MH17 disaster creates dilemma for Putin over backing Ukraine's rebels

Guardian (UK) ^ | Friday 18 July 2014 15.07 EDT | Julian Borger and Luke Harding

[Zhang Fei]

It is already clear from Friday's UN security council meeting that if the rebels are found to have carried out the outrage with a Russian weapon, Moscow will find itself more isolated than at any time in its recent history. Nobody around the council table spoke up in support of Churkin.

The concerted western response is to build the circumstantial case against the Russian-backed separatists while awaiting an international inquiry. If that investigation confirms the early suspicions, one western option would be to declare the rebel Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) a terrorist organisation, said Ben Judah, the author of Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin.

"Putin's greatest worry is that [the US] Congress will deem the DNR a terrorist organisation, responsible for the worst attack on a civilian airliner since 9/11, which would make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

"He will do anything possible to avoid that wrath, while not admitting anything," Judah said.

[caww]

....”Obama has the battered spouse syndrome from Putin!”...

LoL..that certainly comes into play...along with Obama’s Chicago thuggery.....add to the mix his inability to be more than a fund raiser and community organizer.... (which is why he cannot act independently from a reluctant EU, nor does he know how to.)....Doesn’t take much to recognize who is going to blink first along the way.