Sen. John McCain said Thursday that he is withholding judgment on the Malaysia Airlines crash, but vowed that there would be “hell to pay” if the plane was shot down by the Russian military or separatists.
“To leap to conclusions could be very embarrassing and really inappropriate until we have more information,” the Arizona Republican told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell shortly after reports that a commercial flight carrying 295 people was shot down in the eastern part of Ukraine.
Continue ReadingAfter again noting that he has not yet arrived at any conclusions, the senator said: “But if it is the result of either separatist or Russian actions mistakenly believing this was a Ukrainian war plane, I think there’s going to be hell to pay and there should be.”But McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, cited previous reports of Ukrainian fighter planes being shot down by Russian separatists.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17 was flying from to Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and was hit by a Buk launcher missile, according to adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister Anton Gerashenko. The plane was reportedly flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet and was shot down in eastern Ukraine.
McCain said that the incident could be part of the greater “pattern” of separatists that have the capability of shooting down a plane.
“It has the earmarks of a tragic mistake made by someone who had the capability to just shoot down an aircraft, and we know at least from the last couple of weeks that that could be Russian or separatist Russian capability,” he said.
The Arizona senator has long been critical of the White House’s handling of the situation in Ukraine, accusing President Barack Obama of projecting weakness to Russian President Vladimir Putin and failing to adequately support the Ukrainian military and government.
On Wednesday, the administration increased its sanctions against Russia. In the announcement, Obama said that “Russia has failed to take any of the steps” toward reducing tensions against Ukraine and said that Putin has not demonstrated a commitment to ending the conflict.
McCain on Thursday said the increased sanctions were “helpful” but that the administration’s response has failed Ukraine.
“The sanctions so far in exchange for Crimea have been miniscule,” he said, referring to the sanctions the administration announced after the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula. “These latest enacted by the Obama administration, I think, are helpful. But if you ask the Ukrainian government that’s struggling, they would say they need weapons with which to defend themselves.”
McCain said that he anticipated he will have more information within the next several hours.
Down: Smoke billows into the sky after a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was shot out of the sky at 33,000ft over eastern Ukraine, killing all 295 people on board
Tragedy: TV pictures show a pall of smoke billowing into the sky apparently from the stricken aircraft
Destroyed: An armed pro-Russian separatist stands at a site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region of Ukraine
Catastrophic: A view of one of a crash site in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region. Witnesses said bodies were found scattered for many kilometres
Carnage: A firefighter tackles a blaze at the site of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region of Ukraine
It is believed the plane was struck by BUK surface-to-air missile at 33,000ft around 20 miles before entering Russian airspace.
The missile system is an old Soviet-built weapon designed to engage light aircraft, cruise missiles and drones.
Defence experts have expressed fears in the past they could be used to target at civil aircraft.
A similar launcher was seen by Associated Press journalists near the eastern Ukrainian town of Snizhne earlier today.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation told U.S. President Barack Obama that a Malaysian airplane crashed on Ukrainian territory, the Kremlin said.
Into a war zone: The jet was flying over the crisis-hit region of Ukraine, where the authorities have accused Russia-backed separatists of previous attacks on aircraft
Salvage operation: Emergencies Ministry members work at the crash site after the plane was shot down, killing all 295 on board
An unverified image posted online show Ukrainian inspecting what appears to be wreckage from the doomed flight
Ripped apart: Wreckage of the Malaysian Airlines flight after it crashed in rebel-held territory in Eastern Ukraine
Poignant: Passports of some of the victims. Emergency services rescue worker said at least 100 bodies had so far been found at the scene near the village of Grabovo
