Vladimir Putin - President or Terrorist?

The world condemns the terrorist downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine. Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the tragedy should put an end to Russian President Vladimir Putin's gamesmanship in the region : "This certainly eliminates Putin's plausible deniability. And he's been operating that way in Ukraine since the beginning of this conflict and him taking Crimea," Rogers, told "Fox News Sunday." The United States is accumulating hard evidence that pro-Russian separatists shot down the plane, believing it to be a Ukrainian military cargo jet. Rogers said the missile system had to have been in Russian hands "at least at some point," as it would have required training and maintenance. "These things are delicate, sophisticated and highly lethal, as we've seen," Rogers said, adding that while he welcomes sanctions, he would like to see Obama rally Europe to join him. The British and Dutch prime ministers, whose countries had passengers on the downed plane, have announced a willingness to toughen sanctions. But much of Europe buys its natural gas from Russia, creating a difficult diplomatic issue. Rogers said he also said the United States needs to end what he termed its "tepid response" by increasing intelligence cooperation, logistics, and training opportunities for the Ukrainian military. So far, the United States has sent only MREs – meals ready to eat. "That's just not enough," Rogers said. ~~~~~ If Rogers is a Republican, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein is very much a senior Democrat. Sunday, Feinstein called on Russian President Putin to "man up" and admit his country's role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. "Where is Putin?" Feinstein asked on CNN's "State of the Union." Putin should tell whether the shootdown of the plane by Russian-aligned separatists in eastern Ukraine was a mistake. The United States has said there is clear evidence the rebels shot down the plane, likely mistaking it for a Ukrainian military cargo plane. "Even if it was a mistake," Feinstein said, "it's a horrendous mistake to make. It points out the futility of what's happening in the Ukraine, because there will be repercussions from this." CNN host Candy Crowley pointed out that the United States keeps adding more and more sanctions on Russia over its role in Ukraine, and Putin continues to ignore them. With the shooting of the plane and the deaths of 298 civilians from Europe and other countries, Putin may be in too deep, Crowley said, asking why would he "man up" now? Feinstein answered, "I think the world has to rise up and say, we've had enough of this." Feinstein added that Europe has to come together, led by Germany, to impose further sanctions. While admitting that US-Russian relations are now at Cold War levels, Feinstein said she opposes Republican calls to arm the Ukrainians, as they have been requesting for months, because she thinks the plane downing shows that neither side needs to be in possession of such weapons. "I'm opposed to giving this kind of equipment to anybody," she said. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, also appearing on CNN, agreed with Feinstein : "I believe, as you asked Senator Feinstein, that Mr. Putin is returning to a cold war mentality. When I was over there, you could see this nationalistic pride, a sort of resurgence to regain the glory of the old days of the Soviet Empire and so we're seeing that happen with Crimea being annexed." ~~~~~ US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that the evidence indicates that a Russian missile was used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. British Prime Minister David Cameron said Moscow faced "pariah" status and the threat of further economic sanctions. The Netherlands, whose citizens made up two-thirds of the 298 on the flight, said it was "furious" about the manhandling of corpses strewn over open country and asked Ukraine for help to bring "our people" home. At the biggest crash site, where emergency workers had bagged dozens of bodies on Saturday, on Sunday morning all the body bags had been placed in refrigerated railcars and moved to a nearby town under separatist control. Empty bloodstained military transport stretchers lay by the road, and rescue workers used a crane to move wreckage to reach human remains trapped beneath, as well as a blow torch to cut the cockpit into pieces. A spokesman for Ukraine's Security Council accused the rebels of a cover-up : "The terrorists are doing everything to hide the evidence of the involvement of Russian missiles in the shooting down of that airliner," saying the rebels had taken debris and bodies from the crash site in trucks, tampering with a scene that investigators need to be secure to have a chance of determining what, and who, caused the plane to plunge into the steppe. A pro-Russian separatist leader said items thought to be the plane's "black boxes" were now in rebel hands, although another major complaint is that these recorders were not immediately turned over to international investigators. A separatist leader said today the recorders will be turned over, perhaps Monday night. With Western anger rising at the disrespectful treatment of the bodies by armed separatists controlling the widespread crash sites, officials from the OSCE, the European security body, were able to inspect some of the railcars. The downing of the airliner is becoming a game changer for the crisis in Ukraine. EU ministers may announce a fresh round of sanctions at a meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council this week, according to a statement from British Prime Minister Cameron's office, issued after telephone calls with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "They...agreed that the EU must reconsider its approach to Russia and that foreign ministers should be ready to impose further sanctions on Russia when they meet on Tuesday," the statement said. ~~~~~ Moscow denies involvement in shooting down the airliner, blaming the Ukrainian military. But Washington and its allies say there is mounting evidence that pro-Russian separatists supported by Moscow are responsible. Countering Putin's claim of innocence, Kerry said the US had seen supplies moving into Ukraine from Russia in the last month, including a 150-vehicle convoy of armoured personnel carriers, tanks and rocket launchers given to the separatists. The US had intercepted conversations about the transfer to separatists of the Russian radar-guided SA11 missile system it blames for the downing of the Boeing 777, Kerry told CNN : "It's pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia." While Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a renewed appeal for backing from the international community, some European nations, concerned about their trade links with Russia, have been lukewarm about confronting Moscow. The United Nations Security Council has today passed a resolution to condemn the attack, demand access to the crash sites and call on states in the region to cooperate with an international investigation. It could be put to a vote as early as Monday. President Obama said the disaster showed it was time to end the Ukraine conflict. Germany called it Moscow' last chance to cooperate. European powers seemed to swing behind Washington's belief that Russia's separatist allies were to blame. That might speed new sanctions on Moscow. Fighting, meanwhile, continued. Ukrainian positions were fired on twice from across the border with Russia overnight, the Ukrainian armed forces said on Sunday - mortar attacks from the direction of Russia aimed at Ukrainian posts recorded just after midnight and again at 2 a.m. local time. ~~~~~ Dear readers, so far, the US and Europe have decried and demanded. They have imposed sanctions that could be tougher if Europe agreed. But, there is no plan. No set of demands to be met with specific penalties for non-compliance. To force Putin to cooperate and to make his separatist pawns cooperate with all international investigations. To hand over all debris, MH17 recorders, bodies and body parts to them. To force Putin to act immediately to stop arming and training the separatists and to withdraw all Russians and equipment from Ukraine. The plan must come from a US President firm in his resolve and with America's allies ranged behind him because he has clearly set out his plan. The penalties? Stepwise : Close Russia to international air traffic. Refuse to let Russian planes, including diplomatic planes unless granted passage for specific reasons, land anywhere in allied territories. Freeze ALL Russian assets in all allied banks. Move NATO forces to Ukraine borders. Suspend Russia's veto as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Gear up to supply US gas to Europe so that Russia loses this income when winter arrives. Treat Putin like the terrorist he has become.