Pericles,

Sorry to disappoint you, but on this I agree almost 100% with you. [As to who “pulled the trigger” on the BUK in the hands of the rebels, if for whatever reasons I decide to donate a limousine to an old lady who cannot drive I better include a chauffeur otherwise it is useless to her. If he (or whom he had instructed) is clumsy enough to ram the car into a crowd of innocent bystanders, my fault lies “only” in not having sufficiently checked the driving skills of the chauffeur, but it is unfair to accuse me of criminal intentions.]

This is the English version of what Putin said on TV after the disaster (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dWsXSTUe2M):

“In response to the terrible tragedy that took place over Donetsk, I want to reiterate Russia’s position with regard to the current situation in Ukraine.

We have called repeatedly on all parties to the conflict to stop the bloodshed immediately and begin negotiations. I believe that if military operations had not resumed in eastern Ukraine on June 28, this tragedy probably could have been avoided.

At the same time, no one should and no one has the right to use this tragedy to pursue their own political goals. Rather than dividing us, tragedies of this sort should bring people together. All those who are responsible for the situation in the region must take greater responsibility before their own peoples and before the peoples of the countries whose citizens were killed in this disaster.  

Everything possible must be done to ensure that international experts can work in safety at the crash site. Representatives from the Donbass region, Donetsk, Ukraine’s Emergency Situations Ministry, and Malaysian experts are already working at the site, but this is not enough. 

It is essential that a full-fledged group of experts under ICAO aegis, an appropriate international commission set up for the task, be able to work at the crash site. We must do everything possible to ensure their complete and guaranteed safety and provide them with the humanitarian corridors they need for their work. 

For its part, Russia will do everything within its power to move the conflict in eastern Ukraine from the military phase we see today to the negotiating phase, with the parties using peaceful and diplomatic means alone.”

The appeal was addressed to both fighting sides, but in fact it was only Kiev who could “stop the bloodshed immediately and begin negotiations” so that independent investigations could take place, since at that time the rebels were defending only their usurped positions.

Disappointed, George?

>>Pericles, Sorry to disappoint you, but on this I agree almost 100% with you.<<

I'm elated. I have always admired your steady wisdom on this forum.

There is a very real chance, of course, that Putin was reading from a script provided to him by his PR agency. But that does not excuse Abbott's clumsy braggadocio, or his ham-fisted attempts to look statesmanlike.

Sadly, the Murdoch press in particular has chosen to talk up his efforts, which has already caused an upward spike in his home-town popularity. This speaks more to the eternal gullibility of the Australian-in-the-street, whose knowledge of Collingwood's back-pocket players exceeds that of international affairs by a couple of orders of magnitude.

Rubbish Peracles, Abbott has been quite restrained in public to avoid
rubbing Putin's nose in it, but I imagine it might have been much more
direct face to face so to speak.
>Abbott's clumsy braggadocio,
Really, I think your politics is driving your keyboard.

I feel pretty sure Putin was not aware for quite some time as to what actually happened.

The separatists are rather annoyed at Putin for not jumping in boots and all to help them.
This probably why they are still being a little obstructionist.

I'm with you there, Bazz

>>I feel pretty sure Putin was not aware for quite some time as to what actually happened.<<

But that's exactly why Abbott should have followed every other national leader, and refrained from wading in, boots and all, with an accusation for which he had absolutely no proof.

That is the action of a diplomatic neophyte, and not, as we have been told time and time again, the behaviour of a seasoned statesman.

Australian in the Street Pericles I could not agree more with you, not only on this post but others as well, one person I spoke to recently did not seem to understand that the bodies from MH17 would be in pieces, he took a lot of convincing.
OLO does have people thinking whether one agrees or not, rather as you say having a pie and chips for the match between the Crows and Collinswood, that is as far as their brain extends to
Abbott has been grandstanding over this calamity unfortunately for his own benefit, not mentioning Israel and the Gaza situation at all. The Murdoch press is a one eyed monster.