For peace, listen to the Blessed Virgin Mary
For the past four days, the headlines of the world was about that Malaysian Airlines MH-17 Boeing 777-200ER which was shot down by pro-Russian separatist over the part of Ukraine that they control up to press time, the bodies of some 190 passengers were already placed on cadaver bags and transported to an unknown destination. Meanwhile the United Nations has remained inutile in solving this great crime and the tragedy here is that the UN just cannot do anything about it. As for the blackbox, it is still missing. Perhaps the Russians have already had it.
There are only three incidents that I know where commercial airliners were shot down by missiles. The first one was the Korean Airlines KAL 007 which a Sukhoi SU-15 "Flagon" Soviet Jet fighter shot down over the Sakhalin Island allegedly over Soviet airspace and 296 people perished in that dastardly incident, which the Russians later admitted was shot down by mistake. While it may have been considered a mistake or an error, we only learned about the whole thing after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Russia opened its archives to this incident.
The second incident was done by the Americans. Yup! America too has its hands bloodied by mistake that cost 290 innocent lives. Twenty-six years ago, on July 3, 1988, a Ticonderoga Class Aegis guided missile cruiser, the USS Vincennes was station in the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf when Iran Air Flt 655 took off from the Bandar Abbas International Airport in Iran with 290 passengers and crew and the USS Vincennes fired two SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles and blew the Airbus out of the sky. After the case was brought into the International Court, the US paid US$ 213,000 per passenger as a settlement to the families of the victims of this ugly incident.
At that time, the USS Vincennes was under attack by Iranian gunboats and its radar tracked an Iran Air Force F-14 taking off at the same time the Iranian Airbus was also taking off. This brought a question as to the capabilities of the US Navy whether it is able to recognize a civilian aircraft from a military aircraft. The US government only expressed its regrets on this incident for the loss of innocent lives, but they never apologized for this incident. To add salt to the injury done, then Pres. George Bush gave the officers and men of the USS Vincennes a post-duty Navy Commendation Medal, something that the US President should never have given even if this incident was considered a mistake.
The shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines MH-17 has also been deemed a mistake by the pro-Russian separatists. But come now, who really manned that SA-11 BUK Missile System? Where they the Russians themselves or did they train the pro-Russian separatists to use this surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile system?
I am sure that you have already seen the video footages over CNN, BBC or Al Jazzera, but these International satellite news outlets never show you any dead bodies because they are too ghastly to show on international TV. However in my book, the only way one can get incensed and indignant with this horrifying incident is to show the gruesome details of this crash. We for those who can stomach raw and uncensored videos, just Google "Vice News MH-17 crash" and you will get the most gruesome footages of this disaster.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has kept silent about this incident. It would help his international image. At this point, we should appeal to the UN to put in UN forces inside Ukraine. I do not believe that those pro-Russian separatists are there to fight for an independent Ukraine. They are there to do the bidding of Pres. Putin, which is why he gave them the arms and ammunition to fight the established Ukrainian government and bring Ukraine back to the Russian fold just like the good old days of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics.
While the Russians would have the international community believe that the shooting down of MH-17 was an error, allow me to remind you that Russia these days are just making too many errors. This brings to mind what the Blessed Virgin Mary said to the three children at the Cova de Ira, Fatima Portugal 97 years ago, "I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If my request is heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church."
If this world wants peace, Pope Francis should do this consecration of Russia now because what is happening in the Ukraine would soon erupt into a bloody war and only the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary would bring peace to this very troubled world.
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