by Stephen Lendman

Some governments lie some of the time, some most of the time and some virtually every time on issues mattering most.

Nothing from Washington or other Western governments should ever be believed. Their Big Lies consistently drown out hard truths - the bigger the issue, the greater the lie.

Last July, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) crashed near Donetsk, Ukraine. It was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 283 passengers and 15 crew members perished.

At the time, Washington irresponsibly blamed Donbass self-defense forces - despite no evidence suggesting their culpability. US authorities claimed a Russian-supplied Buk surface-to-air missile fired from territory they controlled was responsible. Moscow blamed Ukraine. The Dutch Safety Board launched an investigation.

A preliminary September 9 report said MH17 "broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside" - without further explanation.

A final report is due out later this year. Truth and full disclosure on major issues aren’t Western attributes.

A Russian ground-to-air missile didn't down MH17. No credible evidence proves it. Shrapnel marks suggested high-caliber projectile perforations perhaps fired at close range from a military aircraft.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a Ukrainian one flying close to MH17 when it was downed. Western media buried the information - sticking to the official Big Lie.

Almaz-Antey is a Russian weapons manufacturer. It produces Buk missiles. It conducted its own investigation into what downed MH17.

It refutes the Western version of what happened. It said a Buk 9M38-M1 missile fired from Ukrainian-controlled territory was responsible.

Its production in Russia stopped in 1999 - three years before Almaz-Antey was founded in 2002.

Russia's military uses Buk 9M37 missiles. As of 2005, Ukraine had 991 Buk 9M38-M1 missiles, according to Almaz-Antey's report.

It's chief executive, Yan Novikov, told reporters "(w)e have conclusive evidence that the Ukrainian armed forces have this type missile."

Its chief engineer, Mikhail Malyshev, said "(t)he key feature of the 9M38-M1 missile is that it creates a particular 'scalpel'-shaped area perpendicular to the missile's direction."

"It was exactly its scalpel's traces and impressions found on the plane's skin that allowed us to find the missile's approach trajectory with a high degree of probability."

Damage analysis showed if the missile was fired from Snezhnoye as Kiev alleged, "the entire front end of the cabin would have been blown off."

"The shrapnel moved from the nose of the plane to its tale inside its fuselage. The left engine, left wing and partially the tail unit were damaged."

"Specialists concluded that the missile was moving with a considerable intersection of the plane's flight path. That is, not from the front but from the side."

"We are willing to carry out a (field test demonstration) demolition of a 9M38M1 missile at a specified angle and aimed at the same model aircraft," Malyshev added.

US satellites were overflying the area on the day of the incident. Washington hasn't revealed what it knows - for sure that neither Russia or Donbass freedom fighters had anything to do with downing MH17.

Key is who benefits from what happened. Russia and Donbass self-defense forces had nothing to gain - plenty to lose.

Kiev and Washington benefit greatly by blaming Moscow and Donbass fighters for their crime - a classic false flag, a US specialty.

On May 22, Almaz-Antey appealed at the European Court of Justice against EU sanctions imposed on the company.

Its chief executive, Yan Novikov, earlier said "(t)he inclusion of our company on the sanctions list is groundless. The EU has not presented any supporting evidence of our involvement in destabilizing the situation in Ukraine."

The company's products include sophisticated S-300, S-400 and S-500 surface-to-air missile defense systems as well as Topol intercontinental ballistic missiles.

It wants the record set straight. It had nothing to do with downing V - nor did Russia or Donbass freedom fighters.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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