Huffington Post reports on the latest in bad taste from a Rupert Murdoch outfit.
Sky News has apologized after a reporter began digging through the luggage of a passenger killed aboard Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 on air.
The reporter, Colin Brazier, began picking through a victim’s suitcase and holding up items one by one while reporting on the devastating crash, which killed 298 people. Brazier realized his own wrongdoing and stopped himself on live TV, stating, “we shouldn’t really be doing this, I suppose.”
Beyond the breach of etiquette here, I have to wonder about the lack of control over what amounts to a crime scene. Who let Sky News reporters and cameramen walk right into the debris field so that they could rifle through the belongings of the dead?
Well, at least we now know the identity of one of the looters. Too bad for the propaganda industry that he’s not Russian nor a Russian speaking Ukrainian but a nice western, white guy employed by Murdoch.
A nice, Western white guy who appears to have gained unusually direct access to the scene many days after the crime because the Russian-speaking Ukranians who control the territory are not allowing international investigators to secure the scene. All of this is making it less likely that a forensic investigation will be dispositive.
Why are the rebels doing this, and why have the Russians been unable or unwilling to exert their influence/power so that an investigation can commence? If the rebels did not shoot this plane down, a clean investigation would have been in Russia’s best interest. What’s going on now is most definitely not in their best interest.
Have any independent, qualified investigators shown up at the site yet? The “rebels” have said they would not impede the work of such a group. Malaysia Air officials seem to be the only party that has been responsible and measured in this whole matter. Russia is reported to have been cooperative with MAS, but there’s a hold-up in Kiev that hasn’t been explained except to issue declarations against the “rebels.”
If the “rebels” are responsible for the shoot down, sufficient evidence will be collected even if the on-site investigation is delayed. If they aren’t, it would have been foolhardy to grant immediate access to a Kiev directed team of investigators.
Early inspectors from a multinational European organization were denied substantial access by armed militia in the area of the wreckage:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/18/us-ukraine-crisis-airplane-osce-idUSKBN0FN27320140718
It’s difficult to get trained investigators cleared and willing to enter what amounts to a live war zone, particularly with incidents like the ones reported in the linked story.
And I’ve got to note the early statement by Putin is a completely classic non-denial denial:
“This tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on this land, if the military actions had not been renewed in southeast Ukraine. And, certainly, the state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility for this awful tragedy.”
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/07/17/official-malaysian-plane-shot-down-over-ukraine/
Sounds quite like Netanayhu blaming Hamas for Israeli bombing which has killed Palestinian civilians.
From what I’ve read, those first investigators that arrived at the site weren’t a) experienced inspectors and b) the organization they represented has previously burned Russian-Ukrainians. They were allowed access for a short period of time but it wasn’t unfettered.
Some of Putin’s statements seem less strange if one has followed what has been happening in eastern Ukraine since the cease fire was broken. The area is being pummeled by bombs sent from Kiev and there has been a flood of refugees into Russia. Before the downing of MH-17 Kiev was accusing Russia of having on Monday downed a Ukrainian plane with a missile fired from Russia and another one on Wednesday with a missile/rocket fired from a Russian fighter jet. If one or both of those allegations aren’t true (and Russia has denied both), wouldn’t you tread very carefully in what you said?
Kiev and the US have said that they have proof that the “rebels” and Russia are responsible for MH-17, but haven’t released any information. Why not? If it’s such a slamdunk? Or why not quickly comply with the request for an impartial and qualified team of inspectors? If they “know,” then it would be in their interests to send in investigators acceptable to the “rebels.” Unlike some, I get highly suspicious of a government intense campaign of charges against individuals, groups, or countries without disclosing any evidence. How many times do we have to see this sort of thing (WMD, Syria sarin attack, Snowden, …) before we stop accepting such claims without the benefit of seeing any evidence?
I don’t know what happened to MH-17, but I do know that the US has been engaged in nefarious activities in Ukraine to undermine Russia’s long-standing influence in the area. That this has now turned into another civil war that the US has played a part in — Iraq, Libya, Syria. And I don’t think anything positive is served by accusing anyone before evidence is collected, analyzed, and made public.
Ray McGovern’s latest article Facts Needed on Malaysian Plane Shoot-Down is sober and thoughtful. It also made me feel sad that he has “grown more and more suspicious of the official U.S. government account about the crash of TWA-800 on July 17, 1996.” That was one that even I wasn’t suspicious about. Accepted that our government and the experts it employed would report to the best of their ability. (At one time knew fairly well one of the lead managers on the investigation and in most ways, he was a good guy.) Still want to believe they did, but …
Who’s going to control it? It’s a war zone in the hands of a militia, and a pretty new one at that. And one that isn’t really interested in a proper investigation anyway – spreading the blame for contamination of the site around suits it nicely.
Ukrainian government (or EU, NATO() would have to invade, Russia can’t go in because that would be an admission of control (which they probably don’t have), Malaysia really doesn’t have enough paratroops handy.
These are very good points you’re making here.
ot:Friday, July 18, 2014
The real deal
I remember a scene on West Wing where Josh Lymon tracks down Sam Seaborn, who is working at a law practice, to discuss whether or not they want to get back into politics. Josh is thinking about going to work for Jed Bartlet’s presidential campaign. He tells Sam that he’s going to check Bartlet out and will get back to him. After doing so, Josh calls Sam to tell him this guy is “the real deal.”
I’ve looked for a clip of that scene on youtube and can’t find it. So I’m going from memory. But it stood out to me because that’s how I feel like I’ve spent most of my time following politics…looking for the real deal. One of the reasons I’ve followed President Obama so closely is that I finally felt like I found just that.
The real deal doesn’t come along very often in politics. But I had that same reaction today when I watched this video of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick talk about his plans to work with the federal government to provide shelter for the unaccompanied children who have come here from Central America. You can skip to about 4:45 on the video to see the pertinent portion.
Patrick offered two reasons for his decision. One is the U.S. tradition of helping children from other nations in need. The other, Patrick explained, is deeply personal.
“I believe that we will one day have to answer for our actions and our inactions. My faith teaches that ‘if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him,’ but rather ‘love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt,'” Patrick said , quoting scripture, as he grew visibly emotional.
http://youtu.be/ubpvoDIfKvY
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.ca/2014/07/the-real-deal.html
Obama’s not the real deal, rikyrah. Sorry. I wish he was. I was hoping he was when he won. He has proven otherwise. Too bad.
However, Deval Patrick is indeed the real deal. Besides the ample evidence of his tenure as MA governor, did you know that his father was Pat Patrick, a fine NYC jazz musician who played with…among many others…the Sun Ra Arkestra? If you’re not familiar w/Sun Ra, go look him up. A visionary, to say the least. I knew and played with Deval Patrick’s father. He was a quiet, honest, dedicated man. It seems like Deval didn’t fall far from the paternal tree. I thought that his speech at the 2012 Dem Convention was by far the best of an otherwise tired lot.
Check it out if you haven’t done so already.
Later…
AG
You’re probably correct that “he’s the real deal,” but it doesn’t matter. He started his political career too late, and after Dukakis, Kerry, and Romney, many will think thrice before nominating a MA politician for POTUS. While anything is possible, the probability of electing a black man to succeed Obama has to be extremely low.
Besides, he ruled out a 2016 run for the Presidency last year. Not going to happen.
See my reply to marie2 below.
AG
All I said was that he’s “the real deal” in response to rikyrah’s statement:
I don’t expect him to run for president this year. If he’s “the real deal” enough he will never run for president as the system now stands because presidential
sselections are presently nothing but PermaGov-fixed popularity contests.Rikyrah said “The real deal doesn’t come along very often in politics.”
I agreed.
And then the knee jerked.
So nu?
AG
So now agreeing with you about anything means that nobody can add thoughts or remarks about the issue because in your mind that constitutes disagreement?
You’re really a piece of work.
If nothing else, he favorably mentioned a prominent political figure not associated with the Tea Party, and one who actually would be appealing to many here in the old Frog Pond. That in and of itself is progress of a sort.
More like automatic nitpicking than substantive disagreement.
I have grown used to it over the last year or so here on BT. So it goes.
AG
Coming soon to your local CBS (CIA Broadcasting System)
asset….errr, ahhh…affiliate!!!Yer dreamin’, Booman.
“Control of a crime scene” in an area afflicted by guerrilla war?
C’mon.
Ain’t no bright lights and spanking new multicolor crime lab sets in that neighborhood bubba, just dirty, tired, stinking-of-death men who wanna go home.
Please.
Too much TV, Booman.
Turn it off.
It ain’t real.
AG