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Putin Crosses the Line in Airline Disaster
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
July 20, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Shooting down Malaysian Flight MH17 July 17 with a
Russian-made SA-11 radar-guided-heat-seeking missile killing 298 passengers and
crew, 61-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his intimidation of
former Soviet satellites—and the West.
When Putin seized Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula March 1, not one
country—including the U.S.—offered any help.
Amassing thousands of troops on the Ukranian border, the discussion
morphed into whether or not he’d take even larger swaths of Ukraine. When he marched the red army into
Georgia March 7-12, 2008, seizing sovereign Georgian territories of South
Ossetia and Abkhasia, the International community yawned. Seizing Crimea mirrored the same
passivity from the U.S. and European Union, unwilling to take any action against
Putin’s unbridled aggression, prompting comparisons to Adolf Hitler.
Seizing more Ukrainian territory, Kremlin-backed pro-Russian separatists
continued their march on territory in Eastern Ukraine, even after the June 7
inauguration of 49-year-old Ukrainian candy baron Petro Petroshenko. When Petroshenko refused to
rollover, ordering Ukrainian troops to regroup and retake confiscated land by
pro-Russian separatists, Putin provided heavy arms to his Russian-leaning
friends, including the BUK anti-aircraft missile battery that blew Malaysian
Flight MH17 out of the sky near Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine. Whether or not the world listens, Secretary of State John Kerry called the shoot-down a
“wake-up call,” showing that Putin has gone rogue. When he was booted out of the G8
March 24, it was the first of many economic and travel sanctions applied by the
U.S. and EU to get his attention.
Challenging Putin’s dominance in the region won’t be easy.
Since the Ukrainian crisis began Feb. 22 while Putin hosted the Sochi
Winter Olympics, the U.S. and EU have had no answer for Putin’s aggression. Neither side of the Atlantic has
been willing to draw a line in the sand.
To stop Putin’s further advance in Ukraine or Eastern Europe, the U.S. or
NATO would have to respond militarily, putting ground troops, if requested by
Poroshenko, on Ukrainian soil. U.S.
and EU officials have kept their distance fearing confrontation with Moscow. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
hasn’t figured out how to assure Germany’s natural gas and petroleum needs
without Russia. Merkel knows German
history more than most when Western powers placated Hitler Sept. 29, 1938 in the
Munich Accord, ceding Czechoslovakia to the Third Reich before invading Poland
and a host of Eastern and Western European countries.
Letting Putin grab Crimea opened up a can of worms leading to the
shoot-down of Malaysian Flight MH17.
Whether or not Putin had his fingerprints on SA-11 missile doesn’t
absolve Moscow from responsibility for the mistaken air-disaster. Handing over sophisticated and
deadly anti-missile systems and providing technical assistance is equivalent to
Russia firing the missile. “There’s
[an] enormous amount of evidence, even more evidence that I just documented,
that points to the involvement of Russia in providing these systems, training
the people on them,” Kerry told Bob Schieffer on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” U.S. and EU intelligence finds that
Russia trained pro-Russian separatists in the BUK anti-aircraft system in
Southwestern Russia, providing deadly military hardware over the last few
months. Moscow’s denials of any involvement in the Malaysian Air shoot-down looks more obvious.
Whatever case Kerry makes against Moscow, the U.S. and EU must find a way
to stop more Russian intimidation and aggression, becoming Putin’s hallmark. “We also have information indicating
that Russia is providing training to separatist fighters at a facility in
southwest Russia,” said Kerry that includes missile systems. Establishing Russian involvement doesn’t stop Putin from meddling in Ukraine’s
territorial integrity and sovereignty. Kerry must consult with his NATO counterparts for an action plan against what’s become
Putin’s unbridled intimidation and aggression.
Supplying anti-aircraft weapons and training to pro-Russian separatists
shows flagrant abuses of international treaties protecting U.N. sovereign states
from aggression by member states.
U.S. and EU officials want Russia to halt all military support for pro-Russian
separatists currently destabilizing the region.
Reluctant to confront Moscow directly, the White House continues its
sanctions strategy that so far hasn’t deterred Putin from arming pro-Russian
separatists and destabilizing the region.
“The president is prepared to take additional steps,” Kerry told Fox
News, though not specifying what they might be.
Expanding more economic sanctions doesn’t deal with Putin’s proxy war
currently destabilizing Ukraine.
Hitting more oligarchs’ bank accounts won’t stop Putin from thinking twice about
hanging onto Crimea. “Putin, you
have to man-up,” said Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), pushing Moscow to accept
responsibility for the downed jetliner.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) urged the White House to arm the Ukrainian
military. Whether that happens or
not, the White House needs to apply as much leverage in the U.N. to end Russia’s
veto wielding power on the U.N. Security Council.
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