Missile downed Malaysian plane?
Follows recent warning of
'nightmare' threat to airliners
Just eight days after a terrorist
attack in the city of Kunming dubbed “China’s September 11th,” a Malaysia
Airlines flight carrying mostly Chinese passengers disappeared over the South China Sea.
While the international probe is
in its early stages and questions are being raised about the prospect of
terrorism, investigators would be wise to thoroughly examine the possibility of
a missile attack in light of recent information about the global proliferation
of such projectiles capable of downing civilian airliners.
Further, China has issued a series
of warnings about North Korean missiles, including one that crossed paths with
a Chinese airliner carrying 220 people just last week.
On Friday, China complained to North
Korea when one of its missiles crossed paths with a
civilian jet last Tuesday that had departed Tokyo’s
Narita airport en route to the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.
One day earlier, South Korea’s defense ministry released a
statement saying the Chinese civilian plane had “passed as the ballistic
missile (from North Korea)
was in the course of descending.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
Qin Gang told reporters, “On this issue, we have already contacted the North
Korean side to convey our deep concern.”
“If any country is to hold
training or exercises, it should take measures in accordance with international
practice to ensure the safety of civil [facilities] in relevant airspace and
maritime space,” said Qin.
Qin said the jet was flying over
international waters at an altitude of 10,000 meters, or 32,800 feet.
“The rocket could have hit the
plane on its way down,” he said. “North Korea had not given any
warning. It was an unexpected and immoral act that goes against international
norms.”
One week earlier, North
Korea reportedly test-fired two short
range missiles into the sea.
In January, former CIA Director David Petraeus warned of a “nightmare”
scenario in which the proliferation of missiles could provide terrorists the
ability to shoot down passenger airplanes.
The largest terrorist looting of
Man-Portable-Air-Defense-Systems, or MANPADS, reportedly took place immediately
after the U.S.-NATO military
campaign that helped to end Moammar Gadhafi’s rule in Libya.
Gadhafi had hoarded Africa’s biggest known reserve of MANPADS, with his stock
said to number between 15,000 and 20,000. Many of the missiles were stolen by
militias fighting in Libya,
including those backed by the U.S.
their anti-Gadhafi efforts.
Last week, there were unverified
claims some MANPADS went missing in Ukraine.
Last April, the United Nations
released a report revealing that weapons from Libya
to extremists were proliferating at an “alarming rate,” fueling conflicts in Mali, Syria,
Gaza and
elsewhere.
Most MANPADS are designed to down
a low-flying aircraft. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, however, reportedly
disappeared from radar while flying at cruising altitude in fine weather.
The details surrounding the fate
of the Malaysia Airlines flight could take months or even years to fully
emerge. While it is too early to jump to conclusions and the possibilities will
evolve along with the investigation, some reports about the flight are
technically consistent with a potential missile strike.
Reuters has exclusively quoted a
senior source inside the probe saying they were narrowing the focus of the
investigation to the possibility the aircraft disintegrated mid-flight.
Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad
Jauhari Yahya told reporters the airline had no indication of any distress
signal from the pilot, with CBS News reporting this suggested “that whatever
happened to the plane occurred quickly and possibly catastrophically.”
Other reports say radar tracking
the flight indicated the pilot may have turned back from its path to Beijing before
disappearing. It was unclear how quickly the airplane did an about face or why
the pilot may have decided to reverse course.
Meanwhile, international
intelligence agencies have joined the investigation amid news that two
passengers boarded the jet using stolen passports, raising terrorism concerns.
‘Nightmare’ threat targets
passenger aircraft
At a conference in Tel Aviv in
January, Petraeus warned of a “nightmare” scenario in which missile
proliferation could provide terrorists the capability to shoot down a civilian
airliner.
Petraeus was speaking at the
annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, a think-tank
at Tel Aviv University.
He referred to a video posted on
YouTube by the Sinai-based Ansar Jerusalem jihadist group, which claimed it had
fired a surface-to-air missile at an Egyptian helicopter.
“I mean, shooting down a
helicopter with an apparent shoulder-fired missile is a big deal,” Petraeus
said.
“As you know, that was always our
worst nightmare, that a civilian airliner would be shot down by one. Which is
why we were so concerned when they moved around,” he said.
The MANPADS didn’t just move
around. Thousands were looted when Gadhafi’s reserves were unprotected
following the NATO campaign there in
2011.
At the time, CBS News reported the U.S. was unable to secure
“thousands” of MANPADS.
CBS quoted a “well-placed source”
divulging that hundreds of missiles were tracked going to the group Al Qaida in
the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, the al-Qaida franchise based in Algeria that is now
considered to be one of the gravest threats to the U.S.
Malaysia
Joseph
Y. Yun is the U.S.
ambassador for Malaysia,
and was the deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of State.
Note: James Keith was the
U.S. ambassador for Malaysia,
and the deputy assistant secretary for the U.S.
Department of State.
John
F. Kerry is the secretary at the U.S.
Department of State for the Barack
Obama administration, and married to Teresa
Heinz Kerry.
Teresa Heinz
Kerry is married to John F. Kerry,
and an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Ivo
H. Daalder was a senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and is the U.S. permanent representative for NATO.
John
R. Allen was the supreme allied commander Europe
nominee for NATO, and is a fellow at
the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
William
M. Daley is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, a contributor for the CBS
News, was the chief of staff for the Barack
Obama administration, and a director at the Boeing Company.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews was an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a board member for
the International Crisis Group, is the
president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank),
a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a
2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United
States in war)
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution
(think tank), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think
tank), the Human Rights Watch, and
the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a
benefactor for the Human Rights Watch,
and is a board member for the International
Crisis Group.
Anwar
Ibrahim was a board member for the International
Crisis Group, and the deputy prime minister for Malaysia.
Wesley
K. Clark is a board member for the International
Crisis Group, and was the supreme allied commander – Europe
for NATO.
Javier
Solana was the secretary general for NATO,
is a director at the Human Rights Watch,
a board member for the International
Crisis Group, and a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), a member of
the Commercial Club of Chicago, a director at the General Dynamics Corporation, and the president for Henry Crown and Company.
Lester Crown
was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), a director
at the General Dynamics Corporation,
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the chairman for Henry Crown and Company.
John
M. Keane is a director at the General
Dynamics Corporation, a friend of David
H. Petraeus, and was a senior adviser for KKR & Co. LP.
David H. Petraeus
is a friend of John M. Keane, and the
KKR Global Institute chairman for KKR
& Co. LP.
James N. Mattis
is a director at the General Dynamics
Corporation, and was the supreme allied commander for NATO.
James L. Jones
Jr. is a director at the General
Dynamics Corporation, the national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, the supreme
allied commander – Europe for NATO, and a director at the Boeing Company.
Thomas R.
Pickering was the SVP for the Boeing
Company, a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is
a co-chair for the International Crisis
Group, and a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think
tank).
Anwar
Ibrahim was a board member for the International
Crisis Group, and the deputy prime minister for Malaysia.
Henry
Crown and Company is an investor in the General Dynamics Corporation, and an investor in the Chicago Bulls.
Dennis
Rodman was a player for the Chicago
Bulls, and met with Kim Jong Un
in 2013.
Kim
Jong Un met with Dennis Rodman
in 2013, and is the leader of North Korea.
Dennis Rodman Defends North Korean Trips, But Won’t Go
Back There
By Anne Lu | March 10, 2014 9:20 AM EST
Dennis Rodman will not go back to North Korea if the people don’t want him to. The former Chicago Bulls
star apologised if he has put anyone in harm’s way during his trips to the
hermit nation.
“I wish they understood the whole
purpose of why I went to North
Korea. I wish they did,” the retired baller told
ESPN in an interview.
Rodman insisted that his motives
were pure when he went to the East Asian country twice to meet its leader Kim Jong-un.
His trips were highly criticised,
with some people saying his fraternisation with the North Korean dictator meant
he was condoning him.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson
also slammed Rodman’s trip, claiming it interfered with diplomacy efforts.
Bill
Richardson was the United Nations
U.S.
ambassador for the Barack Obama
administration, and is a director at Refugees
International.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for Refugees International.
George
Soros was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society, and is a board member for the International Crisis Group.
Mark Malloch-Brown
was the vice chairman for Refugees
International, and is a co-chair for the International Crisis Group.
Samantha
Power was a board member for the International
Crisis Group, and is the United
Nations U.S.
ambassador.
Anwar
Ibrahim was a board member for the International
Crisis Group, and the deputy prime minister for Malaysia.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews was a board
member for the International Crisis
Group, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank),
is the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think
tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think
tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United
States in war)
Teresa Heinz
Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and married to John F. Kerry.
John
F. Kerry is married to Teresa Heinz
Kerry, and the secretary at the U.S.
Department of State for the Barack
Obama administration.
James
Keith was the deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S.
ambassador for Malaysia.
Joseph
Y. Yun was the deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of State, and is the U.S.
ambassador for Malaysia.
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