Out of the Ashes of Flight 17 the Cold War Will Emerge
As an occasional air traveler I was unsettled and disturbed when I saw reports of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17's crash in the Ukraine. From the moment I saw it I suspected the plane was shot down by the Russians or their collaborators. It appears my suspicions have been confirmed. The Russians were involved. Although many people are angry at Russia, I am convinced anger at Russia is misdirected. Before we call Russia a pariah let's ask ourselves how the US would have behaved under similar circumstance. Both Russia and the US have accidentally shot down civilian aircraft in the past that someone has interpreted as being a threat. Had any unaligned civilian jet flown over Baghdad in 2005 do you think we would have waited to confirm whether it was civilian before taking a shot, or before authorizing one or our coalition forces to shoot? Remember when Tariq Aziz, former Iraqi foreign minister, left Baghdad to try to negotiate a peace, we declared his aircraft a target. We enf