MOSCOW - Abbot's comments unacceptable

New Zealand

MH17: Russia furious at 'unacceptable' Tony Abbott comments
MARK KENNY


Moscow has voiced anger over being blamed by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott for the downing of a Malaysia passenger jet over eastern Ukraine that killed all 298 people on board, calling his comments "unacceptable".

"Without bothering himself about evidence and operating only on speculation, Mr T. Abbott assigned guilt," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "Abbott's statements are unacceptable." 
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The forceful comments came after Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop emerged from a meeting with Russia's ambassador to Australia Vladimir Morozov, to reveal Moscow had denied the involvement of pro-Russian rebels and attempted to lay the blame at Ukraine's feet.
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The atrocity has sparked questions over why the Malaysian carrier was still using a flight path over the Ukrainian war zone, when other airlines, including Qantas, had changed their flight paths in recent months due to an increase in the intensity of fighting in the area.
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Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said direct military action was unlikely, though the West could look at providing military equipment to the Ukrainians.

"It's a serious geopolitical issue. It lifts Russia back to being the bad boy threat of the Soviet days," he said.

"[But] neither NATO nor the US has an appetite to do anything on the ground. It would be a combination of tougher sanctions and more open support of Ukrainians, for example, providing them with their own military hardware."

One example might be to provide the Ukrainians with Patriot anti-missile batteries, as the the Ukrainian air force does not have strong self-defence capabilities.
...

...extracts only...

SOURCE - stuff.co.nz - here.

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Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) - ACT location

'Think tank' ... formed & mostly funded by the Australian Government
But is 'independent'
Role of:

• developing ideas on Australia's defence and strategic policy
• informing the public on defence and strategic policy issues

Peter Jennings (former Deputy Secretary in the Department of Defence)

[wikipedia]

 
COMMENT

Not surprised Russia isn't impressed with Abbott's melodramatics.

* US will probably arm Ukraine govt ... to secure US investment to date

* US & buddies will probably amp up the anti-Russian sanctions

MHI7 - Australian Sock Puppet Tony Abbott Resorts to Grandstanding & Hysteria

ABC News Go Article
ABC News, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023

Australian PM Lashes out at Russia Over Shot Plane
CANBERRA, Australia — Jul 18, 2014, 3:54 AM ET
Associated Press

An angry Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Friday demanded an independent inquiry into the downing of a Malaysian jetliner and said Russia's response to what he called a crime was "deeply, deeply unsatisfactory."

Abbott criticized Russia's Ambassador to Australia Vladimir Morozov, who met earlier Friday with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

According to Abbott, the ambassador's initial response was to blame Ukraine for Thursday's downing of the Malaysia Airlines aircraft, which killed all 298 aboard, including 28 Australians.

The cause of Thursday's crash was not immediately clear but the area has seen heavy fighting recently between government troops and pro-Russia separatists, with the rebels bragging about shooting down two Ukrainian military jets in the region Wednesday, just a day earlier. U.S. intelligence officials believe the Malaysian plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

Abbott told reporters that the idea that Russia can somehow say that none of this has anything to do with them because it happened in Ukrainian airspace "frankly does not stand up to any serious scrutiny." [He's a sock puppet.]

"The initial response of the Russian ambassador was to blame Ukraine for this and I have to say that is deeply, deeply unsatisfactory," he said. "I want to say to the Australian people that as far as I am concerned, when you have a situation where Russian-backed rebels appear to have killed Australians using it may well turn out to be Russian-supplied heavy weaponry, Australia takes a very dim view indeed and we want the fullest possible investigation."

["I have to say" ... LOL ... says it all.

Let's grandstand because Russia didn't provide the response that Tony Abbott's US buddies knew they wouldn't get?  Pathetic grandstanding.  Just for the sake of propaganda. 

Has he no respect for the dead?  Fancy using the deceased for political advantage!
  
As if he seriously expected anything other than the response he got from Russia.]

Abbott said "it's very important that we don't allow Russia to prevent an absolutely comprehensive investigation so that we can find out exactly what happened here." [No indication whatsoever that Russia would or *could* prevent an investigation -- so this is more grandstanding by Abbott, & more besmirching of Russia before the public.  Remember, there's got to be a 'bad guy'.]

"This is not an accident, it's a crime," he said. "And criminals should not be allowed to get away with what they've done. So there has to be a full, impartial international investigation and Russia should certainly not be allowed to stand in the way of that." [TONY ABBOT'S AN IDIOT.  HE WOULDN'T KNOW IF HIS ASS WAS ON FIRE.  HE'S A GRANDSTANDING SOCK PUPPET FOR THE U.S.]

Asked why he was using harsher language than other world leaders in relation to Russia's potential culpability, Abbott replied: "This aircraft didn't come down through accident — it was shot down. It did not crash, it was downed ... over territory controlled by Russian-backed rebels."  [TONY ABBOTT'S BEEN TALKING TO BIDEN.  LOL.]

SOURCE - ABC News - here.

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Daily Mail Article (UK)

Exactly article as ABC Go. 

SOURCE - Daily Mail - here.

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COMMENT

Maybe I'm a cynic, but it sure looks like Abbott is using this tragedy to get some mileage either for himself or for his US masters, grandstanding about demands for an independent enquiry and so on, when Obama has already announced that an independent enquiry will be conducted etc.

Daily Mail is also running the same story as the ABC Go (Disney owned) outlet, so I took a double-take for two reasons:

1)  I couldn't believe the about-face hysteria on Abbotts part.

2)  I discovered that the two whining Abbott articles were exact articles.

More on that later.

What's the bet if the flight in question was the US downed Iran Flight 655, Abbott wouldn't be milking the media opportunity to display his 'outraged' theatrical performance at the US.

Anyway, I'm not convinced by Abbott's melodramatics and I think he ought to carry himself with a bit more dignity than he's shown.