There are several other choice goodies in this, which suggest to me that basically, Jackass reads old newspapers when he has the time, not particularly critically, and then dictates the talking points according to what he saw in them. Consequently, many if not all of the talking points are based on misinformation which is several days out of date and has already been retracted by the newspapers concerned. For instance, take this one – and she said this yesterday, it’s in the transcript: “the best thing the Russians could do, honestly, to help the investigation is to use their influence with the separatists to allow access, to make sure looting stops, to let the investigators get in there to make sure the remains are recovered and returned.” Another example, on another topic. A questioner asked: “There have been some riots in Paris over the issue of Gaza. I’m wondering if you see that as indicative of any larger international feelings towards either side.” Harf replied: “Well, let me say first that we obviously have seen some of the horrific anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments that have come up during some of these protests; not all of them, but some, which we would of course strongly condemn as we always do.” This is a confused recollection of a debunked report, it’s as simple as that. I have a separate post dealing in more detail with some of Matt Lee’s questions about Ukraine – RB
State Dept: Blame for downed plane ‘lies directly’ with Putin
Amie Parmes, The Hill, Jul 23 2014
State Dept spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Wednesday that blame for the crashed Malaysian Airlines flight “lies directly at Pres Putin’s feet,” as the Obama administration looked to raise pressure Russia. Usaian officials (claim that they) believe Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired in territory controlled by pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine. Nearly a week after the flight was shot down by Russian militants, Harf told reporters at the State Dept briefing on Wednesday that investigators are still trying to figure out the motives of the culprits. Harf said:
The Russian separatists we believe fired this, in general, could not be doing what they’re doing without the Russians. And responsibility lays at the feet of Pres Putin, not just for this but for every incident that we have seen throughout this conflict, period. […] These Russian separatists who we strongly believe fired this missile would not be there operating without the support of Pres Putin and the Russian Government, would not have been trained without the support of Pres Putin and the Russian Government, would not be armed without the support of Pres Putin and the Russian Government. They would not be there doing what they’re doing, period, so they could fire an SA-11 without the support of Pres Putin and the Russian Government. Yes, direct responsibility lays there. […] We don’t know yet the intentions of the people who fired the SA-11 from the pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory. We just don’t know what their intentions are. They may have been targeting a civilian airliner; they may have been targeting a Ukrainian fighter jet, which they’ve done over a dozen times now. Either way, they’re clearly trying to kill people with an SA-11. […] We are committed to finding out what happened here is so we can hold the people who did it accountable, that people cannot get away with shooting civilian airliners out of the sky. That’s just wholly unacceptable, and that countries that support these kind of separatists, like we’ve seen Russia do, also need to be held accountable. And that’s why you’ve seen additional sanctions; that’s why we’ve said there could be further steps, because that’s just not something that we will allow, that we will stand by and watch, and we do need to get to the bottom of what happened here. […] We’ve been very clear about what’s happening in eastern Ukraine. You have separatists backed by a foreign country who have invaded and been killing people with impunity, who’ve been shooting down Ukrainian military jets, who’ve now taken down a civilian airliner, who’ve been terrorizing populations in eastern Ukraine.
Officials on Tuesday shared new intelligence (what was it? – RB) and said that Russia was responsible for creating the conditions leading to the plane crash, but did not provide direct evidence of Moscow’s involvement. Harf also said that investigators are being given “better access” in Ukraine at the crash site. The area is controlled by pro-Russian militants who initially blocked access to international investigators and delayed returning the victims’ bodies. (quite untrue, see Borodai’s repeated statements that the investigators themselves delayed their own arrival, Harf may not know this, and Jackass himself is incapable of knowing anything in any coherent way, as witness his word salad pronouncements – RB). Harf added that Usaia is “troubled” by reports of looting at the site. (this also is just media drivel – RB). The Obama administration has pressured Moscow to ensure that local militants allow free access to investigators and do not impede any probe. (and obviously, therefore, this last statement is meaningless nonsense – RB).