There are alarming reports of trigger happy gunmen interfering with the attempts of investigators trying to discover the truth behind the destruction of MH17, together with surprising disrespect for the bodies scattered across the countryside of east Ukraine. This is appears to be in sharp contrast to the work of the emergency services and ordinary people in the locality of the crash, overwhelmed as they are by the scale of the disaster.
These reports are causing revulsion across the world and are severely damaging the cause of the separatists. The whole ghastly episode is a public relations disaster for the Kremlin, because of its supposed support for these armed units. Yet every independent expert commentator urges caution before apportioning blame. The prima face evidence is of a mistake by the separatists, but some, including Moscow, believe that Kiev has something to hide. This could be worrying as it is a matter of fact that the separatists have everything to lose from this disaster and cannot gain anything from it. On the other hand many at the centre of the Ukraine government are as keen as mustard to pull NATO in and this outrage, they wrongly calculate, may just do that. They may be innocent but they have a motive and their innocence needs to be properly tested.
Meanwhile it should be clear to everybody that blaming Russia for everything is pointless and counter productive. It is doubtful that Russia actually has as much control of the separatist militias as the West likes to assert. There are signs of Russian mercenaries with a pro Soviet agenda on the loose who want to turn the clock backwards. This cannot be welcome in the Kremlin. It is, however, clear that the crisis in Ukraine cannot be solved without Russian participation and that will work only if Russia and the West are in step. Otherwise loads more innocent people will be killed.
Instead of these repetitive phone calls from the White House and Downing Street to Putin issuing demands and threats, it could just be that a softer tone asking for his suggestions might be a more grown up approach, yielding better results. Respect for the nearly three hundred dead and concern for those they have left behind numb with grief, make settling differences among the powers in play an obligation. This blog detects that a cautious President Obama senses this. Prime Minister Cameron, as usual utterly clueless on foreign policy, does not.