Shot down by Cold War rhetoric

Volk Tambovski’s letter took me back to the Cold War period. Lenin used to say that if you keep repeating lies long enough, people will believe they are true. 

First, shooting down a passenger plane is a despicable act for which there can be no excuses.

Second, Abkhazian rebels supported by the Russian Army in the conflict with Georgia shot down a passenger plane with heat-seeking missiles. It is irrelevant whether the victims were from Russia or from Timbuktu. They were all human.

Third, am I emotional and biased? Neither. I was drawn to this issue when a letter from Russia Embassy cast doubts on Western interpretations by publicising alleged navigation errors by MH17’s pilots. 

Fourth, this whole series of letters began with a letter from the Russian Embassy on July 26 and not with anyone pointing the finger of blame at Russia or Ukraine. I have never believed Russia was directly involved but instead that this was possibly a case of mistaken identity. However, this long string of letters is more about putting the facts in the right perspective, rather than a blame game. 

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok