July 23, Updated July 26. Condensed from the blog, "Dirty War on Ukraine"
There is a lot of evidence that MH17 was shot down by a Ukraine junta air-to-air missile to provoke a new war of NATO against Russia. On July 21 Russia revealed more evidence. The US has still not shown the images it claims implicate the "separatists." The black boxes will be falsified and war hysteria against Russia will become even more extreme. Russian TV has said MH17 is a false flag like Operation Northwoods.

On the day Malaysian Air Flight MH17 crashed, July 17, Interfax reported that the flight paths of the airliner and Putin's presidential jet had crossed near Warsaw, only 37 minutes apart. Their source suggested, "The contours of the aircrafts are similar, linear dimensions are also very similar, as for the coloring, at a quite remote distance they are almost identical." What if the Ukraine junta tried to shoot down Putin's jet -- and hit an airliner by mistake? [RT, BeforeItsNews]

The Western media, of course, jumped the gun to blame the Donetsk separatists. But imagine what a winning ticket it would have been for the war party of the US empire, if pro-Russian rebels accidentally shot down Putin's plane on its flight back from Brazil! Killing Putin decapitates the Russian government, especially its nationalist wing. Russian public opinion turns furiously against the blundering Donbass militia and any further support for them. The resistance collapses. Russia and its proxies are made an eternal laughingstock. Too good to miss.

Even if the Russian government knew it was all a trick, how could they prove it? And if the Russian people had the opposite furious reaction, to rightly call it an act of war by CIA assassins -- great, open war is just what NATO has been trying to goad Russia into. Since the dirty war on Ukraine and Russia has given useless NATO an excuse for existing, it's has been showing more signs of new life than an octagenarian who just hitched up with a saucy young hussy.

US covert operations have the most frequent record of assassinations of heads of state in modern times. [viz. Gladio] But there was one small problem. Putin's Rossiya One aircraft wasn't going meandering over the banks of Potemkin's beloved Dnieper. This target was going to stay well out of reach. The US knew that -- but did Kiev?

However, Plan B is almost as good. Shoot down something else, blame the carnage on the rebels, and bring a torrent of blame on their heads and Russia's all the same.

For good measure, schedule the sacrificial act for the very hour Putin was passing that way, as an ear-clapping warning to beware these madmen who play god.

Chances are, this terrible sign language was not lost on its target. I fancy that the hacking of the Wall Street Journal's blog with the message, Air Force One lost over Russian airspace, was the Kremlin's way of returning the insult, only infinitely more humane. [RT]

Meanwhile, helping hands in Kiev could be kept eagerly preparing defenses against Russian aircraft, or even Putin's jet, with no thought of a false flag attack on a civilian airliner.

In the week before the crash, Donbass rebels had scored several successes in shooting down Ukrainian warplanes. US and Ukraine media capitalized on this as they massively pushed claims that rebels shot down the airliner by mistake. Not surprisingly, some of the rebels themselves may have fallen into the trap, and jumped to the conclusion they had shot down another junta transport plane.

At a press conference on the crash, Donetsk Republic leader Alexander Borodai denied the militia ever had the Buk surface to air (SAM) missiles. "Do you think if we had Buk we wouldn't be using it? [to defend against airstrikes]. We only had portable Manpads." Regarding the AN-26 transport reportedly shot down at 6000 m, he said that was in Luhansk, the altitude was not confirmed, and the AN-26 may have crashed from damage by anti-aircraft fire. [Slavyangrad] WW2-era AA guns had an effective ceiling of up to 10 km.

Already on July 17, TASS reported that the junta moved a new Buk anti-aircraft system to Donetsk the day before the crash, and it was the only one in the area capable of hitting a plane at 10,000 meters. [TASS] But doubt was being expressed on all sides about the capability of the rebels or even of the Ukrainian army to operate this system. This was to morph into fantastic tales of the Russians sending officers or SAM system into Ukraine and out again. Nobody suspected NATO of doing anything like that, of course.

The day of the crash there were scattered reports of eyewitnesses who had seen a junta jet fighter following the doomed airliner. But it wasn't until the 19th that I heard about the evidence that clinched it for me: a photo of horizontal gashes on a wing or tail piece of wreckage.

Damage to the aircraft showed characteristic gashes from an air-to-air fragmentation rod missile. [Politikus.ru] (use online translation)

A bit like shrapnel or a grenade, it's a package of numerous metal rods that explodes when the missile comes close to the target. A direct hit is not necessary -- if even a couple of rods puncture the airskin of the plane, it is doomed. [Sidewinder]

They are used on fighter jets because they are so light and compact. A SAM or surface-to-air missile is huge because it needs a lot of fuel to fly many miles upwards. SAM's are launched from large trucks or other installations and need a lot of ground support, are hard to hide, and are beyond the means of the militia. As their leader Borodai said, if we had them, we'd have used them on high-altitude military targets, not an airliner!

At this point I thought the junta could have actually sent a fighter to shoot down Putin's plane, and I put together this graphic showing the gashed wing and the trajectories of the two aircraft:

Another bit of early evidence for the air-to-air missile theory: A video of the crash site, showing threads and speckles of radar-jamming chaff from the attack fighter floating down to earth! Was the fighter was trying to conceal the tell-tale radar footprint that would link it to the crash? Or did the pilot drop a load of chaff into the passenger jet's engines to make it crash?

Also, a number of eyewitnesses reported seeing the junta fighter shoot down the airliner.

The next day more false flag facts began to come in. I picked up reports that Kiev air traffic control diverted MH17 off the usual course south of the war zone and sent it straight into danger. No "mistaken identity" here. Earlier this year, the disappearing MH370 was also diverted from its course, and I believe the Boeing 777 has a software back door to turn it into a remote-controlled drone.

The notoriety of MH370 might be one reason they picked on MH17, to build on that recognition.

There's also some weird numerology involved, lots of 7's and 17's. Remember the London Tube bombings on 7/7/2005? Well, the numbers 2005 add up to 7, so that date was 777. The MH17 aircraft "was the 84th 777 off the production line. Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 892B-17 engines, it first flew on July 17, 1997, exactly 17 years before its accident." [A viationweek]

Kiev also immediately confiscated all the radar records and air traffic control recordings. [GlobalResearch]

As a trial by innuendo and abuse reached a hysterical crescendo among the globalist corporate-controlled media mob, the Russian Defense Ministry finally came to Russia's defense on July 21. It may be significant, it may be a signal, that this initiative was taken and this message delivered by the armed forces, not by Putin or other politicians... that matters have been pushed too far...

The defense spokesman presented some very good material, which would be a slam-dunk world wide if the US didn't control the global media.

"A Ukraine Air Force military jet was detected gaining height, its distance from the Malaysian Boeing was 3 to 5km. With what aim was a military plane flying along a civilian aviation route practically at the same time and at the same flight level as a passenger liner?" said General Kartopolov. "We would like to receive an answer to this question." [RT, 10MoreQuestions]

"The SU-25 fighter jet can gain an altitude of 10km for a brief time, according to its specification. It's equipped with air-to-air R-60 missiles that can hit a target at a distance up to 12km, up to 5km for sure."

He noted that Russia also has optical images of the Ukrainian fighter.

The R-60 is a lightweight heat-seeking missile which "uses a small, 3 kg (6.6 lb) expanding-rod high explosive warhead." [wikipedia] This tallies with the finding by Politikus.ru that damage photos indicate a strike by an air-to-air fragmentation rod missile.

Additionally, the Russian defense ministry released satellite photos showing that between July 14 and July 17, a Ukrainian Buk missile system was moved from a junta-controlled site near Donetsk to an area generally controlled by the militia, very near the site where the MH17 crashed. Kartopolov asked "why the missile system appeared in the area controlled by the local militia forces shortly before the catastrophe... Images taken on July 18 show that the missile systems left the area of the MH17 crash on July 17."

Here's why: they were staging a major piece of "evidence" which the media used to judge the partisans guilty -- the unprecedented sighting of a Buk missile launcher being paraded through the town of Torez near the crash site on the very morning of the disaster. [Guardian]

The Buk battery was not necessarily there to shoot down any plane, though. It was on display as a stage prop in a psychological warfare operation.

Between Torez and the Russian border is an area held by the junta's hard-core Azov battalion.

The junta is looking guilty as hell. They said they had no aircraft in the vicinity of MH17. They moved a Buk system into the crash zone and paraded it through town to make a big impression. And it was indeed Exhibit A in the mainstream media case against the militia and the Russians, who were even accused of bringing a Buk system in to shoot down the airliner and taking it back to Russia again, as crazy as that sounds, but that's Russophobia for you. Kartopolov took the trouble to officially debunk one such Buk video which was taken in a city controlled by Kiev since May.

The Americans are getting caught out too. Kartopolov stated that Russian satellites detected no SAM launch, and asked the Americans to show what images they have. So far they've declined the invitation to reciprocate with images to show what they meant by: "Satellite images show a plume of smoke left by the ground-to-air missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines flight 17."[Reuters]

Here's Mr. Diplomacy-by-other-means John Kerry, bluffing like a poker deck on Fox News: "We know to a certainty that we saw the launch from this area of what we deem to be an SA-11 because of the altitude -- 33,000 feet -- and because of the trajectory. We have the trajectory recorded. We know that it occurred at the very moment that this aircraft disappeared from the radar screen." [Fox Note how "Freedom of the press" is exhibited as the interviewer goads Kerry: why are we not retaliating against Russia with force already.]

Can we see it too, Mr. Secretary, on our TV screens?

Here's the story planted in the media on July 18th:

"A fireball picked up by American satellites was the first indication a surface-to-air missile armed with a high explosive warhead had struck Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

"U.S. surveillance also detected a part of the missile's flight path as it streaked toward the plane... [from] territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

"Based on signals the missile system gave off, analysts identified it as likely to be a Russian-made SA-11, a sophisticated system of radars, command posts and launchers. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said the rebels probably couldn't have operated on their own."[CBS]

But if it was downed by a fragment rod weapon, not a high explosive warhead, there would not have been any fireball... the large sections seen in the photos of the crash scene don't seem to fit with the fireball story either. They look more like it broke apart in the air from damage sustained from the rod weapon.

Kartopolov also said that the Russian defence ministry detected unusual activity from radar stations that are used to operate missile systems on the day of the tragedy.

"From July 17 (Thursday) the intensity of the operation of Ukrainian radar stations increased to the maximum." Seven radar stations were operating close to the area of the disaster Tuesday, eight on Wednesday and nine on the day of the crash, Thursday.

After the crash, just four radar stations were operating in the area on Friday and just two on Saturday. Malaysia Chronicle]

How guilty can they get.

Some die-hard defenders of the MSM case tried to poke holes in the Russian dossier by making a big deal about the "service ceiling" of the Su-25 being 7km, not 10 km. I pointed out several reasons rebutting that here [Su-25 specs], but it should be enough to note the FAAdefinition of the service ceiling: the altitude a two-engine aircraft can maintain with only one engine working...

Jeering that Russian media are becoming a paranoid state-controlled Soviet-style propaganda machine, NBC let through the story that Russia's Channel One blamed the MH17 shootdown on the CIA. "A document was broadcast purportedly showing that the U.S. was planning to do the same thing during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis," clearly a reference to Operation Northwoods. The story was very short and it was the only one like it in the media, almost like a coded message. Maybe it's one part of the elite telegraphing the other about the temperature in Moscow. [NBC]

Operation Northwoods was a false flag aimed at Russia. Russia has shown little inclination to expose false flags against other nations. Yet if Russia had had the courage to tell what it knew and what its satellites saw on 9/11/2001, perhaps it wouldn't be so pushed into a corner today?

Somewhere, probably in his 9/11 Synthetic Terror, Webster Tarpley wrote of the danger of relying on false flags as an instrument of policy. You can't fool all the people all the time. That time may be coming due. With such a track record. Operation Northwoods, caught red-handed contemplating a civilian massacre to start a war. The 9/11 bombings, 3,000 died in the towers, followed by a million in Iraq - many believe it a false flag. So why would they hesitate now to murder 300 to crush their eternal rival Russia?

Back in March, there was a flurry as hacked emails were leaked, purporting to foreshadow a false flag being planned by the US in Ukraine to ignite WW3 with Russia. So here we are. [YouTube][BeforeItsNews]

The good-natured rebels of Donetsk have trustingly signed over the Boeing's black boxes to "international representatives," who are more than likely to be US stooges. This friendly act could seal their doom.

If Washington falsifies the black boxes to push its dirty war project, it will be the last call for Russia to take the kid gloves off the false flag racket and finally tell the world what she knows about 9/11.

Yet, alas, as I finish this for publication, I see that my dire prediction is already fulfilled. The false flag op is proceeding according to the script. The Dutch - members of NATO - have taken over the black boxes. Their premier already had very harsh words for Russia in recent days. Already, "the US said intelligence analysts have "authenticated" audio that incriminates separatists." And the perfidious Brits get the job of fiddling with the tapes. [Guardian, July 23]

Too bad Russia, which has been playing a cowardly game for months now, refused to take custody of at least ONE of the boxes. Or couldn't they at least have been participants on the investigation team? If OSCE investigators could come to Slavyansk, why couldn't they come and investigate the boxes in Donetsk under guard?

I fear Takis Fotopoulos is right: the imperialist, defeatist fifth column holds the steering wheel in Russia. The fix is in. The only hope to overthrow the empire is from within.

July 26th.

Looking through crash photos online to try and corroborate the photo shown last week by Politikus.ru as evidence of an air-to-air fragmentation missile, and not finding anything. Instead, there's a photo of a piece of the fuselage riddled with holes. Most articles quote sources saying this confirms the Buk SAM theory. www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/23/world/flight-mh17-wreckage-riddled-with-telltale-signs-of-missile-strike It's true that the SA-11 Buk (NATO name Gadfly) is also a fragmentation weapon sofrep.com/36195/one-missile-298-lives-lost-profile-buk-9k37-sa-11-gadfly-sam/ , but with a warhead of about 150 lbs of explosive, over 20 times heavier than an air-to-air missile. The media are saying the shrapnel damage supports the US theory that the airliner was downed by a Buk missile fired by separatists. I'm not a forensic explosives expert, but given the choice of 7 lbs of high explosives and shrapnel vs. 150 lbs, this looks more like 7 lbs to me. The shrapnel damage is very localized, suggesting the warhead exploded very close to the target. If it was close, 150 lbs of explosive might have blown the plane apart here, not just peppered it with holes. The rest of the plane shows no shrapnel damage, so the plane apparently tore apart as it fell.

There is one report that the wing showed signs of extreme heat, even melting aluminium parts. Most likely cause would seem to be the engine catching fire. Some photos of the wreckage show parts of it still burning. www.ibtimes.co.uk/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh17-extraordinary-new-wreckage-discovered-machine-gun-type-holes-1458258 There haven't been any reports of long strings of radar chaff being found near the site.

Russia's Channel One TV also chimes in with "Ukraine shot down MH17 by mistake." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_grAAnvp1po
"A system mix up during a Ukrainian air defense units’ rocket launch exercise could be the cause of the Malaysia Airlines crash in southeast Ukraine, a source from one of the Ukrainian defense departments told RIA Novosti." en.ria.ru/world/20140725/191242509/Ukrainian-Air-Defense-Exercises-Might-be-Behind-Malaysian.html

So Washington is trying to serve up a compromise of maybe a Ukraine missile went of by accident - but only from an anonymous, unofficial source - or maybe separatists hit the plane by mistake -- still leaving more culpability on the Donbass self-defense forces.

There remains the problem that the Russian Defense Ministry picked up no SAM missile launch on radar, but they did pick up the fighter closing in on the target, and eyewitnesses say the fighter shot down the plane. In order to damp down this worst-case line of inquiry, Washington is willing to play with a scenario that "maybe" the junta troops accidentally fired a Buk at the jetliner.

This "BUKraine" limited hang-out scenario doesn't really cover up the false flag. There is still a lot for Obama & Co. to explain:

Why did Kiev put out a video purporting to be a recording of rebels and Russians discussing the crash, with a creation time stamp a day before the crash?
Why did Kiev bring a Buk system into a rebel area just hours before the airliner was shot down, except to stage false evidence?
Russia has shown their missile photos, why can't the US show the photo of the SAM launch?
Why are there no signs or eyewitnesses of such a launch in the area they indicated?
Why did Kiev divert MH-17 from the safe flight path?

and many more....

If the cockpit voice recorder reveals the pilots knew their plane was hit by an air-to-air missile, then seizing the black boxes allows the US to hush this up. But the boxes don't give them any room to invent evidence implicating the Donbass defense forces. So maybe we'll just not hear too much more about it.

"Ukraine should organize a search" for parts of the missile that allegedly shot down MH17 en.ria.ru/world/20140725/191260629/Ukraine-Should-Start-Searching-for-Missile-Launched-During-MH17-Flight.html If it's a Buk it's big enough to leave wreckage, such as tail fins of the rocket.

Even the R-60 Air to Air missile is plenty large enough to leave identifiable wreckage militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-101.html - almost 3 meters long, body diameter 120 mm (4 inches) and wingspan 390 mm (about 15 inches). The missile parts might come down in a slightly different area because of their trajectory.

You can see why NATO wants its special forces to secure the crash area against false flag conspiracy theories, and ensure no photos of R-60 fragments are published.

-- John-Paul Leonard is a publisher of books by authors like Webster Tarpley and F. Wm. Engdahl, under the Progressive Press imprint. This article is condensed from his Dirty War on Ukraine blog.