MH17 shoot down.
For once the Prime Minister took his vitamin pills and decided to ignore the advisers who have been making a fool of him with all their wrong advice. I have been saying from Day 1 of MH17 that do not point fingers at the pro Russian rebels or the Russians. We have to work with them.
Here is a truncated bit of news. There are similar reports in the Wall Street Journal today.
- Reuters - As Western leaders pointed finger at pro-Russian separatists, and Moscow the government in Kuala Lumpur said little
- that reticence - had drawn criticism at home
ADVISERS TOED THE AMERICAN LINE
- some of Najib's advisers were urging him to make a strong statement, noting that leaders of the United States, Australia and Britain had all expressed outrage.
ADVISERS ALMOST SABOTAGED MALAYSIA'S POSITION
- There was growing pressure on the PM to reflect some of this domestic anger
- They felt that they needed the PM to make a strong statement
- and some of them began to craft a statement on Sunday afternoon
- Obama blamed Russia
- NATO, the U.S., Britain, are definitely partial towards the Ukrainian government.
- They have posed particular difficulties to the rebels.
But Najib waited.
- Malaysia kept channels open to both Ukraine and Russia
- carefully cultivated neutrality was key to deal that had eluded Western powers
- working through intermediaries to telephone rebel leader Alexander Borodai
- Not once did Najib or any Malaysian officials point finger at Russia
- position of Malaysian government...not to get involved politically.
talks were kept under tight wraps, with Najib bringing only a handful of his closest confidants into the discussions.
he kept this within a very, very, very tight circle. Even some of his closest advisers were not part of this circle, and were surprised by this deal.
he kept this within a very, very, very tight circle. Even some of his closest advisers were not part of this circle, and were surprised by this deal.
They also insisted on handing over the black boxes to the Malaysians because they did not want the devices in the hands of the Ukrainian government.
on Tuesday black boxes were in Malaysian possession and the bodies heading out
I dont think the rebels would have wanted to hold on to the bodies a day longer than necessary.
It looks like the "drunken rebels" as per Western news reports and regurgitated by local media like the NST had carefully preserved the recovered bodies as well.
They also wanted a written assurance from Malaysia that the black box had not been tampered with.
Well folks, having gone through all that trouble, the bodies have been sent to the Netherlands while the black box has been sent to the UK. Isnt that exactly what the rebels were afraid of?
In light of all the sinister circumstances behind the shooting down of MH17 can we rely on the UK to be honest with their black box decoding?
The plane had been deliberately deviated 40 km (according to Russian radar) from its original course. The plane was shot down after "it was told" to get back on course. Who ordered the course deviations and why? What if this portion of the tape gets 'erased'?
From all the endless series of gaffes, booboos and non existent leadership coming out of the PM's office it is obvious that the PM's advisers are fed large doses of bananas.
It is also likely that there are very "pro-American" and "pro-British" folks among the PM's advisers as well. Maybe they all need to be security vetted again.
Imagine what would have happened if that statement (obviously anti Russian) which the advisers had crafted on Sunday had been released to the media. The rebels and the Russians would have shut us out.
By ignoring his advisers just once the PM has come out smelling like roses. This should be a clear signal to the PM. Unless he prefers that which does not smell like roses.
