Chandra Muzaffar
The Russian military has released military monitoring data which
challenge allegations circulating in the media pertaining to the MH 17
crash in the Donetsk Region of Eastern Ukraine on July 17 2014.
Questions have been raised about Kiev military jets tracking MH 17,
Ukrainian air traffic controllers and the deployment of Buk missile
systems. Kiev should also release military data on the circumstances
leading to the crash. So should the Pentagon which reportedly has
relevant intelligence and satellite data.
Since military data is hardcore
information, Kiev and Washington should be persuaded to be transparent
and accountable. The UN Secretary-General can play a role in this since
there is a specialized agency within the UN, the ICAO, dedicated to
international civil aviation. Military data from Moscow, Kiev and
Washington should be scrutinized by the independent international panel
that is supposed to probe the MH 17 catastrophe.
Such data carries much more
weight than videos purportedly revealing the role of the pro-Russian
rebels and the Russian government in the crash. One such video showing a
Buk system being moved from Ukraine to Russia is a fabrication. The
billboard in the background establishes that it was shot in a town —
Krasnoarmeisk — that has been under the control of the Ukrainian
military since May 11. Similarly, a You Tube video showing a Russian
General and Ukrainian rebels discussing their role in mistakenly downing
a civilian aircraft was, from various tell-tale signs, produced before
the event.
The public should be wary of
fabricated “evidence” of this sort, after what we have witnessed in the
last so many years. Have we forgotten the monstrous lies and massive
distortions that accompanied the reckless allegation that Iraq had
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which led eventually to the invasion
of that country in 2003 and the death of more than a million people?
Iraq continues to bleed to this day. What about the Gulf of Tonkin
episode of 1964 which again was a fabrication that paved the way for
wanton US aggression against Vietnam that resulted in the death of more
than 3 million Vietnamese? The “babies in incubators” incident in Kuwait
in 1990 was yet another manufactured lie that aroused the anger of the
people and served to justify the US assault on Iraq. Just last year we
saw how an attempt was made by some parties to pin the blame for a
sarin gas attack in Ghouta, Syria upon the Assad government when
subsequent investigations have revealed that it was the work of some
militant rebel group.
From Tonkin to Ghouta there is a
discernible pattern when it comes to the fabrication of evidence to
justify some nefarious agenda or other. As soon as the event occurs
before any proper investigation has begun, blame is apportioned upon the
targeted party. This is done wilfully to divert attention from the real
culprit whose act of evil remains concealed and camouflaged. The
colluding media then begins to spin the “correct” version with the help
of its reporters and columnists who concoct “fact” out of fiction. Any
other explanation or interpretation of the event is discredited and
dismissed derisively to ensure that the “credibility” of the dominant
narrative remains intact. As the narrative unfolds, the target often
embodied in a certain personality is demonized to such a degree that he
arouses the ire of the public and becomes an object of venom.