MH17: Who fired the "arrow"?

(Baonghean) - International inspectors investigating the crash of a Malaysian plane in eastern Ukraine said on Friday that their investigation was hampered by the unwelcome reception and control of armed men who appeared to be pro-Russian.

International investigators talk with soldiers guarding the scene of the plane crash.

"They don't seem to be in control here," said Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Armed, pro-Russian, heavily guarded the crash site, but they were unable to answer investigators' questions. The investigation team was only able to conduct a 75-minute inspection of about 200 meters of the crash site before being forced to leave, Bociurkiw said. Meanwhile, debris from the plane and bodies from the crash were scattered over many kilometers.

The crash site is near Torez, in eastern Ukraine, controlled by armed pro-Russian forces. The US believes that these forces shot down Flight MH17, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, with a surface-to-air missile. All 298 people on board were killed. UN Deputy Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman said 80 of the 298 victims were children. The lack of full access to the crash site has worried the US. "Investigators must have access to the crash site of MH17. The US is particularly concerned by reports that separatists are restricting access to the crash site," said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security communications strategy adviser.

The investigation, which has been hampered, is now made even more difficult by the fact that the crash site is rural and has no electricity. Mr. Bociurkiw's initial assessment shows that he is not concerned that the site has been disturbed. "The bodies have not been moved. We have spoken to the rescue workers. They said their job is just to mark the location of the victims." The US is reportedly sending two more FBI investigators to assist in the investigation, but of course the primary responsibility remains with Ukraine. So far, the MH17 flight recorder has not been located. Ukrainian Economy and Trade Minister Pavlo Sheremeta said the plane's black box is still on Ukrainian territory, but he did not specify whether it is in the hands of the government. Earlier on Friday, an adviser to the ousted ruler in Donetsk told CNN that the black box had fallen into the hands of rebels, but the exact location is unknown.

US President Barack Obama has said that Russia was somehow involved in the downing of MH17. So far, the most outspoken US statements on the incident have been that the rebels could not have shot down the plane with a surface-to-air missile without "sophisticated Russian equipment and training." However, Mr. Obama and subsequent US officials have avoided publicly blaming Russia, saying only that the US would do everything to find out who was behind the incident. Despite this, and despite Russia's outright denial of involvement in the downing of the plane, a senior US defense official revealed that the theory currently being put forward by US intelligence analysts is that the Russian military provided the Buk missile system to the Ukrainian rebels. According to the US, the missile system was moved from Russia into eastern Ukraine within "the last few days or weeks" and was installed in operational mode. The US believes that pro-Russian separatists could not have used the system without Russian training, and whether Russians were present at the scene at the time of the plane's downing remains unclear.

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

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

-We are 100% sure it was a civilian plane. The person believed to be a rebel supporter

Russia replied.

-Are there many people?

-The debris is falling straight down into the field. The other person exclaimed with glee.

At a press conference on Friday, Ukraine's security chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said the Buk missile system that shot down the plane had crossed the border from Russia "shortly before" the attack. Ukrainian news agency Interfax reported that the launcher and flight information for Flight MH17 were handed over to Russian personnel at a border assembly point near the Luhansk region late at night, according to a statement by Interior Minister Anton Geraschenko. A senior Ukrainian official accused Russia of covering up the attack, citing footage that showed the Buk missile launcher being transported to Russia in the middle of the night. CNN said it could not independently verify the reports.

Regarding the damage caused by the attack, Mr. Obama confirmed that there was at least one American citizen on the fatal flight MH17: Quinn Lucas Schansman, a student at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam international business school. The remaining passengers were mostly Dutch citizens (173 people). "No one can deny the fact that the horrific images are before our eyes. The whole world is watching eastern Ukraine and we will certainly clarify the truth of the incident," Mr. Obama declared, calling for a ceasefire in the area and a "credible international investigation." Ukraine's Minister of Infrastructure announced last Friday that airspace over the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and part of Kharkiv - where rebel forces are active - will be closed indefinitely. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai defended the flight route of Malaysia Airlines, arguing that other airlines also fly over the area. This is not necessarily a wise statement given the increasingly tense situation in Ukraine, especially after the increased sanctions against Russia and its supporters were approved by Europe and the US this week, with specific details to be discussed later this month. Moreover, in the context of Malaysia Airlines losing its second Boeing 777 in a year, facing a catastrophic stock market crash and a loss of customer confidence, is it worth "trying to make a go of it"? The US even banned its civil 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 Ukraine region.

Obviously, the MH17 accident was a big shock to international public opinion because of the mystery in the motive as well as the person behind it. Up to now, it seems that the lines of investigation are pointing towards Russia, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared, "Regarding Kiev's accusations that we were behind the attack, honestly, in the past few months I have not heard any truth from Kiev." If it was really Russia, it would be difficult to understand what their motive and purpose were when they attacked a foreign civil aircraft for no reason? A show of power on their "territory"? Is that price worth the negative international public opinion as well as an excuse for the West to legitimize sanctions? Is there a "picking up the fire and putting it in someone else's hand" drama?

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