Where Did Ukraine's Rebels Get Missile Launcher That Allegedly Shot Down Malaysia Airlines Plane?

newrepublic.com ^ | July 17, 2014 | Jessica Schulberg and Josh Kovensky

[Chad_the_Impaler]

They just murdered 295 noncombatant foreigners for absolutely no reason at all, besides their own bloodlust and incompetence.

23 Americans reportedly on board

[sevinufnine]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjIDk32sw1I

This link actually appears to show (from a great distance) the moment of impact. Sad. The news folks are saying the plane had to have gone down intact because the explosion is the fuel tanks when it hit the ground. God awful :(

[wideawake]

The only evidence there would be is proof of what every already agrees about: it was shot down by a surface to air missile, most likely the Buk SAM.

The dispute is over who owned the Buk that did it, and there will be no evidence at the crash site.

What we do have is independent confirmation from AP reporters that the terrorists have a Buk, and one of the main terrorists himself gleefully announced at the time that the plane went down that his guys had just shot down an AN-26.

This was pretty clearly the work of Russian terrorists, and there is little a scene cleanup can do.

The fact that they control the scene is more evidence against them, not less.

[CGASMIA68]

just checked....ground level 1st report said off the coast.

[TruthWillWin]

It crashed at ground level, was at 32000 ft when hit by the missile.

[wideawake]

Chad_the_Impaler

Don't worry.

Putin's catamites on this forum will be happy to explain why it would be wrong to intervene on behalf of Ukraine.

[OwenKellogg]

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday the Obama administration’s foreign policies in a number of areas have enhanced the world’s “tranquility” – a word that raised eyebrows as reporters pointed to situations in Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine and the South China Sea.

http://talk.baltimoresun.com/topic/252024-lwnj-betaverse-quote-of-the-day-barry-obamas-white-house-boasts-tranquility-of-global-community/

[gr8eman]

I don’t think a prop plane (AN-26) can fly that high. Maybe they can for a short while, but the air is too thin for props to have optimum thrust. I DO believe that these “rebels” are dumb enough to target a 777 at 36k ft. thinking it was a prop plane. From what this guy wrote on his blog it seems to be the case unless somehow he was just told that and it was a set up!

[G Larry]

We don’t know who actually pulled the trigger yet.

[justa-hairyape]

There is no way to mistake a Ukranian cargo plane for a jet liner at that altitude ? So whoever fired the missile knew what they were hitting ? Or as you state, it was a dumb mistake.

[kingu]

Amazon.com? But the shipping cost is a killer.

Nawww, simply file an A-Z claim for not received. You'll get your shipping cost back.

[DB]

The claim I read was bodies and debris was spread over 6 miles. To be true the plane had to come apart at high altitude.

[First_Salute]

Ukraine Separatist Leader Boasts Of Downing Plane

In a post on his VKontakte page, Russia's largest social media site, separatist leader Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov, wrote: "In the vicinity of Torez, we just downed a plane, an AN-26. It is lying somewhere in the Progress Mine. We have issued warnings not to fly in our airspace. We have video confirming. The bird fell on a waste heap. Residential areas were not hit. Civilians were not injured."

Reply 11:

Looks like top rebel Igor Girkin (Streklov) posted on social media about shooting down "another AH-26" today, along with video footage of the takedown.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Whoever Shot Down the Malaysian Airlines Plane Probably Didn't Know What They Were Aiming At - The Buk is a Soviet-era air defense system used by both Ukrainian and Russian defense forces. “When you’re sitting behind a radar screen of one of these things, there’s no way to tell what it is. With the Buk, there’s no way to distinguish between friendly and foe. You’re just going to take a shot at it,” says Raymond Finch, a Eurasian military analyst at the Foreign Military Studies Office. “If [the separatists] had reports that the Ukrainians were flying over their airspace, they would shoot. It begs the question of who is sitting behind the trigger. Are they highly trained? My guess is no they are not.”

If a Buk system was in fact used to shoot down the MH17, it must have lacked an automatic disengagement system that equips more sophisticated air defense missiles, designed to prevent deployment against civilian aircrafts. “A lot of these earlier systems don’t have that,” says Finch. “But they’re still highly efficient, especially against a civilian airliner.”

[ExNewsExSpook]

Here’s the scary part; the SA-11, like most modern SAM systems can operate in a virtually automatic mode. It automatically acquires, prioritizes and fires against targets within range. Operator interface is only required to approve/disapprove the launch. Put a semi-trained conscript (or pro-Russian rebel) in the operator’s seat and the potential for fratricide is high.

The social media post from that rebel commander is telling...they weren’t really sure what they were firing at; thought it was a Ukrainian transport, hit a jetliner instead.

[KC Burke]

Great screen shot record.

Must have it’s own thread to balance the later denials of we know nothing.

[Ivan Mazepa]

Yes, they got his post

[justa-hairyape]

They should have redirected all commercial flights around eastern Ukraine as soon as they learned that a Buk system was under rebel control. Thanks for the info.

[ExNewsExSpook]

I was an Air Force crew member on a special mission Herk (EC-130E) back in the 90s...flying over Bosnia, we sometimes climbed to 30-31K later in a sortie, after burning off enough fuel.

Maximum service ceiling for a C-130 is 33K; ceiling for an AN-26 (twin-engine turboprop versus four engines on the C-130) is about 24K.

Hard to believe they could “mistake” a 777, crusing at 34K and 500 kts of airspeed for a turboprop flying 10,000 feet lower, and at a speed of around 220 kts.

[justa-hairyape]

One would think if it was in automatic fire mode, they should have shot another commercial jetliner down yesterday. Or the day before. There were plenty of commercial jets flying over that area every day.