WASHINGTON, July 15. /TASS/. The West has ignored the need for an unbiased investigation into the downing of a Malaysia airliner over eastern Ukraine last year and embarked on a path of sweeping accusations against the people’s militias in the Donbass region, an ex-CIA official told TASS on Wednesday.
Ray McGovern, a retired Central Intelligence Agency analyst, was commenting on the controversy surrounding the idea of creating an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of having shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
“A truly independent investigation is what the world and a decent respect for the opinions of mankind and honoring those killed requires,” McGovern said. “Finding and bringing to Justice those responsible for downing MH17 should be given absolutely top priority. But, sadly, absolute priority was given from the start — without persuasive evidence — to blaming ‘pro-Russian separatists’.”
McGovern, who for 27 years served seven U.S. presidents and regularly prepared daily security briefings for former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, pointed to the fact that ahead of the first anniversary of the disaster on July 17, it was certain “the U.S. (and Russia) know more now than a year ago”.
“Surely, in the year that has passed, better intelligence has been gathered than that which was available when [U.S. Secretary of State John] Kerry made his accusations. It strains credulity beyond the breaking point to suggest that more precise and persuasive intelligence has not been gathered over a whole year,” he said, noting however that “when asked, U.S. intelligence spokespersons contend that there is no additional evidence since Kerry’s rush to judgment on July 20, 2014.”
“One would surmise that if the U.S. had any persuasive evidence to support Kerry’s charges, Kerry or someone else would be shouting it from the rooftops as part of Washington’s current anti-Russia propaganda campaign,” McGovern said. “I can only conclude that the U.S. – now, as when Kerry leveled the charges — either has no persuasive evidence to support its charges, or has collected intelligence that does not fit with Kerry’s charges and thus is being suppressed.
Russian version (with different lead-in):
http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/2121195
Международная панорама
15 июля
Экс-сотрудник ЦРУ: Запад сделал ставку на обвинение ополченцев в уничтожении Boeing
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Если бы американским властям удалось подкрепить теорию о том, что лайнер был сбит ополченцами, то “госсекретарь США Джон Керри или кто-либо еще кричали бы об этом с крыш”, считает бывший разведчик
[If American leaders could substantiate their theory that the airliner was destroyed by the people’s militias …, they would be shouting it from the rooftops, says the former intelligence officer.]
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ВАШИНГТОН, 15 июля. /Корр.ТАСС Дмитрий Кирсанов/.
После катастрофы Boeing-777 “Малайзийских авиалиний” на Украине 17 июля 2014 года Запад пошел по пути огульных обвинений в случившемся ополченцев Донбасса и игнорирования необходимости проведения объективного разбирательства обстоятельств трагедии. Такое мнение высказал корр.ТАСС ветеран американской разведки Реймонд Макговерн, комментируя противоречия вокруг идеи создания международного трибунала для привлечения к ответственности виновных в уничтожении авиалайнера.