The immediate cause of the MH17 disaster was a missile shot by pro-Russian forces who mistook it for one of the military aircraft they had been regularly shooting down. It is a terrible tragedy – and tragically not unique. There have been several such events in my lifetime, including the USS Vincennes incident and the Soviet downing of a Korean airliner.
The problem is that Vladimir Putin has revived the Soviet cult of perfectionism – the idea that the state simply cannot make a mistake. That Putin-backed forces could commit an error is therefore unthinkable, as that would imply that Putin made an error in backing and supplying them. Putin cannot make errors. We have therefore seen a stream of desperate propaganda stories emanating from the Russian media, such as the allegation that it was the government in Kiev attempting to shoot down Putin himself. These narratives are aimed at the domestic Russian nationalist audience, but are accepted by the small band of ardent Putin supporters in the West.
Many people in the West, myself included, have been shocked and alienated by the rampant and vicious immorality of Western foreign policy in what I might call the neo-con era, with the ascendancy of Bush and Blair marking a step change in the open use of military force to grab natural resources – a return to the Imperial heyday. The veneer of concern for democracy and human rights layered over Guantanamo, extraordinary rendition, the curtailment of long-cherished civil rights at home and the mass compound crimes of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, led to a visceral revulsion.
Putin’s successful opposition to western designs on Syria and Iran gave the impression, quite probably correctly, that a revived Russia was the only effective obstacle to western hegemony, China being passive. But unfortunately this led some who opposed Western neo-imperialism to join in the hero worship of Putin.
The mechanisms of this vary. In my view, the largest number are people who are not psychologically equipped to fight over-mighty power everywhere, which is a lonely path, and prefer the much easier option of joining the entourage of a big power, and convincing themselves that power is good. It is comforting to feel part of a powerful team. Some of course are paid by the Russians, and you see them turning up on Russia Today both as presenters and interviewees, but these are a small section. Some were supporters of the Soviet Union.
What is perhaps most extraordinary is that, the very things which these people criticise most about Western society, Russia and Putin do much worse. At the most fundamental level, the disparity of wealth between rich and poor in Russia is far, far worse than the still appalling level it has reached in the West.
The total Russian economy is 20% smaller than the total British economy. Yet Russia has almost three times as many billionaires as the UK, and the Russian billionaires’ combined wealth is over six times the combined wealth of British billionaires.
Go figure. Yet the delusional continue to contrive to believe that Russia is an alternative to global capitalism.
Russia is not only a much more unequal society than the West. It also much worse in the field of civil liberties and media freedom. Scores of real journalists have been killed, mostly unheard of internationally. The free media has vanished. In the West, the field of opinion reflected in the mainstream media has narrowed right down. In the UK, Andrew Gilligan was sacked for telling the truth about Iraqi WMD, while his source was murdered. But the West is moving in the direction of autocracy; Russia is already there. It in no sense represents an alternative, freer society than the West.
Nor is Russia any less imperialist. Putin is in fact an extremely aggressive nationalist imperialist, as his annexations of Abkhazia and Crimea have shown. Highly significant is the legislation just passed to award Russian nationality to ethnic Russians in former Soviet states. That is racially based legislation. It means for example that 40% of the population of Kazakhstan potentially become Russian citizens, with similar figures in the Baltic states. It is highly aggressive and designed to have destabilising potential.
One fact which has become undeniably clear in the Ukraine is that the pro-Russian insurgency in the East is commanded by members of the Russian military and security forces like Strelkov who are Russian, not Ukrainian citizens, and they are under tactical and strategic supervision from Russia. Again, the self-hating fantasist tendency in the West manage to convince themselves that what is happening in East Ukraine is massive destruction of civilian populations by NATO forces.
People who are that removed from reality cannot be helped.
Much more dangerous are those who do have a grip on reality, who understand exactly what is really happening, and who don’t care. That sums up the position of almost all western governments. The truth is that the financial interests of all those Russian billionaires are completely linked in with those of the super-rich of the West. To take only the UK as an example, these are the people Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson and Boris Johnson lunch and have holidays with. These are the people who employ Gerhard Schroeder and David Owen as lapdogs.
Nobody is more annoyed than Angela Merkel at the downing of MH17, not because she cares about those dead people, but because of the massive effort she has put into ensuring that, whatever Russia does in Ukraine, German economic interests will not be affected. Germany gets most of its electricity from Russian gas, and both Siemens and Mercedes, on a daily basis, have been lobbying Merkel to make sure that nothing is done that hurts German economic interests. Cameron has been receiving the same lobbying from his banker mates. In both these cases, the politicians are being talked to by the people who finance them.
The result is that there has been a strong diplomatic push, particularly by Germany, to divert the question of sanctions on to matters of process. The problem is not Russia trying to annex bits of Ukraine and funding, arming and staffing the destabilisation of a European state. The Germans are seeking to define the problem down to whether or not Russia cooperates in various stages of the air crash investigation.
Putin will continue his dangerous expansionist nationalism because it is a self-trapping path for a politician to take; but also he is encouraged that whatever he does, nobody makes any serious moves to stop him. The people on MH17 were killed because of the pusillanimity of Western politicians, financed and guided by the financial elite.
The pathetic “sanctions” adopted by the US and EU so far have been specifically designed to be completely toothless. They target middle and lower ranking individuals without major western links anyway. None of the top ten largest Russian billionaires has been touched.
Russia’s richest man – Alisher Usmanov – is extremely close to Putin and as chairman of Gazprominvestholdings has been directly involved for a decade in pressurising Ukraine, and was also Putin’s chosen instrument for closing down the free media. But you won’t see Usmanov on any sanctions list – he has 10% of Facebook, 29% of Arsenal FC, the most expensive mansion in Surrey and numerous other western connections, not to mention he is Gerhard Schroeder and David Owen’s direct boss.
Much has been said of the 1.2 billion dollars contract for two amphibious assault vessels Russia has ordered from France. Amphibious assault! Where?
But, actually much more interesting, 1.2 billion dollars incredibly happens to be the combined value of four of the World’s largest luxury yachts, which met together off Cap Ferrat and Antibes from 10 to 16 June this year. They are Dilbar, Madame Gu, Grand Bleu and Hermitage.
In Putin’s Russia, government, organised crime and secret services are absolutely integrated. All were well represented at the series of meetings that took place on those yachts, where deals were done on everything from metal prices to heroin – and Ukraine. If US drones had wanted to do some good in the world, there was their target, but they were too busy killing some 16 year old kid, and numerous bystanders, in Waziristan or Yemen for a dangerous interpretation of the Koran. None of the people at those meetings will appear on any sanctions list, though they are the men who rule Russia with Putin. They will all still be very welcome in boardrooms in London, Berlin and New York.
If Europe had followed from the start the excellent leadership offered by Radek Sikorski, the passengers on MH17 would not have died. I should like to think that the European Council will start to listen to Sikorski now. But I doubt it.
Brendan
22 Jul, 2014 – 10:50 pm
“I usually agree with Craig, but this Sikorksi guy appears to be sabre rattling. Threaten Russia militarily? Looks like a piece of idiocy straight of the neocon playbook. “
“He was also part of a US think tank for 5 years, the American Enterprise Institute, which surprise surprise, promotes hard-right free market policies.”
“I’m really not sure where Craig is coming from here, promoting Sikorski’s ‘excellent leadership’. Have I got the wrong guy? This clown looks like a standard-issue US stooge.”
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Yes it is odd Brendan but I think Craig’s pathological hatred of anything Russian clouds his judgement at times.
For all his talk against the neo-cons and his assertion in an earlier post the “Russia is more neo-con than the west” it seems he now supports the European neo-cons because they too hate Putin.
A case of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend.”
Who says it was a BUK-M1 missile or even a missile? All the ‘critical’ news junkies seem to take this factoid as given.
Shall I tell you who says it was a BUK missile? The NSA, probably. With a little bit of help from Ukrainian fascists and Facebook.
Why believe that ‘theory’ at face value?
Why assume the plane wasn’t bombed from inside?
(Serious answers, please.)
The plane was out of Schiphol, site of Mossad’s European HQ.
The numbers game is so sad…
We know Putin, unlike Yeltsin, is refusing to play ball any more on the things that matter such as NATO expansion(remember the deal on German reunification?), sanctions on Iran, Syria etc. As a result, he has become evil incarnate. And all this because he has decided to contest US hegemony by using the methods often deployed by the west. An example here is France and her repeated incursions in Africa.
MJ
22 Jul, 2014 – 11:07 pm
“One of the wackiest theories I ever heard was that Angela Merkel is actually Adolf Hitler’s daughter. Problem is that now, whenever I see her, I can’t help seeing a vague resemblance.”
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2567570/Possibly-awkward-political-photograph-Unfortunate-image-Israeli-prime-minister-casting-Hitler-moustache-shadow-German-chancellor-goes-viral.html
Although he is a right wing journalist Peter Hitchens has been consistently accurate about the origins of the civil war in Ukraine. He has a superb article on his blog about the current crisis. Whatever you think of Hitchens I recommend you read it.
I agree that the contributors to RT are a mixed bunch but at least you get to see some coverage of the horrifying deaths of civilians in eastern Ukraine as a result of the actions of the Kiev regime. Civilian deaths which has been mostly ignored in the western media.
Craig does seem to have a problem interpreting this conflict and has allowed his anti-Russian prejudices to get the better of him. The plug for the neo-con Sikorski is simply laughable. Poland has historically contested control of Ukraine with Russia and regarded parts of western Ukraine as really part of Poland, as they have been within living memory.It is important to recognise where he is coming from.
It must be noted Rifkind does not want to make a fool of himself (again) a la al-Ghouta.
So one unradarguided BUK marksman shot down what would look like a pin flying at 500mph 31,000 ft up in the sky, with one shot?!! It can only mean only one thing CM must be very much in love with his Putin hating wife ! Or he has caught George Graham’s flu.
MJ, saving that one up for April 1st? 🙂
Take a look at the ancestry of German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen.
So, OK, people, you know the plane was downed by a BUK because…?
Very true Mark Golding.
When democratic Yeltsin ordered the tanks to fire on the Russian parliament he was hailed as a hero, when Yeltsin was blind drunk and so pissed that he could not even leave his aeroplane to greet the waiting dignitaries in Shannon airport he was hailed as the over worked and tried president tried but his health failed him!
It is all a question of image, the current bums rush to cold war is the result of Muslims in the new era of religious wars are just not good enough enemies and they are not cutting the mustard, and there is a need for bigger and tougher enemies. This is pushing the fumbling neocons to find new enemies with a stature that can create billions in new defence spending!
Meanwhile back the ranch, Jimmy Savile got away with it, and then some, included Jill Dando’s murder perahps, but these child pornographers are caught and reprimanded;
Then there is this;
Also in the other news; zionists scum have now killed more than 500 Palestinians and no mention of how many made homeless and how many injured and which hospital is looking after the injured.
Doug Scorgie
“So Phil you don’t think that the Nazi Holocaust was any worse than other holocausts (e.g. Armenia)?”
“Any worse”? What does that actually mean Doug? If there is a worse there has to be a better. So do I have an opinion which is the better holocaust?
The question is so bizarre but I have to answer: no, I have no favourite holocaust.
Why do you ask?
People are more likely to click on links if they include some link text to say what they are.
“It can only mean only one thing CM must be very much in love with his Putin hating wife ! Or he has caught George Graham’s flu.”
Keep your speculative tabloid comments on the carpet here, just sayin’, this has got nothing to do with Craigs wife, she does not come on here to debate and refute your unecessarry and inconsequential comment.
I hope you understand and take it back.
Hi Tony_0pmoc – shrewd as usual and if you are right without a need to patronize that integrity and courage must be upheld, maintained and raised. We can deal with this predicament and meet it as friends should.
Ursula von der Leyen is a descendent of Ludwig Knoop, the Bremen businessman who introduced (british) cotton weaving technology to Russia in the 19th century: one of the original modernisers of the Russian economy. A key problem for Putin now is how to persuade current investors to risk their money there.
Believe that the plane was shot down by a BUK missile only if you trust the NSA and their Russian counterparts. It’s as simple as that. I’m not saying it was or it wasn’t. I have no idea what brought the plane down. I doubt that most of the people posting here do either.
But only an idiot assumes that something said by both ‘sides’ must for that reason be true.
Step back from news-junkieism and review your assumptions.
Here is the Financial Times on the NSA’s fight with Russian propagandists to control the ‘narrative’. This may be exciting for news junkies, but it isn’t total war. There are many shared interests.
Meanwhile, on the Security Council, on the ongoing Gaza massacre, fuck-all happens…
Did someone mention sanctions?
Meanwhile Keir Giles at Chatham House (hur hur) says “Everybody will be releasing their imagery very, very selectively. No-one will want to be too explicit about what they have seen with their satellites. They won’t want to give away capabilities.“
Mark
“We know Putin, unlike Yeltsin, is refusing to play ball any more on the things that matter such as NATO expansion(remember the deal on German reunification?), sanctions on Iran, Syria etc. As a result, he has become evil incarnate.”
Jesus fucking wept. Do you not think he became “evil incarnate” when he oversaw the massacre of hundreds of thousands? Hey even before that when he was head of a secret service? Do these not qualify him as evil?
Yes Mark, I get you do not like our leaders. I get it. I am with you. But you applaud a mass murderer! I do not. Putin is the same as those you hate. They prefer each others company to ours. They shop, fuck and holiday with each other. They all despise you and me. The real war is us vs the mass murderers. Everything else is PR.
You are a fucking mug for applauding mass murderers.
Sorry,my bad, I take it back – but CMs logic about a lone BUK launcher shooting down MH17 still needs to be investigated, perhaps his Arsenal reference was a Freudian slip !!
Evidence? We ain’t got no evidence. We don’t need no evidence. I don’t have to show you any stinking evidence. Craig Murray. Sorry,these old quotes are still the best.
Ursula Von der Leyen is someone we will be hearing much more of.
Yes, she is a descendant of Knoop.
See also her brother‘s business interests.
And here‘s their father – a long-standing German-EU politician-crook.
And see her husband‘s business interests too, and who he’s descended from.
This helps give more of a handle on German-Russian relations and how they relate to the EU. It’s all of course about big private business interests first and foremost.
Von Der Leyen has said she would envisage German military involvement in eastern European countries to assist with stability – the kind of talk that we can obviously file under threat.
One thing Craig doesn’t mention in his excellent article above is British investment in Russia. There’s a lot of that. For all the strutting and purchases by Russians (and ‘Russians’) in London, British investment in Russia is larger than Russian investment in Britain. (Source.)
From The Scotsman 28/4/14:
“Russian state news agency Itar-Tass had last week reported an anonymous source in David Cameron’s office saying that Britain were seeking support from Russia on the Scottish independence debate and pulling troops out of Afghanistan. These claims were reported by the Sunday Herald.
The original report, issued on Hogmanay, said: “Great Britain is extremely interested in the support of Russia, as holder of the G8 presidency, in two vital areas in 2014: the Afghan pull-out and the Scottish independence referendum.”
Good post! While I also believe, that the separatists are responsible for the crash, I’d like to know your thoughts behind stating it as fact.
Also I’d like to point out a small factual error. Germany does not rely on russin gas for electricity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Germany
We do however rely heavily on russin gas to heat our water and thus our homes.
DoNNyDarKo
I’ve got Habbabreak and it works a treat
Why thank you Mr DoNNyDarKo. I have added your generous words to the appropriate section on the Habbabreak web page.
Phil – You have wrongly perceived the intention. I have declared Putin is a thug as are all commanders. ‘Evil incarnate’ is the feeling in the West not my own. I do not applaud, praise, compliment or hail Putin – I commend his decision to contest US hegemony, and so must you.
The power balance of a bipolar world is in play. Russia is the bar to a monopoly of deceit, ending children’s lives before they can return the love they see and experience, bloodshed, extermination and massacre.
Did you hear the screams of children burning to death in Iraq?
Mark
“I commend his decision to contest US hegemony, and so must you.”
No I do not. I applaud my friends efforts to fight US hegemony. I applaud your efforts. I applaud Ben’s efforts etc etc.
I do not applaud nor “commend”, Putin’s efforts.
His efforts are not for a better world. His efforts are for more wealth and power for himself and a few of his cronies. Fuck his efforts.
By “commending” his efforts all you do is prop up the divisions that cause the wars.
“Did you hear the screams of children burning to death in Iraq?”
What?*!? Mark you do both of us an injustice with this comment. You know full well I oppose all imperialist wars.
Mark, you are the one “commending” a war monger. You are the one “commending” a mass murderer. Just let me repeat that but shouting this time. MARK YOU ARE “COMMENDING” A MASS MURDERER.
What madness afflicts you to such action? Do the dead children of Chechnya not speak to you? Are they of less value than the children of Iraq?
Phil
23 Jul, 2014 – 9:22 am
Doug Scorgie:
“So Phil you don’t think that the Nazi Holocaust was any worse than other holocausts (e.g. Armenia)?”
————————-
Phil:
“Any worse”? What does that actually mean Doug? If there is a worse there has to be a better. So do I have an opinion which is the better holocaust?”
“The question is so bizarre but I have to answer: no, I have no favourite holocaust.”
————————–
No Phil it is your answer that is bizarre not my question. First, I didn’t ask you if you had a favourite holocaust.
My question is logical based on what you said earlier, namely:
“Fucking hell. You are actually asking if one massacre was “worse” than another?”
And:
“You know the answer Peacewisher. The answer is: they were both bad.”
So you see Phil you imply that you consider all massacres to be equally bad.
Anyway you managed to get your logical knickers in a twist. Can I recommend “Logic for Dummies” only £11.19p at Amazon.
Im never sure why UK and US journalist are so convinced the Putin is something from the Dark Side
This jingoistic rush to judgement about “The Russians are coming” ( see the 1870s-1890s) is everywhere in the Western press.-perhaps its something in the genes?
Possibly MH17 was shot down by separatist forces- but with Russian active support?-somehow that doesnt make sense
Far more likely is that Ukrainian BUK systems were deployed and active in the area looking for Russian transport planes.There is some evidence that neo-nazis from the Right Sector who run Ukrainian Internal Affairs brought the BUK systems up to perhaps false flag the rebels and Russians, but NO evidence of Russian BUK transporters and radar systems crossing the border-rather surprising given the amount of Western sattelite surveillance….
O/T If Craig will permit.
The aftermath of MH17 has taken Gaza away from the attention of the media and hence the great British public, unintentionally or by design, we do not know.
This is from Swee Ang who founded Medical Aid for Palestinians after she witnessed the horrors of Sabra and Shatila. The Israelis under Sharon let the Lebanese ‘Christian’ philangists in to do their evil.
Dear Friends,
The situation is Gaza is dire and some of us feel unable to do anything except to watch people die. The above is the live link of a letter to Lancet. We will be really grateful if you kindly read, circulate and leave a comment if you want to show your support for the dying people of Gaza.
If each one of us do a small bit, make a small difference, then together we will make a great difference for Gaza.
Best wishes
Swee
~~~
It was yet another Israeli war crime.
http://www.ampalestine.org/index.php/newsroom/statements/161-sabra-and-shatila-28-years-after-the-massacre-justice-is-yet-to-prevail
An open letter for the people in Gaza
Paola Manduca, Iain Chalmers, Derek Summerfield, Mads Gilbert, Swee Ang, on behalf of 24 signatories
“We are doctors and scientists, who spend our lives developing means to care and protect health and lives. We are also informed people; we teach the ethics of our professions, together with the knowledge and practice of it. We all have worked in and known the situation of Gaza for years.
On the basis of our ethics and practice, we are denouncing what we witness in the aggression of Gaza by Israel.
We ask our colleagues, old and young professionals, to denounce this Israeli aggression. We challenge the perversity of a propaganda that justifies the creation of an emergency to masquerade a massacre, a so-called “defensive aggression”. In reality it is a ruthless assault of unlimited duration, extent, and intensity. We wish to report the facts as we see them and their implications on the lives of the people.
We are appalled by the military onslaught on civilians in Gaza under the guise of punishing terrorists. This is the third large scale military assault on Gaza since 2008. Each time the death toll is borne mainly by innocent people in Gaza, especially women and children under the unacceptable pretext of Israel eradicating political parties and resistance to the occupation and siege they impose.
This action also terrifies those who are not directly hit, and wounds the soul, mind, and resilience of the young generation. Our condemnation and disgust are further compounded by the denial and prohibition for Gaza to receive external help and supplies to alleviate the dire circumstances.
The blockade on Gaza has tightened further since last year and this has worsened the toll on Gaza’s population. In Gaza, people suffer from hunger, thirst, pollution, shortage of medicines, electricity, and any means to get an income, not only by being bombed and shelled. Power crisis, gasoline shortage, water and food scarcity, sewage outflow and ever decreasing resources are disasters caused directly and indirectly by the siege…”
• Read the Letter in full
http://www.thelancet.com/gaza-letter-2014
~~~
Over 600 Palestinians are dead and thousands upon thousands homeless.
After days of hysterical accusations against Russia over the downing of flight MH17, and days of promising super secret evidence existed to vindicate those claims, the administration made the decision to allow intelligence officials to release a public assessment to reporters today.
They’re probably rethinking tonight, after the intelligence community conceded, in front of a room of reporter, that there is “no evidence” whatsoever linking Russia to the downing of MH17.http://news.antiwar.com/2014/07/22/us-no-evidence-of-direct-russia-link-to-plane-downing/
Bert,
Yes, cases would collapse when the defence was working for their clients (rather than serving the interests of HMCE/HMRC). Customs would hold back as much evidence as it could which would help the defendant because this evidence would reveal that there were participating informants/agents provocateur running the show. A good defence would press for more disclosure and when this happened cases would collapse.
Postie’s blog was absolutely brilliant. He knew exactly what was going.
I dont think Craig is particularly anti-Russian.
Craig appears to me consistently anti- any leader or government that murders, imprisons without trial, doesn’t respect basic rights to freedom and self-determination, works for the good of themselves rather than the good of their people, suppresses a free media, doesn’t respect an independent justice system. It’s a fine tradition of liberal, democratic, western thinking. A tradition that sadly finds no honest expression in the current line-up of uniformly neo-con options offered to voters in The US and The UK.
Putin is a corrupt gangster and the cash he’s extracting from his position for himself and his cronies is on a scale Blair could only have wet dreams about. Which doesn’t diminish my contempt for Blair one bit, by the way.
I’ve said it before: it’s a complete contradiction for anybody who sees themselves as free-thinking and anti-establishment to then look to Putin as some kind of hero. You try living in Putin’s Russia and being free-thinking and anti-establishment, or even just a bit gay, and you’ll get your head kicked in.