I agree that the black box isn't needed to ascertain what brought that airliner down, but it is still important to the investigation, and it is also something that the general public is familiar with. I very much want the (is there 2?) black box found and examined by experts who are NOT located in Russia. I don't trust Putin one damn bit. If he can somehow blame this on Ukraine, and he is already doing so, by the way (check the news), and provide "proof" beyond his current propaganda, the man will certainly do so. He's completely ruthless, and I don't consider that an "opinion."
Highly doubtful any actions will be taken. After the rebels sanitize all evidence, the administration will have the plausible deniability it needs not to do anything.
Phone call between pro-russian rebels was apparently intercepted by Ukraine. This was posted on twitter, cannot confirm its authenticity. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VnuHxAR01Jo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I don't see anywhere that a BUK was confirmed. It says surface-to-air missile. Also, it's just the Administration's assertion. No offer of any kind of evidence to confirm their belief. I'm sure they're right, but still. This. The most obvious answer is probably the right one.
If it's indeed the rebels, I'm puzzled on how they got their hands on a SA-11 SAM system (it's a very sophisticated SAM, obviously expensive too), how they acquired the training necessary to operate one, and why didn't they use it earlier against the Ukrainian air force fighters and fighter bombers. Not helping Ukraine military's case is their history though. In 2001, their air force used a SAM to shoot down a Russian passenger airliner coming from Tel Aviv. For that instance, they also initially denied their involvement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberia_Airlines_Flight_1812
Easy, Russians sent their guys to train them. Similar to how we sent the CIA to train Afghan freedom fighters way back when.
A SA-11/SA-17 is a totally different beast when compared to the Redeyes and Stingers that the US provided the mujaheddin in the 80s. Those smaller MANPADs are much much easier to operate & train. Not saying the Ukrainian military is involved, but I can't rule them out just yet. They are not exactly the best trained military out there, and their incompetence have resulted in a downed passenger airliner in 2001. Also today they accused that a Russian fighter jet shot down one of their ground attack aircraft, so it makes sense that their air defense system is on high alert. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28345039
If the plane was coming from Russia, traveling east to west then there could be a small chance that the Ukrainians shot down the plane, but the plane traversed near the entirety of Ukraine from west to east before being shot down.
I thought the way Putin was tring to blame Ukraine for it today with his comments hurt his image. What a prick! Oh it's their fault because it happened over their territory. Just STFU you ass!!!!
Quite a lot of information out there that verifies the conclusion that it was pro-russian terrorists that shot it down. World is crazy.
"Now, a preliminary classified U.S. intelligence analysis has concluded that the missile that hit Flight 17 most likely was fired by pro-Russian separatists inside eastern Ukraine, according to a U.S. defense official with direct access to the latest information."
I don't think so. It's just so obvious what happened in this case, given the location and the bragging of the separatists, etc. The Guardian has a pretty helpful blog following this situation, for those interested. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/malaysia-airlines-plane-crashes-ukraine-live Here's the most recent passenger manifest, by country, that I could find: "Netherlands 154 Malaysia 43 (including 15 crew & 2 infants) Australia 27 Indonesia 12 (including 1 infant) United Kingdom 9 Germany 4 Belgium 4 Philippines 3 Canada 1 Unverified 41 Total 298"
