Article Co-Written by Diane Sori
On July 17th another Malaysian plane…MH-17… went down but this time it was different. Different than MH-370 in that this one did indeed crash. However, crashing is NOT what makes this different…being shot down out of the sky does.
While early reports have everyone blaming Vladimir Putin or Russia for this take down there are a few things that just do NOT add up.
First, Putin was the one who told Obama that a plane was down and that in and of itself seems an odd thing for someone supposedly involved to have done. What’s even odder is that Obama was fast to accuse Putin of downing the plane before the debris of the plane even had a chance for its fires to die down.
The more we learn…in mere bits and pieces…the more questions are raised. Questions like…was this an actual surface-to-air take down or was this done by an air-to air-missile?
The actual flight path as compared to what should have been the flight path was changed. According to Malaysian air officials, the common route for these planes traveling to Asia would have been about 200 miles south of the flight path this plane was on. Malaysian Air is saying that air traffic control out of Kiev moved MH-17 to a flight path 200 miles north of the one normally used which sent MH-17 directly over the war zone, an alteration probably done while the plane was still in Polish airspace.
Why did they move this plane 200 miles north over the exact area where other military planes had recently been shot down? Part of the problem is that the Kiev government has reportedly seized those records from air traffic control so we might NEVER know.
Another part of the problem is that air traffic control knew damn well this was a civilian airliner and NOT a military plane yet they diverted it over rebel held territory, which raises the question of why would Ukrainian officials send a civilian plane over enemy territory?
One possibility is that this was a deliberate set-up done specifically to create collateral damage which would then be used to defame Putin. And worse yet, could Obama have been part of NOT the take down itself but in setting the blame game stage, especially since he has been ‘neutered’ so to speak on the international stage by Putin. Remember, Obama rushed to judgment, blaming Putin based on supposed ‘classified intel’ before any official investigation had begun. And then there was something he said, something that even at the time seemed to be a preemptive strike should the truth start to leak out.
“Our immediate focus will be on recovering those who were lost, investigating exactly what happened and putting forward the facts. And I want to point out there will likely be misinformation as well. I think it’s very important for folks to sift through what is factually based and what is simply speculation,” Obama said.
Recovering those lost was Obama’s primary goal NOT getting to the truth…more like silencing the truth if you ask us.
Now more questions…if this was a Buk missile it would have been an SA-11, and according to Jane’s Digest…the military weapons digest…to track, lock on, and fire you need a minimum of 5-1/2 minutes. Then you need a visual on the target, and while the SA-11 is guided by radar, you still have to have a visual on the target. MH-17 was a Boeing 777, which we know was at cruising altitude of 33,000 feet and flying at a speed of about 580 ground miles per hour. Because of the flight path and where it was shot down, the plane would only have been over the target area for about a minute and ten seconds, so…if this was a surface-to-air missile how did they manage to track it for the required minimum time or get a visual on it, especially on what was obviously a cloudy, overcast day as can be clearly seen in the videos of the explosion?
That’s what’s making us think that there’s a better likelihood that this was an air-to-air missile and NOT a ground-to-air missile.
But what of the SAM…the SA-11 that was reportedly fired? We know for a fact that Ukraine has had several military aircraft, both fighters and cargo aircraft, shot down in that very area so somebody is most definitely firing missiles but…what if this was an attempt to shoot down yet another ‘military aircraft’ and MH-17 was a case of mistaken identity? Could the separatists have mistaken a Ukrainian fighter jet tailing a civilian aircraft for a Ukrainian fighter escorting a Ukrainian cargo jet…that is indeed a likely possibility and a heat seeking SA-11 would have targeted the greatest heat source…the exploding MH-17.
Seen so briefly on the overcast day, separatists could very well have taken a shot as the fighter jet fired at MH-17, and as the SA-11 surface-to-air missiles are heat seekers, the SAM would naturally be drawn to the exploding jet leaving the initial impression with the separatists that they had successfully hit their target.
But even with this possibility, we keep coming back to this very important fact…Ukraine has the SU-25, a fighter jet that carries air-to-air missiles. And this fighter jet can gain an altitude of 6.2 plus miles and is equipped with air-to-air R-60 missiles that can hit a target at a distance up to 7.4 plus miles.
The R-60 air-to-air missile, while updated now, is still available in its original form and as the older version would be less expensive for a struggling nation to purchase. We believe those to be the missiles that are being used by Ukraine. The R-60 is equipped with a fragmentation warhead and a proximity fuse NOT at all unlike the warhead and fuse system used in the SA-11 and either would account for the reported shrapnel damage to MH-17.
And this SU-25 jet is what the Russian military said they detected gaining altitude towards MH-17 on the day of the take down. Here we have a Ukranian fighter jet… according to the Russians a mere 2 to 3 miles away from MH-17…and its presence of the Ukrainian can be confirmed by video shots made by the Rostov monitoring center. Also, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, at the moment of the MH-17 crash an American ‘spy’ satellite was parked in a geosynchronous orbit that specific area of eastern Ukraine, and we… the U.S. government…was asked to publish the space photos and data captured to help show the truth about who shot down the plane, but to date these photos have NOT been published.
Gee…we wonder why…sarcastically said of course.
However, either scenario…surface-to-air or air-to-air…could have resulted in the destruction of MH-17 at 33,000 feet and left telltale signs of shrapnel penetration of the aircraft.
But why would a Ukrainian fighter jet do this…why would Ukraine do this? Simply because Ukraine is losing against Russian forces…and losing big…and desperation could well be setting in is why. What better way to turn the world’s public opinion their way than to place the blame for civilian deaths in such a horrific fashion on Russia…on Putin.
Collateral damage is one thing but intentionally caused collateral damage is something else entirely. But could Ukraine have known ahead of time from the passenger flight manifest that MH-17 was mostly full of Europeans, as this too could help rouse Europe against Russia, at least for the purpose of sanctions.
Now that we’ve presented two possibilities let’s look at one quite different from the others but still something that must be considered in this day and age of muslim terrorists….could MH-17 been brought down by an internal explosion that just happened to occur at the same time the rebels were firing their rockets…could this be Lockerbie revisited?
Remember, at this time we’ve been told a missile was fired but NO one to date has yet seen the ‘classified intel’. Could a bomb have been in the cargo hold and been on a timer or detonated by someone on board…just something to think about. And while with Lockerbie terrorists did immediately take credit for the downing, with MH-17 NO terrorists have yet piped in, but could…and we only say could…the terrorists actually be the Ukrainians themselves…again solely to discredit Putin and the Russians.
And remember, NO terrorist group…NO islamic terrorist group…has yet taken credit for MH-370 which is still missing. Now think of this very scary thought…isn’t it more effective NOT to take credit for a plane’s downing and keep people on edge as it is to run and scream ‘we did it.’ The unknown is always more frightening than the known and this would serve terrorists… jihadis…well…as in keep them guessing… keep them scared.
But at this point NO matter who took down MH-17 one thing remains…Barack HUSSEIN Obama’s rush to place the blame on Vladimir Putin and Russia. Like we’ve said previously, Putin has totally emasculated Obama in the eyes of the world. Now Obama is seen NOT as leading from behind but seen as NOT leading at all. The ‘Russian Bear’ is now in a position of strength for while he currently controls the flow of oil into Europe, with both Ukraine and Crimea brought back into the ‘motherland’ he would acquire his much wanted and needed warm water port on the Black Sea. This NOT only would get Putin even more control over the flow of oil into Europe, but would aid him NOT in his rebuilding of the old Soviet Union but in his rebuilding of the Russian Empire. This in turn would knock the U.S. down to the world’s number two superpower with Russia becoming number one.
But when all is said and done the take down of MH-17 could very well be as we are being told (but we doubt it)…as in the separatists shot a surface-to-air missile and brought this plane down. We are just offering some alternative scenarios to think about, because when Obama rushes to judgment, and when the media blindly falls in lockstep with him, our antennas need to be at full alert. Remember, the last time Obama rushed to judgment was over a YouTube video and we all know how that turned out now don’t we.
Let’s not forget that the West fomented the uprising in Kiev. That resulted in ousting a Russia-friendly leader of the Ukraine. That disrupted a pattern of influence over Ukraine that Moscow had been counting on. Seeing the West take Ukraine over to the EU motivated Moscow to seize the warm water port in Crimea, which was a large part of Moscow’s original goal. The separatist actions in Eastern Ukraine, if successful, would further ensure Moscow’s control over the Ukraine conduit for piping oil and NG to the EU. This is all Moscow is really concerned with. And, it’s what the West is trying to prevent.
In the meantime, Moscow is making deals with China and others in the far east that will expand their economy. One deal in particular is the agreement to partner with China to create a bank that will not favor the U.S. Dollar. So, Russia’s economy gets stronger and they are doing things that will bruise the U.S. economy.
In the meantime, the West is losing face and respect for the U.S. leadership is declining while the Ukraine military is not winning the conflict with the separatists. The West is becoming desperate to do something that will reverse the tide. It becomes easy to envision a plan along one of the lines that Craig has described. And, unless evidence proving otherwise is presented by those who have control of it, it becomes technically easier to credit the Ukraine military with the downing of MH17 than it is to blame the separatists.
Question: Other than reports from the West, upon what basis can Putin be called a “bad guy”? In the game of international hardball, he’s not very different from all the other players, including those of the West. If Putin is a “bad guy”, they’re all “bad guys”.
Excellent piece of work, Craig and Diane. Very thoughtful comments, Mr. Hutton.
And here is my response to the July 30 piece:
I am not angry… I don’t get angry. Don’t wear panties and don’t allow wads. You’ve made another giant mistake in this second article and made a statement that is not true. You said in the second paragraph, “…none of them offered any viable or even veiled facts to refute anything in that article.” That is factually not true and my post above states several viable and verified facts that refute the conclusions of your article. Then you went on to say, “They did however, resort to personal attacks in their knee-jerk reactions as they blindly follow their Ukrainian government the way liberals here are velcroed to the ass of Obama.” That is just goofy hyperbole and while it may be an appealing writing style to some it is irresponsible and dishonest. Again, I’m not angry. I am not driven by ego. I am driven by the crises we face in our Government and the world at large and I am serious about finding the right political power through the unity of patriots to respond to those crises and demand reform. So I tolerate all sorts of nonsense in the effort to build that consensus. Your pieces often are filled with insight and important perspective. But both of these pieces are off on a tangent that is not supportable by the reality they pretend to analyze. Get back on track… don’t look to be popular from sensationalism pursuing empty conspiracy thinking. The reality of what is happening in Ukraine is simple… a tyrant, Putin, seeks grandiose notions driven by megalomania, which the rest of your piece today is clear about. When a man allows his ego to become his guide he loses focus and sensibility. That is useless in the fight for Liberty and Justice.
and then:
I want to be sure to be clear on this Craig. I support your work and I think you’re a good writer. The advice I’m giving you is this. Whenever you get a lot of flack over something you’ve written, examine the criticism with a humble heart. There may be something of use to you in it. Maybe not. But if a person regards criticism as a potential aid they become better. If they view all criticism as just blather they may be missing something critical to their development. I read the articles and I read the criticisms. And that’s my advice. You’re a patriot and I respect you as a brother in arms. Onward.
(These comments were all made in discussion with Craig on my facebook page.)
I regard Craig as a compatriot in the fight to save America. The comments I’ve pasted below were made in response to this piece and to the piece that was posted for August 30, titled ‘Megalomaniac Putin – Return of the Russian Czar’. I am posting them here to bring some critique to the piece and some perspective to those that have criticized it.
Comments on this piece:
Craig, Generally I like your pieces but there are some issues with this one… some inaccuracies of logic and fact. First, Putin telling Obama that the plane had been shot down is not extraordinary given known facts. At that point the separatist leader had stated on Facebook that they’d shot down a military plane (comments he later deleted trying to cover his tracks) so they were confused about what had actually taken place. Therefore Putin had no reason not to mention this to Obama and indeed, Russian intelligence may have identified at that point that the mistake had been made and offered the information to Obama for cover, knowing Russia’s involvement with arming and supporting the separatists.
Next, Obama and the State Department were not ‘fast to accuse Putin’. In fact it wasn’t for days that the President and the SD started laying the blame squarely on Putin. The blame gradually developed with the White House stating that an investigation was being conducted. (I am no defender of the WH but I do rely on facts and have watched the reportage on this issue since the beginning.)
Kiev’s diversion of the flight path may indeed have been for sinister purposes. Perhaps Kiev calculated that the separatists would make such an error and that would serve their purpose. (See… I’m not defending Kiev either.) But that is speculation and flight paths are frequently changed for weather and other reasons. So without more detailed information it is tough to draw conclusions about this piece of the puzzle. You acknowledge the possibility of this sinister intent in your piece and that’s a fair speculation.
And much of the rest of your piece is fair speculation but just that. To my thinking there are several key points in this story and those are not disputed. One is that the Russian Separatists had shot down several Ukrainian military aircraft in the week prior to this incident with MH17. The other is that the leader of the Russian Sep’s posted on FB within 15 minutes of the plane being shot down a comment that essentially admitted to the act and illustrating that it had been done by mistake. He stated that they’d shot down an AN-10 (if I remember the correct designation) and followed that with a comment saying ‘We warned you not to fly over our airspace.’ This contributes to the idea that Kiev re-directed the plane with mal-intent but in no wise redirects responsibility for the act.
The last thing I want to say is this. Putin is a bad guy. I believe Putin will not stop with Ukraine and will push on into the Baltics and possibly even into Europe. Putin is a megalomaniac who demonstrates his over inflated ego with behavior that many are willing to relish (such as riding his horse bare-chested… I don’t see that as ‘cool’.. I see it as egotistical and done intentionally for political reasons.) and he is playing the west like a crafty politician with intentions that rely on such extravagant behavior. We need to see beyond the facade. Any time a leader in this modern age just decides it’s time to go start grabbing other people’s geography they are really demonstrating extraordinary evil. And the time to stop Putin is right now. If Obama weren’t so weak and misguided he would make that case to the American People and take whatever action is needed to lead the free world to the cause.
I agree with you, Craig. Hearing conflicting reports on the shooting down of the plane, I would much rather they find out what happened to the one that just disappeared. It seems like it doesn’t matter anymore, doesn’t it?
Please Review