According to Dutch officials, a 15-month investigation has determined that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was destroyed by a Russian-made Buk antiaircraft missile, bolstering the notion that the plane was shot down by Russia-backed separatists or the Russian government itself. All 298 people aboard were killed.
Will Stevens, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Russia, responded this way:
I know Mr. Stevens is in a sensitive position, relations with Russia being a bit chilly at the moment, but “cast blame”? Someone blew up a passenger jet! If you can’t “cast blame” for the murder of 300 people, when can you?
Scottish and American authorities spent three years investigating the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, destroyed over Lockerbie in 1988, and didn’t get a conviction until 2001 — 13 years after the attack. What a waste of energy!