US Beats War Drums Over Downed MH17 Plane, But Evidence Sketchy

Malaysia Airlines Story Continues to Change

US officials continue to get more shrill in their accusations against Russia about the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17, and push for further hostile actions against Russia in retaliation for blame which is based primarily on secret evidence, and a handful of photos of extremely dubious origin.

Paradoxically, even as the US continues to assert its absolute certainty of Russian guilt, the narrative surrounding what exactly happened continues to morph wildly around, as they hope to settle on a story that people will buy.

We’re only a couple of days on from allegations that the rebels, who were previously not believed to have the 9k37 Buk vehicle allegedly used in the shoot-down, were suddenly claimed to have seized a Buk from the Ukrainian military.

Today, the State Department has revised the story wholesale, claiming a convoy of 150 Russian vehicles shipped to the rebels only last weekend, including the Buk and massive numbers of other advanced weapons.

Both stories are problematic. In either case, the fact that no public statement was made as to the rebels getting these new, dangerous weapons until long after the plane was already shot down, meaning the US and Ukraine kept the important information to itself. It also makes little sense that Ukraine’s military began making significant gains against the rebels immediately after the rebels got a huge influx of advanced weaponry.

That the rebels weren’t believed to have the technical expertise to use the Buk is also still a problem, for while Ukraine claims Russia secretly trained them in the use of the complex weapon, it’s hard to imagine that such training began long before an apparently extremely recent shipment.

Ultimately, the consistency of the story seems to matter less, particularly to US politicians, than the hope it will paint Russia in a negative light, as the war drums are now beating, and officials are determined to take advantage of that as the opportunity presents itself.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.