MH17: Who fired the "arrow"?

(Baonghean) - International investigators into the Malaysian plane crash in eastern Ukraine said on Friday that their investigation was hampered by the unwelcome and unfriendly reception from armed men who appeared to be pro-Russian.

International investigators are speaking with soldiers guarding the crash site.

Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said: "They don't seem to be in real control here." Armed, pro-Russian, and heavily guarded, the crash site was nevertheless unanswered by investigators. According to Bociurkiw, the investigation team was only allowed 75 minutes to examine an area of ​​about 200 meters before being forced to leave. Meanwhile, wreckage and bodies from the crash lay scattered for kilometers.

The plane crashed near Torez, in eastern Ukraine, a region controlled by pro-Russian armed forces. The US claims these forces shot down flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, with a surface-to-air missile. All 298 people on board perished. UN Under-Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman stated that 80 of the 298 victims were children. The lack of full access to the crash site is a major concern for the US. Ben Rhodes, deputy national security communications strategist, declared: "Investigators must be allowed access to the MH17 crash site. The US is particularly concerned by reports that separatists are preventing access to the crash area."

Clearly, the investigation, already hampered, is now even more difficult as the crash site is a rural area without electricity. Bociurkiw's initial assessment suggests he is not concerned that the crash site has been disturbed. "The bodies haven't been moved. We spoke with rescue workers. They said their job was simply to mark the locations of the victims." It is known that the US will send two more FBI investigators to assist in the investigation, but of course, the primary responsibility still rests with Ukraine. To date, the flight recorder of MH17 has not been located. Ukrainian Minister of Economy and Trade Pavlo Sherementa stated that the black box remains on Ukrainian territory, but he did not specify whether it is in the hands of the Ukrainian government. Earlier on Friday, an advisor to the ousted ruler of Donetsk told CNN that the black box had fallen into the hands of rebels, though its exact location was unknown.

US President Barack Obama believes Russia was more or less involved in the downing of flight MH17. To date, the strongest statements from the US regarding the incident have asserted that the rebels could not have shot down the plane with a surface-to-air missile without "sophisticated Russian equipment and training." However, Obama and other US officials have since avoided publicly assigning blame to Russia, instead stating that the US will do everything to find those responsible. Despite Russia's outright denial of involvement, a senior US defense official revealed that the leading hypothesis among US intelligence analysts is that the Russian military supplied the Buk missile system to the Ukrainian rebels. According to the US, the missile system was transferred from Russia to eastern Ukraine within the last "days or weeks" and has been activated. The U.S. believes that pro-Russian separatist forces could not have used this system without Russian training, and that whether Russians were present at the scene when the plane was shot down remains open.

Among the evidence presented by the U.S. was an audio recording provided by Ukrainian intelligence officers, which captured an exchange between pro-Russian rebels and Russian servicemen about surface-to-air missiles and a downed civilian aircraft:

"How are things over there?" the man, identified as a Russian intelligence officer, asked.

-We are 100% certain it was a civilian aircraft. The alleged rebel supporter.

Russia responded.

-Are there many people?

"The fragments are falling straight down into the field," the other man exclaimed gleefully.

At a press conference on Friday, Ukrainian security chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko stated that the Buk missile system shot down the plane that had crossed the border from Russia "just before" the attack. Ukrainian news agency Interfax reported that, according to a statement by Interior Minister's advisor Anton Geraschenko, the launcher and flight information for MH17 were handed over to Russian personnel at a staging area near the Luhansk border late at night. A senior Ukrainian official accused Russia of covering up its involvement in the attack, and mentioned footage showing the Buk missile launcher being transported to Russia in the middle of the night. CNN stated it could not independently verify the accuracy of these reports.

Regarding the damage caused by the attack, President Obama confirmed that at least one American citizen was on the ill-fated MH17 flight: Quinn Lucas Schansman, a student at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam international business school. The majority of the remaining passengers were Dutch citizens (173 people). "No one can deny the fact that we are witnessing horrific scenes. The whole world is watching eastern Ukraine, and we will certainly get to the bottom of this," Obama declared, while calling for a ceasefire in the region and a "credible international investigation." The Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure announced on Friday that airspace over the Donetsk, Luhansk, and parts of Kharkiv regions – where rebel forces are active – would be closed indefinitely. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai defended Malaysia Airlines' flight route, arguing that other airlines also fly over the area. This may not be a wise statement given the increasingly tense situation in Ukraine, especially after the increased sanctions against Russia and pro-Russian factions were approved by Europe and the US this week, with specific details to be discussed at the end of the month. Furthermore, in the context of Malaysia Airlines losing its second Boeing 777 this year, facing a disastrous drop in stock prices and a loss of customer confidence, is it advisable to "force things"? The US even banned its civilian aircraft from flying over the area near where MH17 crashed three months ago. On Thursday night, after MH17 crashed, the US extended the ban to the entire eastern region of Ukraine.

Clearly, the MH17 accident was a major shock to international public opinion due to the mystery surrounding the motives and the identity of those behind it. To date, investigations seem to be pointing towards Russia, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated, "Regarding Kiev's accusations, such as us being behind the attack, frankly, I haven't heard a single truthful statement from Kiev in the past few months." If it was indeed Russia, it's difficult to understand their motives and objectives in inexplicably attacking a foreign civilian aircraft. Was it a show of force on their own territory? Was the price worth the negative international public opinion and the pretext for the West to legitimize sanctions? Was there a deliberate attempt to shift blame onto others?

Reishi Mushroom