Russians shoot down a civilian airliner...

[Ike Bana]

As far as I'm concerned the Russians and the Russian supported militias in the eastern Ukraine are the bad actors in this situation, and have been right from the beginning. I can't say what either Putin or Donetsk leaders Borodai or Girkin would think they have to gain by shooting down a civilian airliner other than to blame it on the legitimate government of the Ukraine. Doesn't matter what they were thinking, only that they did it.

The eastern Ukraine is nothing more than Putin's Sudetenland. It doesn't matter now many Russians there are living east of Kiev, or how many Ukie's there are living east of Kiev who bought the USSR pie and who's allegiance is to Russia. The Ukraine is a sovereign nation...it doesn't belong to Russia, and Putin's excuse that the citizens of the eastern Ukraine are being discriminated against and suffering from some sort of maltreatment is utter bullshit. This is about natural gas pipelines and the Russian's Black Sea naval base. Sevastapol is a city in the Ukraine, it's not a city in Russia. The Ukrainian government and the majority of ethnic Ukrainians want to join the EU and leave Russia behind. Those are the issues...not some bullshit alleged anti-Russian prejudice.

And now the Russians have murdered 295 people and Putin and the Donetsk leaders are war criminals. Reckon if Obama and the rest of the west will have the balls to make them pay.

[JJIII]

[QUOTE=Ike Bana;231364 Reckon if Obama and the rest of the west will have the balls to make them pay.[/QUOTE]

Somehow, I doubt it.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by JJIII

Somehow, I doubt it.

Somehow, I figured you'd doubt it.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by JJIII

Somehow, I doubt it.

How much did we pay?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

Iran Air Flight 655 was an Iran Air civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai that was shot down by the United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes on 3 July 1988. The attack took place in Iranian airspace, over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, and on the flight's usual flight path. The aircraft, an Airbus A300 B2-203, was destroyed by SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles fired from the Vincennes.

All 290 on board, including 66 children and 16 crew, died.[1] This attack ranks tenth among the deadliest disasters in aviation history, the incident retains the highest death toll of any aviation incident in the Persian Gulf and the highest death toll of any incident involving an Airbus aircraft anywhere in the world.[2] The Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.[3]

According to the Iranian government, Vincennes negligently shot down the civilian aircraft: the airliner was making IFF squawks in Mode III (not Mode II used by Iranian military planes), a signal that identified it as a civilian craft, and operators of Vincennes mistook for Mode II.[4]

According to the United States Government, the crew incorrectly identified the Iranian Airbus A300 as an attacking F-14 Tomcat fighter (a plane made in the United States and operated at that time by only two forces worldwide, the United States Navy and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force).

[Dondilion]

Sanctions are good for Russia. It is a huge country with multiple time zones.

It is time for Russians to look to and invest in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg, instead of London, Paris and
New York.

[JJIII]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

How much did we pay?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

So if Russia coughs up roughly $430,000.00 per passenger we're all good?

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by JJIII

So if Russia coughs up roughly $430,000.00 per passenger we're all good?

Nobody is sure who shot down the airline.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

Nobody is sure who shot down the airline.

And Putin is going to do whatever he can to keep it that way. I can't help but believe that Putin knows full well what happened with one of his weapons systems inside rebel territory 30 miles from his border. He just wants to sow enough doubt that gullible Russians without access to (or interest in) the truth will continue to support him. Putin is as duplicitous as the day is long.

I wouldn't put it past him to secure the black boxes with help from the separatists, deny that he has them, and then use the fact that the black boxes are missing to cast doubt as to the findings of any international investigation.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by JJIII

So if Russia coughs up roughly $430,000.00 per passenger we're all good?

Seems to me we got off cheap if that's what we paid for going into another country's air space and shooting down one of their domestic airliners.

But somehow the US gets away with shit like that and then we get all righteously indignant if anyone else does it.

We don't have any room to talk.

We're a bunch of bloodthirsty murdering international war criminals who get away with all kinds of shit because we are the biggest baddest dawg on the block.

[barbara]

How do we, or any country, "make them pay"?