who they say is presiding over the decline of a country facing economic, demographic and social problems. While it has an economy comparable in size to Italy’s, Russia’s per capita gross domestic product, at $14,612, is less than half of Italy’s $34,619, according to World Bank data for 2013.


“From the beginning, Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has been a reflection of its diminished stature and influence in Europe and the world,” said former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who worked for Vice President Joe Biden during the Russia reset and once worked in Time Magazine’s Moscow bureau.


The U.S. last week imposed targeted sanctions on selected Russian banks, military, and energy companies including OAO Rosneft (ROSN), Russia’s largest oil company, after the EU was unable to agree on more than limited additional sanctions.

[h=2]European Trade[/h] “The president imposed a greater cost on Vladimir Putin the day before this shoot-down took place,” Kerry said. “And what we are doing now is trying to bring our European counterparts along” because 4 percent of Russia’s trade is with the United States while “50 percent of their engagement is with Europe.”


The U.S. has been urging the EU to act more forcefully despite its reliance on Russia for about 30 percent of its gas imports. U.K Prime Minister David Cameron said he agreed with his French and German counterparts that Europe should be ready to impose further sanctions this week.


“There’s value, political and economic,” in waiting to see what the Europeans do because Obama wants to show a united front, said Robert Kahn, a former Treasury official who is now a senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations.

[h=2]Financial Sector[/h] The U.S. could consider adding more companies to the list of those it has sanctioned, he said. “First and foremost you look to the financial sector,” he said. “That’s where our sanctions are most powerful because of our central role in the financial system.”

Some Republicans in Congress, such as Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, are pressing Obama to impose sectoral sanctions and begin providing weapons to Ukrainian government forces fighting the pro-Russian rebels.


The U.S. and European allies should impose “very severe economic sanctions” and also consider “symbolic” actions, such as canceling the 2018 World Cup in Russia and banning landing rights to OAO Aeroflot, Russia’s largest airline carrier, Representative Peter King, a New York Republican, said yesterday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program.


Already, the existing sanctions are threatening to tip Russia into a recession as they exacerbate a bond sell-off and drive credit risk higher.


“While aggressive unilateral U.S. sanctions would impose a significant toll on Russia’s economy and U.S. business interests, the efficacy of further sanctions really turns on the resolve of the European Union,” Michael L. Burton, a sanctions lawyer at Jacobson Burton Pllc in Washington, said in an e-mail. “Member states of the EU must reconcile the tension between their sense of morality and their economic interests, recognizing that the EU ultimately will bear the highest costs and be judged most critically.”

[h=2]Incremental Action[/h] Stephen Myrow, managing partner of Beacon Policy Advisors LLC, an independent research firm in Washington, said the U.S. is likely to increase sanctions only incrementally absent strong steps by the EU.


“Even though some members of the Obama administration would like to take stronger action, they do not see it as plausible without the EU’s acquiescence, and the EU still is not there,” said Myrow, a former Treasury Department official. “The EU is threatening another round of sanctions on its own, but the trigger is tied to Russian cooperation in the crash investigation, not its aggression against Ukraine.”


Further, there’s no guarantee that more sanctions will push Putin in the right direction, said Samuel Charap, a fellow at the Washington branch of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based policy group.
[h=2]Moral Case[/h] “The moral and political case for more sanctions is clearly easier to make now,” Charap said. “The problem is that the theory of the case remains as questionable as before -- that this kind of pressure will produce the kind of policy change from Moscow that the West is seeking. In fact, it might well have the opposite effect.”

In a phone call with Cameron, Putin said it’s “important” to refrain from “hasty conclusions and politicized statements” before international investigators determine the reasons for the Malaysian Air crash, according to an e-mailed statement from Russian government.


EU foreign ministers this week will call for unimpeded access to the crash site for investigators and for the repatriation of remains in a humanitarian matter, according to the two EU diplomats.

Once again we have seen the truth of the Obama presidency: consistent failure to lead by example, or to even make a firm stance in this matter and that of the Ukraine. Failure, upon failure, upon failure.

 

Romania's Basescu slams EU for soft Putin stance


BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's President Traian Basescu on Monday accused the European Union of being weak and too slow in imposing sanctions on Russia to deter it from encroaching further into Europe after its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea.

An ex-communist state on the Black Sea, Romania joined the EU in 2007 and has been among the most vehement advocates of Western sanctions against Moscow after neighboring Ukraine lost control of its peninsula and some of its eastern territories.

"We're now facing a reality because we didn't discourage Putin, because in Eastern Europe there's a conflict fueled by the Russian Federation, with military equipment, politically, with personnel, so that 192 Dutch citizens died on Monday," Basescu told a news briefing.

He was refering to the downing of a Malaysian airliner with nearly 300 people on board in separatist-held territory in Ukraine last week. One of the victims was a Romanian.
Basescu said it was a mistake to handle sanctions against Russia "with kid gloves".

The more delay in implementing them the higher the price will be paid to stop Putin's plans to rebuild the former Soviet Union's empire, he said.

Romania has said NATO must reposition its resources in the wake of Moscow's manoeuvres and plans a gradual increase in its defense budget over the next two years.

It is especially concerned that Moldova, a small state bordering Romania with a Russian-speaking minority - could be next in Moscow's sights given the risk of separatist unrest there.

Basescu attributed the EU's stance towards Russia to various economic interests by member states: "There's always an argument: one country has a big investment, other has to deliver sophisticated equipment, another is natural gas dependant."

"Today is Ukraine, then the Baltics borders are reached, then Poland and then Romania. Aren't we at risk by making economic considerations weigh more than solidarity with states in the EU's eastern flank ?"

 

[h=1]Malaysia, Ukraine separatists agree on MH17 victims retrieval - PM[/h]
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia has reached an agreement with Aleksander Borodai, leader of the separatist group in eastern Ukraine, to retrieve the bodies of the victims of MH17, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday.


They have also reached an agreement to hand over the two black boxes from the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER, which crashed in Ukraine on 17 July with 298 people on board, Razak told a news conference.


Independent international investigators have also been guaranteed safe access to the crash site to begin a full investigation, he said.


"In recent days, we have been working behind the scenes to establish contact with those in charge of the MH17 crash site.


That contact has now been made," Razak said in a televised speech.




"Under difficult and fluid circumstances, we have been discussing the problems that have occupied us all: securing vital evidence from the aircraft, launching an independent investigation, and above all recovering the remains of those who lost their lives."

Under the agreement, the remains of 282 people will be moved by train from Torez to Kharkiv. There, they will be handed over to representatives from the Netherlands. Razak did not say what had happened to the remaining bodies.


The remains will then be flown to Amsterdam on board a Dutch C130 Hercules military aircraft, together with six members of the Malaysian team who will be on the train.


After forensic work has been completed, the remains of Malaysian citizens will then be flown to Malaysia.


Razak added that at 9 pm Ukraine time on Monday, the two black boxes from the aircraft will be handed over to a Malaysian team in Donetsk.

View gallery



Finally, international investigators will be guaranteed safe access to the crash site and allowed to start an investigation, he said.


"I must stress that although agreement has been reached, there remain a number of steps required before it is completed," said Razak.


"There is work still to be done, work which relies on continued communication in good faith. Mr Borodai and his people have so far given their co-operation."


Once this is done, the investigation can "truly begin", he added so that "justice may be done".


"In recent days, there were times I wanted to give greater voice to the anger and grief that the Malaysian people feel. And that I feel. But sometimes, we must work quietly in the service of a better outcome," said Razak.

 

[h=1]Dutch experts inspect MH17 bodies as Russia hits back[/h]

Torez (Ukraine) (AFP) - Dutch forensic experts on Monday were examining bodies from the MH17 plane disaster being held at an east Ukraine train station as Kiev and insurgents wrangled over the fate of the remains.





As world leaders deplored the "shambolic" state of the crash site left in the hands of the rebels and accused Russia of supplying the weapons allegedly used to shoot down the passenger jet, Moscow hit back and sought to shift the blame to Kiev.


On the ground, the animosity between Ukraine's warring sides was underlined by intense shelling rained down in the rebel stronghold Donetsk, a city just 60 kilometres (about 40 miles) from the station where the bodies are being held in refrigerated wagons.


Four people were killed and terrified civilians fled, as Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko quickly ordered his troops to hold fire within a 40-kilometre radius around the crash site, where forensic experts were heading.


Russian President Vladimir Putin, the target of global ire for failing to use his influence to rein in the pro-Russian rebels, appeared to adopt a concilatory tone Sunday, saying Moscow would do "everything in its power" to resolve the three-month-old Ukrainian conflict.


But on Monday, Moscow moved to slap down accusations by US Secretary of State John Kerry who had said the missile system used to shoot down the aircraft was transferred from Russia to separatists.


A senior Russian defence ministry official insisted that "Russia did not give the rebels Buk missile systems or any other kinds of weapons or military hardware".





Instead Moscow challenged Kiev, saying records show a Ukrainian military plane was flying just three to five kilometres from the Boeing 777 before it went down on Thursday, killing all 298 people on board.


"With what aim was a military plane flying along a civilian aviation route practically at the same time and at the same flight level as a passenger liner?" asked Lieutenant-General Andrei Kartopolov.


Moscow's riposte came after Kiev released fresh recordings of what it says are intercepted conversations between rebels conspiring to hide the flight's black boxes from international monitors.


And the US embassy confirmed as authentic recordings released earlier by Kiev of an intercepted call between an insurgent commander and a Russian intelligence officer as they realised they had shot down a passenger jet.


The Washington Post said Ukraine's counterintelligence chief had photographs and other evidence that three Buk M-1 anti-aircraft missile systems moved from rebel-held territory into Russia less than 12 hours after the crash.



- Civilians flee Donetsk fighting -


At the Torez railway station, an overpowering stench filled the air as Dutch investigators, wearing masks and headlights, opened each of the train wagons holding the remains of over 200 recovered bodies.


"I think the storage of the bodies is (of) good quality," Peter Van Vliet, the forensic expert leading the Dutch team.


"Now we hope that the train will leave so that we can do the necessary analyses. It is not technically possible here," he said, as 50 armed insurgents looked on.


Kiev said the remains of the victims should be transferred to the Netherlands and has accused rebels of refusing to release the grisly cargo.


Insurgents say however that Kiev could not be trusted and that they would only give control over the remains to international experts.


As grief turned to anger, the Dutch public prosecutor's office said it had opened a criminal probe into the downing of the plane, which had 193 Dutch on board.
Outrage grows over handling of MH17 crash remains Play Video


In Donetsk, insurgent fighters closed off the roads around the airport and train station on the edge of the city as local residents escaped intense shelling in minibuses and on foot.


A rebel fighter told AFP that government troops had attacked their positions near the transport hub at around 10 am (0700 GMT).



- Crash site 'shambolic' -


"They came within about two kilometres of the station," insurgent gunman Volodya told AFP.


Four days after the crash, patience was wearing thin over the limited access to the crash site in Grabove, where debris is spread over kilometres and where salvage workers were still combing the vast cornfields for remains of the victims.


"As anyone who has been watching the footage will know, this is still an absolutely shambolic situation," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.
View gallery

A piece of the crashed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 lies in the grass near the village of Hrabove, ea …


Malaysia has also expressed concerns that "the sanctity of the crash site has been severely compromised".


Kerry has slammed as "grotesque" the manner in which "drunken separatist soldiers" were allegedly "unceremoniously piling bodies into trucks, removing both bodies, as well as evidence, from the site".


Insurgents however said they had moved scores of bodies "out of respect for the families".


But that is little comfort for outraged families of the victims.


The anger was palpable in an open letter from Dutch national Hans de Borst, who lost his 17-year-old daughter Elsemiek.


"Thank you very much Mr Putin, separatist leaders or the Ukrainian government, for murdering my dear and only child," he wrote in the letter published by Dutch media.
"I hope that you're proud to have destroyed her young life and that you can look yourself in the mirror."

 

What was MH17 doing overflying war zone?


Dangerous skies can be found from Israel to Iraq, and from Nigeria to North Korea, and aviation experts say the path that took Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and its 298 passengers over a war zone in eastern Ukraine was not unusual.

Commercial airlines fly over hot spots all the time without incident. However, risks are obvious, and different countries interpret protocols for overflights in various ways. U.S. carriers are probably among the most conservative about what territory to fly over — and they were directed by the country's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in April to avoid a narrow corridor over eastern Ukraine, an advisory that continues until April of next year.

Reactions from other aviation agencies to Malaysia Airlines' second airborne tragedy in 2014 don't necessarily clear the air, but the airline would have had ample precedent from other countries' recent advisories to avoid eastern Ukrainian airspace.

The International Air Transport Association, the airline industry’s largest global trade organization, issued a two-sentence statement just hours after the apparent downing of the aircraft: “We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the passengers and crew of MH17. Based on the information currently available it is believed that the airspace that the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions.”

What does "not subject to restrictions" actually mean in terms of aircraft safety? “First of all, that wasn’t supposed to be a hot area by several hundred miles,” said John Goglia, former board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, the independent U.S. agency that investigates airline accidents.

Or, more simply, “Why were they flying there? Because they could,” said an inspector for the FAA, who did not want to be named. “They were doing nothing wrong. They had the permits.” Furthermore, rules that apply to one country may not apply to another. “Who knows?" the FAA official said. "Maybe the head of Malaysia spoke to Putin — every country is different.”

On April 23, the FAA issued a notice prohibiting U.S. air carriers from operating within a narrow corridor of the region until at least April 2015. Although written in aviation jargon, the notice was clear: U.S. airlines were to cease all flying within the specified zone, with no exceptions. By Thursday night, the FAA went even further, issuing an updated notice that expanded the no-fly area for all U.S. airlines.

Earlier in April, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a warning terming the region around Simferapol in Ukraine an “unsafe situation” and advising that “consideration should be given to measures to avoid the airspace and circumnavigate.” That same month, EuroControl — the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, which facilitates communication between the patchwork quilt of European air traffic control agencies — noted that “traffic in the Ukraine has reduced significantly since February 2014.”

Europe is not well known for its history of cross-border agreement and cooperation, and its aviation agencies flow in the same pattern. “It’s 51 different countries and it’s 51 different rules and it’s 51 different decisions being made,” says Joseph Miceli, president of the Airline Dispatcher Federation, with 27 years of experience at United Airlines.

Miceli says U.S. regulations on such issues are the best in the world, and others agree. Since 1938, the U.S. has required all commercial flights to be overseen by a licensed dispatcher; those who have received such certification know it facilitates joint responsibility and control between crew and dispatcher for any given flight. In many countries, dispatchers create flight plans and forward them to air traffic control authorities, but they do not assume “flight following” responsibilities by closely monitoring the airplane until it is safely on the ground. In some countries, “the dispatcher files a flight plan but doesn’t have the same control," Miceli said. "They don’t have that two-headed monster we have.”

Several foreign airline tragedies over the years may have been prevented or mitigated if a U.S.-style system had been in place.

Avianca Flight 52 crashed in 1990 on Long Island when that it ran out of fuel en route to JFK International Airport; there were no dispatchers on duty in Bogota, Colombia, to offer route alternatives. Similarly, when Air France Flight 447 disappeared into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, the lag in response was due in part to the lack of a dispatcher actively following the flight.

During the 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed ash across Europe, British Airways and KLM encountered airborne crises attributed to flying through volcanic ash, while U.S. airlines avoided the area entirely.

Miceli says he goes out of his way to avoid war zones when he is creating flight plans, even for military charters and flights to Dubai. One dispatcher for a U.S. airline notes regulations that allow transpacific flights to skirt North Korea: “It’s perfectly approved — but we don’t do it.”

Technology has also brought change. The days of crew members “getting lost” or devising their own shortcuts en route are no more. As one dispatcher for a major U.S. carrier notes, “Our system blocks routes that overfly countries that are on our no-fly list.” In other words, some American carriers couldn’t enter dangerous zones even if they attempted it.

Meanwhile, U.S. airlines continue to proactively warn passengers about danger zones. Within hours of the accident yesterday, Delta stated that it would not route flights through Ukrainian airspace “out of an abundance of caution.” American Airlines provides updates on two other hotspots, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Among “important notices” posted by United is an advisory about travel to Tel Aviv.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a U.N. agency that is supposed to develop global aviation standards but often has little power to enforce them, said shortly after the downing of MH17 it had issued a prior warning. Its notice pointed out “the possible existence of serious risks to the safety of international civil flights.” ICAO also noted “alternative routings are available for those operators choosing to avoid the Simferopol [region].”

Though nearly every nation in the world is a signatory to ICAO, experts maintain that he real problem is the organization’s inability to enforce its own recommendations. "ICAO has no teeth," said an FAA inspector, who asked not to be named. "They can’t prohibit member states from doing something; they can only suggest it.”

Although media reports in recent days have referenced the shootdown of Korean Air Flight 007 by the Soviet Union in 1983, in which 269 people were killed, that event was not necessarily anomalous. In fact more than two dozen commercial aircraft have been shot down since the 1940s.

A Ukrainian military exercise led to the downing of a Siberia Airlines flight in 2001. And in 1988, the U.S. Navy shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing 290.

Many of these incidents in recent decades occurred in developing nations and global hotspots, including Mozambique, Georgia, Ukraine and Iraq. Most recently, in March 2007, a TransAVIAexport Airlines flight was shot down during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia.

Can an airliner really fly safely over a war zone? Not according to one veteran dispatcher, who said that "missiles are capable of reaching well above commercial altitudes.” Another dispatcher explains: “There’s a difference between a MANPAD [portable] missile and a guided missile. We were taught a MANPAD can’t reach an aircraft at 32,000 feet.” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power made a similar statement about air-to-ground vs. portable missiles in her statement Friday at an emergency session of the security council.

There’s one other factor to be considered. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was a code-share operation with the Dutch carrier KLM, meaning both airlines were selling tickets for the same flight. Code-sharing is problematic for many reasons, but this accident adds another concern. When booking a flight on Airline A, a passenger needs to worry about the safety and security policies maintained by Airline B.

Experts say the bottom line is that not all countries — let alone all airlines — view risk in the same way. And with fuel topping the list of all airline expenses, there’s no denying how tempting it can be for a carrier to shave miles and minutes — and therefore gallons of fuel — by taking a shortcut through a hot zone. As one FAA inspector says, “Since the end of the Cold War, airlines have found tremendous economy in flying over the Black Sea.”

Another dispatcher for a major U.S. carrier puts the issue this way: “Some things are approved, but we still don’t do them. For what? To save 10 minutes and about 2,000 bucks of fuel?”

 

[h=1]Ukraine at potential turning point after crash[/h]

MOSCOW (AP) — The crash of the Malaysian airliner in rebel-held eastern Ukraine is being viewed as a potential turning-point in the conflict — either, the international revulsion over the death of all 298 people on board will force the warring parties to seek an end to the violence, or the disaster will stoke the fighting as the recriminations escalate.






Four days on from the downing of the plane, both scenarios remain possible.


An assessment of the strategies and pressures in play in the conflict that has killed more than 400 people aside from the victims of the crash:



THE CAUSE


The Boeing 777 was almost certainly shot down, but who did it remains hotly disputed. Ukrainian authorities and Western countries mostly blame pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine and there are some suggestions that Russia itself may have fired the missile. Russia, which denies allegations it is directing or aiding the rebels, hasn't directly lain the blame on anyone but its statements imply that Ukrainian forces were responsible.


Few think a definitive conclusion, if one can be reached, will be possible imminently. Despite calls for a full-scale international investigation, a probe has yet to begin and even when one begins, investigators will face a severely compromised crash scene. Rebels who control the crash site have allegedly interfered with the crash site by spiriting away bodies and hauled off pieces of evidence; the status of the plane's "black box" data and voice recorders remains unclear.




Given the huge opprobrium that would fall on whichever side brought down the plane, any report assigning fault would likely be vociferously disputed or rejected by the nominally guilty party.




CEASE-FIRE


A cease-fire in the wake of the crash has also yet to be observed despite calls from all around the world, including by Russia. The prospects of one emerging appear slim if history is any guide — in late June, a cease-fire called by the Ukrainian government side barely got off the ground.


The anger on the government side is also so high that any move toward compromise would likely be seen as a meek submission to violent and heedless forces already routinely characterized as "terrorists."


The rebels, meanwhile, dismissed the June cease-fire as a ruse by the Ukrainian army to reinforce positions and equipment in the east. That suspicion persists in the wake of a run of successes by the Ukrainian army.

View gallery

Ukrainian Emergency workers carry a victim's body in a plastic bag at the crash site of Malaysia …



PEACE TALKS



Even if a cease-fire was called and crucially held, a comprehensive settlement would require peace talks. But the deep-rooted issues that set off the conflict remain. By signing an association agreement with the European Union, Ukraine has signaled it is determined to move out of Moscow's orbit — the issue that set off the crisis last November. Earlier vague proposals of mollifying the east by giving the regions more autonomy may have passed the test of time — rebels who declared the Donetsk and Luhansk regions independent may not be able to stomach remaining part of Ukraine even with enhanced local power.



RUSSIA'S ROLE


Although Russian officials have publicly dismissed Western sanctions imposed on those alleged to be supporting or directing the rebels, the measures are having enough effect that Moscow is leery of provoking more. Despite vowing to defend ethnic Russians in any country, Russian President Vladimir Putin has held back from openly intervening in Ukraine. He has even shown superficial interest in de-escalating the conflict by urging the rebels to recognize Ukraine's presidential election in May. Putin has also asked the Russian parliament to cancel its resolution allowing the use of Russian forces in Ukraine.


However, Putin may view a frozen conflict as an opportunity to keep Ukraine in a limbo that would block any efforts by Kiev to move closer to NATO. It could also discourage the foreign investment that Ukraine badly needs.


ON THE GROUND



After a confused start to its offensive against the rebels, the Ukrainian military has taken back about half of the territory once held by the rebels. But the region's two main cities, Donetsk and Luhansk, remain in the hands of the rebels and Ukraine's forces may face many impediments in taking them back. Their main strategy has been to blockade the cities, not to shell them. But blockades can starve the cities, whose combined population was about 1.5 million at the start of the hostilities, or provoke a huge wave of displaced people that Ukraine is ill-equipped to handle. If the Ukrainian armed forces turn to force, then the ensuing urban warfare could favor the guerrillas.


The situation in the Ukraine may be changing due to this mess, but not due to the actions and uttermost failures of Pres Obama.

 

[h=1]Progress at MH17 Site as Separatists Finally Turn Over Black Boxes[/h]

For the first time since the crash, there is a bit of good news and progress to report from the MH17 site. Today, the pro-Russian separatists (or "terrorists" as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has defined them) handed over the plane's black boxes to the Malaysian government.





Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak also noted that the agreement he reached with rebel leader Alexander Borodai for the black box transfer, would also allow international investigators full "safe access" to the site. "I must stress that although an agreement has been reached, there remain a number of steps required before it is completed," said Razak, "There is work still to be done, work which relies on continued communication in good faith. Mr. Borodai and his people have so far given their cooperation."

A Malaysian colonel in Donetsk determined the black boxes are "in good condition," which is of note as there have been concerns that the rebel forces may have tampered with this evidence. The recording devices were turned over during a late night preconference in front of assembled media.


As for the bodies, the rebels have finally stepped aside and will allow the refrigerated train where the victim's bodies have been stored to move peacefully. Right now, it is at the Donetsk station, but Malaysian and Dutch experts will accompany the bodies to Ukrainian-controlled Kharkov, where the identification process will occur. The rebels have also agreed to a ceasefire in a six-mile radius around the crash side, which should also assist investigators.


At the crash site, much of the plane still remains in pieces. Examination of the photos taken at the site appears to show parts of the fuselage, covered in holes, tears, and shrapnel damage. This damage is consistent with that of a missile strike.


The U.S. has confirmed that a Russian-made missile was involved in taking down MH17. Unverified videos have previously leaked of missile launchers traveling in the Donetsk area, and now, Ukrainian authorities are working to narrow down a potential launch point. Yevhen Marchuk, a former Ukrainian prime minister and military expert, noted that when shrapnel evidence is fully investigated, they will much more easily be able to determine the point of origin for the missile.


While there has certainly been progress at the crash site today, the world waits for the next move from Russian President Vladimir Putin. World leaders are calling for change, perhaps even economic sanctions against Russia — even though those sanctions might burden them and their economies — if the investigation continues to be hindered by the pro-Russian terrorist organization.

 

[h=1]'Industrial scale' tampering of evidence at MH17 site: Australia[/h]

Evidence has been tampered with on an "industrial scale" at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Tuesday, calling it "a cover-up".



Abbott, whose government was behind a UN Security Council resolution that Monday unanimously demanded full access to the site in rebel-held east Ukraine, admitted progress had been made but said more needed to be done.
"There is still a long, long way to go," he told a press conference of the quest to repatriate the bodies of the dead Australians and bring those responsible for the 298 killed to justice.
"After the crime comes the cover-up," he added.
"What we have seen is evidence tampering on an industrial scale. That has to stop."
His comments came as pro-Russian separatists, who are accused of shooting down the plane, finally conceded to a furious international clamour for the bodies and the jet's black boxes to be handed over to international investigators.




It followed days of bitter wrangling in which rebels hampered experts from gaining access to the site and were accused of tampering with evidence.
"This site has been trampled from the beginning and we haven't just seen all sorts of random individuals roaming around the site, picking over the remains, picking over the wreckage. We've seen heavy equipment coming onto the site," Abbott said.
"The more recent footage suggests it's more like a building demolition. And this again is unacceptable."
- Securing the site -
He said the crash site must be secured and suggested it should be policed by those countries whose citizens had been killed in the disaster.
View gallery

Flowers and plush toys are left at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 19, 2014 …

"Obviously there does need to be security for the site and I would think that the security for the site would best be provided by the countries that have been so wronged here," he said.
In recent days Abbott had been particularly scathing in his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin for failing to intervene, but admitted he now appeared to be acting following intense international pressure.
"The point I made 24 hours ago is that President Putin had said all the right things. I then went on to say the challenge is to hold him to his word," he said.
"And to President Putin's credit, he has thus far been as good as his word. I give him credit for being as good as his word over the last 24 hours."
A train carrying the remains of 280 people killed in the disaster was finally allowed to leave a rebel-held region in eastern Ukraine Tuesday as the militants declared a truce around the crash site.
The corpses are due in the Ukrainian government-controlled city of Kharkiv before being put on planes, including an Australian C-17 Globemaster, to the Netherlands, where the doomed flight to Kuala Lumpur originated.
Abbott said the "painstaking and methodical process" of identifying the victims could take weeks, a process he acknowledged would be frustrating but important to get right.
"It would be terrible to compound families' grief by risking the misidentification of their loved ones," he said, adding that Australia's Operation Bring Them Home was being coordinated from Ukraine by former Defence Force chief Angus Houston.

 

[h=1]Even MH17 Isn't Convincing The EU To Truly Punish Putin[/h]

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/even...eu-to-truly-punish-putin-2014-7#ixzz38CxaXmgs

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers threatened Russia on Tuesday with harsher sanctions over Ukraine, but tougher talk may not be matched by much action after France's president signaled the disputed delivery of a warship to Moscow would go ahead. The 28 EU ministers met under growing pressure from the United States and Britain to step up sanctions after the downing of a Malaysian Airlines plane last week in an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that while Berlin was still willing to talk with Russia, greater economic pressure was needed to make Moscow change course.
"I say we remain open to defusing the situation with all political and diplomatic means but it will be necessary to accompany this willingness with higher pressure, which also means sharper measures," he told reporters on arrival.
Several other ministers entering the meeting called for an arms embargo on Russia to try to stem a flow of weapons that is fuelling the conflict, including surface-to-air missiles suspected of bringing down the airliner.
The severity of the EU response could depend on the Netherlands, which suffered the greatest loss of life when flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed last Thursday - 193 of the 298 people killed were Dutch.
Washington says the plane was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian separatists.
U.S. President Barack Obama has piled pressure on Europe for a more forceful response, and the three leading EU powers - Britain, France and Germany - said they should be ready to ratchet up sanctions.
[h=3]CONSENSUS DIFFICULT[/h] But there was no sign that finding consensus would be any easier, with many European governments concerned to protect crucial Russian energy supplies and business ties with Moscow.
Differences between Britain and France burst into the open on Monday when President Francois Hollande said delivery of a first French helicopter carrier built for Russia would go ahead, hours after British Prime Minister David Cameron had said such a delivery would be "unthinkable" in his country.
Hollande said the handover of a second warship under a 1.2 billion euro ($1.62 billion) contract signed in 2011 by his predecessor would depend on Russia's attitude.
Hollande won support among both his own Socialists and the conservative opposition UMP for standing up to outside pressure. Socialist Party leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis said Cameron should "start by cleaning up his own backyard", referring to the presence of Russian oligarchs close to Putin in London.
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said the Netherlands, which has until now has been hesitant about imposing tougher measures on Moscow, was not opposed to further sanctions.
"There is no Dutch blockade of further sanctions. The Netherlands wants that the European Union makes a united, and also strong, clear, statement against the unrest in eastern Ukraine," he told reporters.
EU officials said the ministers were likely at most to add more names and entities to a list subject to asset freezes and visa bans, since any decision to move to so-called "phase three" economic sanctions would require a summit of EU leaders.
The next summit is not due until Aug. 30 although heads of state and government could be convened earlier if there is agreement.
Britain's new Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he would urge fellow ministers to "send a very clear and strong signal to Russia today".
"This terrible incident happened in the first place because of Russia's support to the separatists in eastern Ukraine, because of the flow of heavy weapons from Russia into eastern Ukraine and we have to address that today," he told reporters.
An arms embargo was "one of the things we have to look at," he said. Ministers from Sweden, Austria and Lithuania also called for an arms embargo on Russia. None of those countries sells any arms to Moscow.
"What happened (the plane crash) is a consequence of the fact that since the end of June in particular, Russia has been stepping up significantly the shipments of heavy arms of different sort to the separatists. In violation of commitments and in violation of our demands. And that we must focus on," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told reporters.
In a step apparently designed to embarrass Russia, Britain's interior ministry announced a decision to hold a public inquiry into the death of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died of radioactive polonium poisoning in London in 2006.
Litvinenko blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin on his deathbed for ordering his killing. Moscow denied any involvement. Britain had rejected a request for an inquest last year when relations with Russia were warmer.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said it was "time to name names" and to put Ukraine's breakaway republics of Luhansk and Donetsk on the EU's list of terrorist organizations.

​

​

 

[h=1]Refugees crisis grows as Ukraine conflict shows no sign of ending[/h]
As the MH17 tragedy focuses the world's attention on Moscow and Kiev's deadly battle for eastern Ukraine, thousands of locals continue to flee their homes amid widespread conflict.


Since fighting erupted between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country earlier this year, more than 100,000 people have packed their belongings and travelled to refugee camps, either in Ukraine or across the border in Russia.


In the space of a single week before the MH17 was shot down, the UN says more than 16,000 people fled their homes.


Their destinations are temporary camps elsewhere in Ukraine or in regions like Rostov in southern Russia.


Some have registered as refugees, and thousands more are staying in Russia without visas after Moscow announced Ukrainians could stay for 180 days.


UN officials say many people are reluctant to apply for official refugee status because of fears of reprisals if they return home to Ukraine.



Young mother Natasha fled her home near the city of Donetsk to try and secure a seat for herself and her three kids on a Russia-bound bus.


She told the AFP news agency she had no choice when her town of Krasnogorivka became the frontline in the battle between Ukraine and Russia.


"We left everything and fled in a hurry as they were bombarding the town," she said.


"Everyone who was able to left at top speed."



Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of manipulating the figures on how many people have made the journey, and the exact numbers are difficult to verify.


The latest estimate from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is that 110,000 people have crossed to Russia in 2014, with around 10,000 applying for official refugee status.


Russia's figures are much higher. Anatoly Kuznetsov, Russia’s deputy head of federal migration, says almost 500,000 Ukrainians have crossed the border since the start of violence last year.



Politicians from Ukraine and the West say this is part of Russia’s propaganda campaign to paint Ukraine as the aggressors and Russia as saviours.


They point to the fact that pro-Russian rebels in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic have set up their own "refugee committee" to ferry busloads of people to southern Russia.


Russia has already declared emergency situations in six regions near the Ukraine border, and deputy emergencies minister Vladimir Artamonov says two other regions are in "elevated readiness".



Regardless of the numbers, the UNHCR says the conflict in eastern Ukraine has created an urgent humanitarian crisis.


"The rise in numbers of the past week coincides with a recent deterioration of the situation in eastern Ukraine," said spokeswoman Melissa Fleming before MH17 was shot down.


"Displaced people cite worsening law and order, fear of abductions, human rights violations, and the disruption of state services."



Law and order is almost non-existent in the region, with pro-Russian separatist fighters wrestling for control with the Ukrainian military.


Russia continues to argue it is not allied with the pro-Russian militias, but most leading world leaders and intelligence analysts say there is little doubt Moscow is supporting and supplying the fighters.

 

What is all of this shit griping about an investigation.
We already know what happened. It was shot down.
We even know who shot it down. We have the mans name.
What else do they need to know?

 

In a court of law, nothing more: but this is international politics at work, where crimes go unpunished.
After all, one only needs to look at DC's actions with the Obama-admin to verify that across the board.

 

But the last Malaysian plane that went down is still out there somewhere.
No one really knows if it went into the ocean, was shot down, or is setting in a hanger somewhere.
People don't seem to want to know about it. This one they know where it is, how it got there, and who is responsible.
What could a court possible do to those responsible?

 

Beyond possible indictment for crimes against humanity or such in an international court, or in Russia? Nothing.

 

[h=1]US: No evidence of direct Russian link to plane[/h]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior U.S. intelligence officials say they have no evidence of direct Russian government involvement in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
They say the passenger jet was likely felled by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and that Russia "created the conditions" for the downing by arming the separatists.
The officials briefed reporters Tuesday under ground rules that their names not be used in discussing intelligence related to last week's air disaster, which killed 298 people.
They said they did not know if any Russians were present at the missile launch, and they wouldn't say that the missile crew was trained in Russia.
A senior official said the most likely explanation was the plane was shot down by mistake.


So Russia has done it or has not, is involved or is not, once again we see the inconsistency and flip-flopping on the matter by the Obama-administration.

 

[h=1]US tracked missile that brought down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17[/h]

The United States detected the launch of the “specific missile” that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 last week, a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday.


U.S. intelligence followed “this specific missile” as it was fired from “a geographic area” controlled by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, said the official, who requested anonymity. It followed the near-vertical flight path characteristic of an SA-11 launch.


“We did pick up a launch. We were able to have the ability to track this specific launch,” the official said. It was not clear whether the official was referring to real-time monitoring by U.S. intelligence, or whether they went back through surveillance data after learning of the attack.


The official spoke as the United States ramped up efforts to convince skeptics that Moscow-backed rebels armed and trained by Russia shot down the passenger jet, killing all 298 people aboard. Russia has disputed the largely circumstantial American case and rejected responsibility.


“We don’t know who, like, pulled the trigger,” the official said. “We don’t know that a Russian was operating the system. However, that in no way precludes Russian involvement in the sense that they are the most likely source for this system.”


“We assign responsibility generally to Russia for how the separatists are armed and trained,” the official said. “What we have is a kind of picture of evidence that says the Russians have been providing these arms, these types of systems, and the Russians have been providing training — and that adds up to a picture that implicates Russia,” but “we’re going to be careful about saying who did it if we don’t know for certain.”


“We don’t know who literally was operating the system that day,” the official said. “That’s the hardest thing to determine.”