Did US jump the gun in blaming Russia for downing of MH17?

Eleven years after the United States chased Iraq’s non-existent WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction), have the Americans erred again, this time in getting after Russia in the MH17 episode? Has the US-led western community once again jumped the gun and shot off its mouth before having clinching evidence of Russia’s alleged involvement in the 17 July downing of the Malaysian passenger plane? Or is it a larger Western strategy and another kind of WMD – Weapon of Mass Distraction? Ironically, an American wire agency has come up with three interesting things: (i) the US intelligence has not found any direct link of Russia in downing of MH17; (ii) the presence of any Russian during the missile launch was not confirmed by any official; and (iii) there was no corroborative evidence of the missile crew having been trained in Russia. This is in stark contrast to what US President Barack Obama had said on Monday. Obama had said MH17 had been “shot down over territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists” that had been both armed with anti-aircraft weapons and trained by Russia. [caption id=“attachment_1630693” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The site of the plain crash in Ukraine. AP[/caption] While the latest assessment of the US intelligence does not unravel the whodunit mystery (though it still insists that Russia “created conditions” that led to the downing of the Malaysian passenger plane), the final word will be out only when the ongoing international investigations conclude. This is going to take several weeks. Till that happens Russia’s spat with the West and the western-supported Ukraine government will inevitably continue. Hours after the downing of MH17, the Russian defence ministry had said the Ukrainian military has several batteries of Buk surface-to-air missile systems, a highly sophisticated weapon system that is capable of shooting down aircraft at great heights upwards of 33000 feet, altitude at which MH17 was flying before being shot down. The Buk system was equipped with at least 27 launchers. Here is the relevant statement of the Russian defence ministry: “According to the Russian Defense Ministry information, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine located in the crash-site are equipped with anti-aircraft missile systems of “Buk-M1” … These complexes in their tactical and technical characteristics are capable of detecting air targets at ranges of up to 160 kilometers and hit them at full altitude range at a distance of over 30 kilometers.” A day later, the Russian defence ministry issued another statement contradicting Kiev’s claims and said the Ukrainian Buk battery radar was operational when MH17 was shot down. Moscow also said the radar could be providing tracking information to another battery deployed in the region, which was at a firing distance from the plane’s flight path. “The Russian equipment detected throughout July 17 the activity of a Kupol radar, deployed as part of a Buk-M1 battery near Styla (a village some 30km south of Donetsk),” the Russian defence ministry statement said. Russia has already warned Ukraine that Kiev will have to answer a lot of questions. Several such questions have been raised here . The Russian military has come up with some more questions and tossed up military monitoring data arguing that a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter had been gaining altitude in the direction of MH17 shortly before the Malaysian plane was downed. Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Andrey Kartopolov has gone on record as remarking thus: “Russian monitoring systems registered that there was a Ukrainian Air Force jet, probably Su-25, climbing and approaching the Malaysian Boeing… The Su-25 was 3-5 km away from the Malaysian plane. Su-25 is capable of climbing to the altitude of 10,000 meters for a short period of time. Its standard armament includes R60 air-to-air missiles, which are capable of locking and hitting targets from 12 km and which are guaranteed to hit the target from the distance of 5 km.” A distance of three to five kms for a fighter jet is nothing and can be covered in milliseconds. Moreover, the Russians have demanded to know from Kiev why MH17 was asked to change its flight path after reaching Donetsk and why the hapless plane was told to get out of the international corridor over Ukraine’s airspace in the conflict zone. Another searching question put by the Russians to Ukraine and the West is why Ukraine deployed the Buk missile system on the periphery of rebel-controlled territory and that too when the rebels do not have aircraft. Clearly, till the ongoing international investigations are completed the blame game between Russia and the West will continue. The writer is a Firstpost Consulting Editor and a strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha