Without Radar, Missile May Not Have Identified Jet (AP)

[Amonester]

If Ukrainian rebels shot down the Malaysian jetliner, killing 298 people, it may have been because they didn't have the right systems in place to distinguish between military and civilian aircraft, experts said Saturday.

...

From the information that has come to light so far, the rebels don't appear to have such systems, said Pavel Felgenhauer, a respected defense columnist for Novaya Gazeta, a Moscow-based newspaper known for its critical coverage of Russian affairs.

"They could easily make a tragic mistake and shoot down a passenger plane when indeed they wanted to shoot down a Ukrainian transport plane," he said. On Friday, Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency also quoted Konstantin Sivkov, director of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, as saying Buk missiles "should be provided with external systems of target identification, that is, radio-location systems. It's an entire system. And the insurgents certainly don't have radio-location."

More details at: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/07/19/world/europe/ap-eu-ukraine-plane-missile.html?ref=aponline&_r=0

[Cooley Hurd]

1. No duh...

Unless the rebels had the ability to differentiate between IFF and military, they were just shooting blind. THAT'S where Putin/Russia could've stopped this madness, but apparently didn't...

[Amonester]

5. They thought no civilian planes would fly over the area.

And MH17 was not supposed to take that route, until weather conditions some 200 miles South, over Crimea, made them change corridor.

[mainer]

6. wrong wrong WRONG.

Hundreds of civilian jets were over that route EVERY DAY before the shootdown.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/07/17/a-real-time-picture-of-how-flights-are-now-avoiding-ukrainian-airspace/

"The European Cockpit Association, which represents pilots, released a statement saying that the route MH17 had taken was the most common one for flights from Europe to Southeast Asia."

[Amonester]

7. Thanks for the correction.

Now I question that "bad-weather-report-made-them-change-route-some-200-miles-to-the-North" I saw earlier (can't recall where).

Which one is true?

(Seems like your source is legit. On Edit: The FlightAware.com ones.)

[Amonester]

8. Or perhaps they knew about the latest restrictions but decided to ignore them

in light of that stormy weather, and chose to keep their standard route?

Anyway, doesn't change much to the current situation which is awfully barbaric.

[bemildred]

2. I predict that this event will be a prolific source of conspiracy theories. nt

[Amonester]

3. Already started.

I saw a lot.

The speed at which the incriminating phone-call tape has been released, and in HQ stereo format, no less...

But I guess today's technology can be a lot faster than before, maybe.

[bemildred]

4. Oh there is a lot already.

Molehills of fact elaborated into mountains of theory.

[Adsos Letter]

9. Especially with the disappearance of Flt. MH 370 added to the mix

I think there have already been attempts to connect the two.

[bemildred]

10. Good point. I hadn't thought of that, but they obviously must be connected.

Just too way many coincidences. Only one american on board for one thing, he must have not got the warning.

[Adsos Letter]

11. I read somewhere on DU...

...that some unspecified Rebel commander said that all of the bodies looked like they had been dead for several days before the shoot-down.
Someone who makes a study of the development of conspiracy theories could probably make a case study of all of the accretions that are about to develop around this story.

[bemildred]

12. Yeah, that was supposed to be Girkin, I think.

He may well be that dumb.

[Adsos Letter]

13. Well, he is named after a pickle...

...sort of...

[bemildred]

14. LOL. Now I'm being pun-ished. nt

[yurbud]

15. only if it is used the way it looks like it's going to be--as a stick to beat Russia

[bemildred]

16. That certainly will not help.

The US woud do better not to be so obvious about their enthusiasm.