#MH17 – http://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/can-the-su-25-intercept-and-shoot-down-a-777/

Further to my last piece, I’m intrigued at the possibility of MH17 being first attacked by a Sukhoi Su-25 (false flag attack) as proposed by various credible sources.  I was doing some research on whether the Su-25 can be fitted with air-to-air missiles and, yes, it can, but only with the small R-60 (AA-8 Aphid) missile.  See the piece in the title link (which, for some reason cannot be pasted into this text)  The writer feels that the R-60 missile is too small to do much damage to a big airliner but I’m not so sure.  Yes, it has a tiny warhead (6kg) but if the damage caused by the expanding ring of metal hits the right parts of the aircraft, it could certainly disable it.  Airliners have multiple redundancy so you can lose an engine, some systems, even some structure and it can still make a safe landing.  There is evidence of an engine being hit and the aircraft continuing until hit a couple of minutes later by a ground-launched Buk missile.

There is mounting evidence that the Kiev government has almost all of these had them in the right location and had the trained crews.  The separatists may have the missile but it’s new and they don’t have the training to operate a complex system….hence the supposed Russian connection.  If so, then the Cockpit Voice Recorder will reveal what happened.  As long as AAIB are completely open we may know the truth, but if it’s as the conspiracy theorists claim, it will massively discredit Ukraine and the West whilst polishing the tarnished image of Russia.  And let’s remember that Russia is the only player in this crisis that has been completely open and transparent in revealing all satellite and ATC data in the face of the western media onslaught.  The US has gone back into its shell.  And, in Kiev, the CIA still share the same office building as the Ukrainian security bureau.

Watch this space.

#MH17 Could it be a Kiev cover-up? See http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/07/25/mh17-verdict-real-evidence-points-to-us-kiev-cover-up-of-failed-false-flag-attack/

Further to my last post, the conspiracy theorists are doing a rather better job at pursuading me that there may be two sides to this story.  Have a read of the link in the title as it raises some interesting observations.  For me the most fascinating is the Kiev ATC cover-up, which appears to be the act of the guilty.  See what you think.

In addition, I got this from a friend who is big on conspiracy theories but is often on the right track:

“You were right about the cock up but probably wrong about the perpetrator. According to Patrick Heningson’s  report one of the engines was shot out but the pilot then banked away. MH17 was meant to come down in a Kiev controlled zone ( where they could manage information) but the pilot managed to limp along for another couple of minutes before it was finally taken out. The source………..the Russians released all the data they have. Where is the data from Kiev, the USA and Europe ……..
You can watch Patrick’s interview if you skip the first 26 minutes of the UK column upload (below) and scrutinise  the last 20 minutes.”

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/G6cQqrCO0gY

I wonder whether there can be any truth in the fact that we are being misled in all of the ‘official’ evidence.  I am told by others that the fascist sentiment in Kiev is true and strong; they had a reputation of being so extreme that, in World War II, Hitler had reservations about working with them.  Whiter than white?  The poor downtrodden Ukrainians?  You decide.

If the conspiracy theories are even partly correct, then the fact that the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder have been moved to Farnborough might lead some to think that it gives the US some control over the investigation.  Think again.  My experience of the AAIB is that they are absolutely straight and objective.  Their only interest is in making sure that the last accident never happens again.  They are not amenable to political interference.

One day soon, the truth will out and I’ll be waiting with raised eyebrows.

#MH17 – The ‘Monumental Fuck-up’ view of history

I was discussing the destruction of MH17 with some friends last night and expounding my certainty that the perfidious hand of Russian Imperialism is behind it.  ‘But what do they have to gain?’ asked one friend.  Fair point.

Political history is made up of world-changing events that come in to one of two categories:

1.  The intentional act with intended consequences.

2.  The intentional act with unintended consequences.

In category (1) comes normal political & diplomatic game play and defensive warfare.  In category (2) come such events as World War I.  WWI was triggered by the shooting of the Austro-Hungarian archduke, the next Emperor.  This was an intentional act but entirely unexpected.  The backdrop was the normal political scheming and one-upmanship which had been aimed at a number of things; each country had its own agenda.  France wanted Alsace-Lorraine back.  Britain wanted to stop Germany’s dominance of Europe and its colonisation of parts of Africa; it wanted an end to the German Navy’s growing influence.  Britain was also afraid of Russian influence in Central Asia, right on the borders of India.  Austria-Hungary wanted the end of the Ottoman empire.  These inter-related objectives were stitched together by a series of alliances that were automatically called into play after the shooting in Sarajevo and so we had the stage set for World War I.  Each country’s leaders simply sleepwalked into it and could have stopped it at any moment – BUT NO ONE WANTED TO.  World War I led to  Communism and the USSR, the great depression, fascism in Europe, then to World War II.  It was a monumental fuck-up.

We now have a world where the new threats are Sunni versus Shi’ite, Sa’udi versus Iran’s proxy war, Islamic terrorism and Russian expansionism.  The Islamic issue has been bubbling away since Mohammed and I suspect that the Muslims need a Thirty Years War where they can all shout ‘Allahu akhbar’ in loud voices as they kill each other.  This is also a fuck-up.

The Russian problem is the growing threat and the downing of MH17 could be a new trigger.  Coming back to my friend’s question: ‘What did the Russians have to gain?’  In a word, nothing.  It was almost certainly a monumental fuck-up; one that was always a risk when they put powerful SA-11 surface-to-air missiles into the hands of Ukrainian-Russians thugs (or Russian thugs in Ukraine) or, as is more likely, when the Russian missile battery commander put hit finger on the firing button thinking he was going to destroy a Ukrainian military aircraft.  So, they murdered 298 people.  Someone should be doing more than voicing concern and sympathising with the bereaved.  BUT NO ONE WANTS TO.  The US has weak leadership that talks a lot but avoids action, is big on sanctions but has little to lose.  The most powerful countries in Europe are timid in the face of their need for Russian gas and Roubles.  Vested interests are everywhere  so, whilst our politicians sit on their hands, Vladimir Putin gets away with murder.

Literally.

 

#MH17 – another conspiracy theory too far…

Before reading the scurrilous conspiracy theory below, here are my views:

Another conspiracy theory too far.  Both sides in Ukraine have the SA11 and SA17 truck-launched missiles.  The separatists have them as they were supplied by Russia recently.  However, the fact that they are relatively new and need training to operate them and the fact that they have already used them to shoot down two military transports suggests that they are actually being operated by Russians.  I reality, there is almost no difference between Russian speaking Ukrainians and Russians and they regard themselves as Russian, indeed, many of them have Russian nationality.  They speak Russian not Ukrainian.

Next, the social media celebrations when they shot down MH17 (before they realised that it was not a military target) was all in Russian, not Ukrainian.  These posts were taken down when they realised what they had done. Next, the missile can get to way over 10,000m altitude but has a range of about 30km.  Looking at where the crash site is, it is certain that the missile was fired from separatist territory or Russia.

Without further information, it seems clear that Russia is fighting a war against the west by proxy and Putin has made no secret of his views that the breakup of the USSR was a catastrophe.  He can start to put that right by supporting the Ukrainian separatists.  But even Russians make mistakes.  Like murdering almost 300 innocent civilians.  They clearly cannot confess or be found culpable but they can conceal and obfuscate which is what we are seeing now.

OK, here it is:

“The Boeing 777 was at 10000 m .shoulder bourn (sic) or small vehicle rocket launchers can’t get much above 4000 m. As yet there is no evidence that the pro Russian Ukrainians possess a missile large enough to reach that high. The pro fascist UN backed junta however, do have such weapons and also air to air missiles,trained pilots,radar systems to use them.
As we know today, the US political stance on the Ukrainian civil war is that of outright hostility towards Russia and the ‘pro­-Russian’ Ukranians seeking some level of either recognition or autonomy from the pro-fascist and NATO-backed regime which came to power by a Flash Mob and paramilitary coup in February. Hence, Washington-Brussels-London-Kiev Axis has conveniently labeled any opposition as “terrorists”, specifically those in eastern Ukraine who seek independence from Kiev and do not recognize the Kiev government.

While there is no certainty the ‘pro­-Russian’ rebels hold advanced SAM air defence weapons, they are certainly in the hands of the Kiev flash mob government, alongside the advanced AAM weapons they also “inherited” from the elected government they overthrew. In a sane world, based on facts and forensic evidence, the onus of military proof should be stacked against Kiev, leaving only the question of political motive (or motives) for the incident, but as anyone who has followed this civil war closely will tell you, there is nothing sane about how the junta in Kiev was formed, or how it’s held onto power since its installation by the US State Department planners.”

Appalling.  But this kind of garbage is what the civilised world is up against.

MH17: Ukrainian separatists and Russian officers murder 295 civilians

After the tragedy of MH370 could it get any worse for Malaysian Airlines? Yes, in a word. One of their aircraft was today shot down by a Russian SA11 or SA17 surface-to-air missile over Eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian separatists were even bragging about it on Twitter (they thought it was a military Il-76) and there has now been serious evidence of Russian officers involvement in the crime. The SA11 and SA17 were recently supplied to the Ukrainian separatists by Russia but such weapons are complex and you need to be trained to know to operate them. They are not shoulder-launched firecrackers but big, truck-launched missiles that are intended to bring down aircraft at 10+km altitude. They targeted innocent Malaysian MH17 and scored a direct hit. I hope they feel very proud of the devastation they have brought to the families of 295 innocent bystanders of their puerile conflict. But, exactly what great triumph have they achieved? A blow for Ukraine? A vote for Russia? A crime against humanity? Yes, that’s it.

It’s about time Russia was brought to account for these crimes that it has commissioned. War by proxy is dirty and demeaning; it demeans everyone involved in it. Mr Putin: Sort this matter out right now and retrieve something of a reputation. If you do not you will be heading into the same sewer as so many of your illustrious predescesors, Czars and dictators.

Mick Mears – writer and existentialist!

I haven’t blogged for a while because I’d become rather disillusioned with the entire process of self-promotion.  Then I got a ‘friends’ request from a guy called Mick Mears on Goodreads.  He’s been through the same process as me and his response is a salutory sermon in not taking it all too seriously.  Here’s his profile text on Amazon:

“Welcome to Amazon the ulitimate digital dustbin. Home to failed writers, stagnant humourists and millions taking themselves far too seriously. Now you`ve navigated through hyperspace I`ll try being serious, maybe not. This page is about self publicity, I can`t be bothered. I don`t write literary masterpieces or blockbusters aimed at taking consciousness to the brink of divine understanding. I write because I always have and it`s an illness with no cure. Yes folks, it`s terminal.

This page neatly lays out the garbage I`ve written. You can peruse the first ten percent of any selected item. You don`t have to buy any of it and if you get your timing right it`s free. If you`re foolish enough to buy any of this nonsense please don`t put more nails in my coffin with bad reviews. Nobody forces anybody to read anything. If you feel you`re wasting your time then bugger off to Ebay.”

Now that’s a guy who has things in perspective!

His website is at http://mickmearsbooks.weebly.com/.  Unfortunately, I cannot download his books because I am outside the UK and Amazon will not allow us fortunate Portuguese residents to benefit from British culture for some obscure commercial reason to do with world dominatiin and money.  But you can!  Enjoy!