![the death of flight mh17 the death of flight mh17](https://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/737553-MhReuters-1405704952.jpg)
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Whether this tragedy is yet another grotesque piece of collateral damage or done with willful intent the consequences are going to be far reaching. Russia is openly and actively supporting the Ukrainian separatists, and Russian troops and weaponry have supported them. America has stopped short of directly blaming Russia for the atrocity, and Hilary Clinton has made some pointed remarks directed at President Putin, saying he has ‘gone too far.’ Nationals of Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia as well as the UK died, but by far the biggest toll was of Dutch nationals, 154, and a national day of mourning is declared. The flight data recorder is said to be en route to Moscow, which may not be the most appropriate destination given the suspicions being aired, and an international investigation team has been rapidly assembled. The crash site is insecured, and not all passengers have been matched to the manifest as being dead. Whoever made the decision to push the button committed an appalling crime, and the world needs to know, fast, the who, what and why of this catastrophe.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2014.
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Sad, but the death of a few hundred will not force any country to change. Blame game will heat up and in the end, it will get off the news. If they were separatists, then they obviously mistook the plane from Ukraine, trying to locate and destroy them. An error of judgement. My worry is that other terrorists will grasp at the possibility of downing planes and we will see a lot more deaths. And they will not say it was an error of judgement. We are heading towards testing times.