Death Flight Over Ukraine

Vladimir Putin - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009 (Photo credit: World Economic Forum)

In the post-9/11 era, this is what governments fear most:  A band of terrorists using surface-to-air missiles (how they got them doesn't matter) fires one of them at a commercial airliner, obliterating the plane and all those aboard.  This could occur practically anywhere in the world.

Something like that did happen in the skies over Ukraine.  A Malaysian Airlines flight that was coming from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by one of those missiles, killing almost 300 passengers and the flight crew.  The wreckage is scattered over eastern Ukraine, which just happens to be a world hot spot right now.

Right now, the recovery efforts are being poorly handled.  Forces loyal to Russia have commandeered the crash site, and the bodies were held inside refrigerated rail cars.  The rebels claim they will forward the bodies and the evidence over to investigators once they arrive on the scene.  But will they let the investigators do their jobs in what amounts to a war zone?

Before that happens, the finger-pointing has already begun.  The United States and its allies have pointed theirs at Russian President Vladimir Putin, who they claim is backing the insurgents that threaten to seize the eastern half of Ukraine.  Putin, who has made no secret of his wanting to get the Soviet Union back together, has accused the Ukrainian army for shooting down the plane.

But what can you really do to hurt Putin and Russia outside of meaningless economic sanctions?  Western Europe is in a no-win situation because they need Russia's energy and commerce.  And Putin is the man they must deal with, so that's why they're letting him have his way.

For Malaysia Airlines, getting people to fly with them has become an even tougher sell.  Remember Flight 370, the plane that apparently sank somewhere into the Indian Ocean?  They still haven't found it, and may never find it.

So now we have another mystery plane, this one fraught with so many international and security implications that one doesn't know where to begin.  For the victims' families, they don't care about any of that right now.  They just want their loved ones home, one way or another.