>>>North Korean spy satellite showing definitive proof that it was a US drone (in Russian markings in an attempt to implicate the Russians) shooting down Air Malaysia plane...
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>LOL,,, meanwhile in the real news, there's less attempt to blame Putin, only to say he should put pressure on the Ukrainian rebels to co-operate with international investigation efforts. And Putin says that some Western nations have taken advantage of the tragedy to further mercenary political ends.
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I heard Obama criticize Putin for hindering the investigation. Well, if anyone knows about hindering investigations, it's.... :)

On a serious note, I've read your comments about Putin - shouldn't surprise you that I think you're being far too soft on him.

I've read two perspectives - one is that he's in the rather uncharacteristic position of being scared. In addition to the very strong evidence that the BUK that killed MH17 came from Russia, there's some consensus that Russian personnel was involved in supervising/ordering the action. Putin is doubling down in every way he can (trying to turn this back on the west). Because some believe he's SCARED. They are BUSTED. While part of me thinks this is interesting and I almost want to believe it, I still go with perspective #2...

The second perspective is that however much he might be sweating under the collar, he doesn't fear the West, NATO, and certainly doesn't fear the EU. I heard the expression today that Putin doesn't fear "Obama's red crayon", and I firmly believe that. He (Putin) might believe he stands to gain more in the long run by rebuilding the empire than he'll lose in public opinion.