When is enough enough??? 295 dead including many Australians – innocent passengers on a commercial airline. The pro-Russian separatists have denied that they had anything to do with the tragedy, but then of course they would: Its a public relations disaster for them. Who else would be deploying anti-aircraft rockets in the area — reportedly a Buk anti-aircraft missile system — without the necessary expertise to hit the targets they had in mind? If the separatists really are to blame, the rest of the world at least will have no excuse for underestimating their reckless disregard for human life, or for refusing to condemn Russian support of the destructive insurrection. Surely civilian airlines, following the lead of British Airways and other carriers, should resolve to avoid that airspace. This is the 4th commercial airliner to face such a fate. The previous 3 were: — April 20, 1978: Korean Airlines Flight 902, which diverted from its planned course on a flight from Paris to Seoul and strayed over the Soviet Union. After being fired upon by an interceptor aircraft, the crew made a forced landing at night on the surface of a frozen lake. Two of the 97 passengers were killed by the hostile fire. — Sept. 1, 1983: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shot down by at least one Soviet air-to-air missile after the 747 had strayed into Soviet airspace. All 240 passengers and 29 crew were killed. — July 3, 1988: Iran Air Flight 655 Aircraft was shot down by a surface to air missile from the American naval vessel U.S.S. Vincennes. All 16 crew and 274 passengers were killed. Will Russian President Vladimir Putin have second thoughts about the encouragement he has given separatists in eastern Ukraine if it turns out, as seems likely, that they shot down a Malaysian passenger plane Thursday with 295 people on board? Perhaps not, since Putin appears almost immune to embarrassment. Bertrand Russell once said: War does not determine who is right — only who is left.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 22:10:56 +0000
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