Malaysia Airline Flight MH17 Crashes, 298 Passengers & Crew Dead, Including 23 Americans (Update: Missile Shoots Down Plane)

Malaysia Airline Fight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was traveling at an altitude of 33,000 feet when contact was lost. As reported at Sky News, the plane was said to be  brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile.  The plane crash killing all 298 passengers and crew on board, including children. It is reported that there were 23 Americans listed on the flight manifest; however, there is yet to be confirmation. The victims abord Malaysia Flight MH 17 include nine Britons, the victims included 154 Dutch, 45 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos and one Canadian.

As pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government traded charges about who was behind the surface-to-air missile that downed a Malaysia Airlines jet with 298 aboard Thursday, Ukraine’s separatist rebels on Friday said they have found “most” of the plane’s recording devices.

The Boeing 777 bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was shot down Thursday afternoon at cruising altitude about 35 miles from the border, according to Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister.

Malaysia Airlines originally said there were 280 passengers and a crew of 15 aboard the flight, though it later upped the number of passengers to 283 to account for three infants.

The flight path of Malaysia Arline Flight MH17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down and crashed in Ukraine can be seen at the Business Insider. Read the continual updates from The Guardian of the terrible events.

CNN – VIDEO

CNN – VIDEO

UPDATE I: U.S. official: Missile shot down Malaysia Airlines plane.

A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed in a rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, spurring swift accusations from Ukrainian officials that “terrorists” shot down the aircraft.

The United States has concluded a missile shot down the plane, but hasn’t pinpointed who was responsible, a senior U.S. official told CNN’s Barbara Starr.

The Boeing 777 with 298 people aboard fell from the sky near the town of Torez in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, officials said. A top Ukrainian official said the plane, which was on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was flying at about 10,000 meters (nearly 33,000 feet) when the missile hit.

D-DAY … 70th Anniversary of Our Greatest Generation Who Sacrificed All for Freedom & Liberty

D-DAY, 70th ANNIVERSARY OF HONORING HEROES …

On June 6, 1944, the D-Day invasion began as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France that would serve to turn forever World War II. Allied forces landed on Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches. So many soldiers lost their lives on that “Longest Day”. The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, was the largest seaborne invasion in history as Allied forces invaded Normandy in Operation Overlord in a counter-offensive against German-occupied western Europe. The Greatest Generation gave their lives for freedom on D-DAY. We honor those that fell and those that lived and took the beaches. These are true heroes, do not ever forget the sacrifices these men made on the beaches of Normandy. God Bless The Greatest Generation and Thank you!

On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end, the Allies gained a foot-hold in Continental Europe. The cost in lives on D-Day was high. More than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded, but their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 Soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe, to defeat Adolf Hitler’s crack troops.

Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day Prayer – June 6, 1944:

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them–help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

ALLIED FORCED LAND IN FRANCE … ORIGINAL FOOTAGE

D-Day anniversary events around US and abroad.

D-Day anniversary: ‘World-changing’ day remembered

Thousands gather on Normandy shores to recall ‘The Longest Day’

Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day … “These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc”

And behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there. These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. And these are the heroes who helped end a war. Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender’s poem. You are men who in your “lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with your honor.”

Ronald Reagan – Normandy Speech: Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-Day 6/6/84

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge — and pray God we have not lost it — that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

We’re bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We’re bound by reality. The strength of America’s allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe’s democracies. We were with you then; we’re with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.

Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: “I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.”

Strengthened by their courage and heartened by their value [valor] and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

Thank you very much, and God bless you all.

Reversal of Fortune: 53% of Americans Believe President Barack Obama is Not Respected on World Stage, 41% Think He Is

Leading from Behind: Remember when everyone said that all we had to do was elect Barack Obama and the world would respect us?

What happened to Barack Obama, the International Rock star? Now for the first time in his presidency, a majority of Americans think he is not respected Internationally. According to a recent Gallup poll, 53% of Americans believe that Obama is not respected on the world stage, while 41% think he is. This is quite a turn-around from 2013 where 51% thought he was respected and 43% thought he was not. Barack Obama is not only destroying America from within, he is dwindling America’s respect in the world as well. Can you say … EPIC FAILURE!

Does anyone really wonder why so many Americans have ‘Buyers Remorse’ and if they had a chance to have a re-vote on the 2012 election, they would not vote for Obama to be president.  Barack Obama can thank his lucky stars he was not elected the President of Ukraine. Speaking of the Ukraine, the Obama administration is warning Russia against intervening in Ukraine after the country’s parliament ousted president Viktor Yanukovych. As seen in the poll below that world leaders do not respect Barack, does anyone think Putin is scared of Obama? Hardly.

Gallup.com

GALLUP:

For the first time, more Americans think President Barack Obama is not respected by other world leaders than believe he is. Americans’ opinions have shifted dramatically in the past year, after being relatively stable from 2010 to 2013.

The results are based on Gallup’s annual World Affairs poll, conducted Feb. 6-9. Although opinions about a president’s perceived world standing often track with his job approval rating, a majority of Americans still thought world leaders respected Obama in 2010 and 2011, when his job approval was similar to what it is now. Thus, the recent decline may be more tied to specific international matters from the past year, such as the revelation the U.S. was listening in on foreign leaders’ phone calls, the situation in Syria, increased tensions with Russia, and an uneasy relationship between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Check out the amazing reversal in numbers from Democrats and Independents on their beliefs that Barack Obama is no longer respected as a world leader on the world stage. With Democrats a shift from +14 in 2013 to -11 in 2014. And for Independents, a shift from +12 in 2013 to -15 in 2014.

What would you rather have America, a Cowboy or a coward?

Olympic Teams From Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia Get Terror Threat Ahead of Sochi Winter Games

Will the Sochi Winter Olympics be terror free or are wee about to see terrorism on a world state in real time with social media 24/7?

Ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics and with previous video threats of terror acts promised to take place and with Russian authorities on high alert, it is now being reported that teams from Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia have received terror threats not to send their athletes to the games. Authorities are already on the look out for “Black Widow’s” and other terrorists ahead of the games. Needless to say, talk about a dicey situation.

The Olympic teams of at least five countries said Wednesday that they had received emails threatening attacks at the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, adding to mounting security fears two weeks before competition begins.

The International Olympic Committee told NBC News that it did not consider the threats credible and said that it appeared to be “a random message from a member of the public.”

The Olympic organizing committees of Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia reported getting threats.

According to Zsigmond Nagy, an official of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, he stated the following“I am very pleased to inform everyone that both the IOC and the Sochi organizing committee … declared after the analysis of the letter that this threat is not real,”  “This person has been sending all kinds of messages to many members of the Olympic family.” Hmm, not sure how this individual is so sure.

UPDATE I: The International Olympic Committee said Wednesday that the letter sent to the HOC did not represent any threat to athletes. I guess it all depends on how one defines a threat to athletes. However, the German team described the email as a “terror warning” with words to the effect of “be careful out there in Sochi” and the Italian Olympic Committee described the email as containing “terrorist threats.” That sounds much different that the IOC looking to present a positive front.

“The IOC treats security issues very seriously and forwards any reliable information to the security services. However, it appears that in this case, the letter sent to the HOC does not contain any threat,” an IOC spokesperson told R-Sport.

The Sochi organizing committee also assessed the letter and said there is no real threat, and that the author has also been sending messages to other countries competing in the Olympics, HOC international relations director Zsigmond Nagy told Reuters.

Deal Reached Between Iran & Six World Powers (US, Britain, Russia, China, France and German) Over Tehran’s Nuclear Program … Obama Claims It Will Put “Substantial Limitations” to Prevent Iran From Creating a Nuclear Weapon (Israel PM Calls Deal a ‘Historic Mistake’

OH DEAR GOD … From the President who gave us Obamacare and promised Americans that if they liked their insurance and doctors, they could keep them, PERIOD! comes the following promised deal.

The WAPO is reporting that an agreement was reached over night between Iran and six world powers, the United States, Britain, Russia, China, France and German, that will freeze key parts of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for temporary relief on some economic sanctions. What does this mean? For the next six months Iran is supposedly going to freeze or reverse progress at all of it’s major nuclear facilities and is supposed to halt the installation of new centrifuges used to enrich uranium and caps the amount and type of enriched uranium that Iran is allowed to produce. For this Iran will some relief of trade sanctions and access to some of its frozen currency accounts overseas, concessions said to be valued at less than $7 billion over the six month term of the deal.

Iran and six major powers agreed early Sunday on a historic deal that freezes key parts of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for temporary relief on some economic sanctions.

The agreement, sealed at a 3 a.m. signing ceremony in Geneva’s Palace of Nations, requires Iran to halt or scale back parts of its nuclear infrastructure, the first such pause in more than a decade.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hailed the deal, which was reached after four days of hard bargaining, including an eleventh-hour intervention by Secretary of State John F. Kerry and foreign ministers from Europe, Russia and China.

“It is important that we all of us see the opportunity to end an unnecessary crisis and open new horizons based on respect, based on the rights of the Iranian people and removing any doubts about the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” Zarif told reporters in English. “This is a process of attempting to restore confidence.”

VIDEO – CNN

Hmm, and we are supposed to trust Iran why exactly? Well at this point very few Americans trust the Obama administration. As anyone knows, an agreement is only as good as those signing it. The fact that Iran has never kept its word means nothing to Neville Chamberlain Barack Obama.

Just mere hours after the nuclear deal was reached, the Associated Press reported that Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said the deal recognizes Tehran’s “rights” to maintain an atomic program.

As part of the deal, according to Zarif, Iran retains the right to nuclear technology, including the enriching of uranium under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons — which requires it not to create nuclear weapons or enable other countries to obtain them.

Iran has agreed to what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described as “unprecedented international monitoring” of its nuclear program.

Check out at the 3:40 mark in the video above and also reported on by the Gateway Pundit that Neville Chamberlain Barack Obama says, “Iran should be able to access ‘Peaceful’ nuclear energy. Are you kidding me. This would be a kin to the Russian village of Oymyakon, that has the coldest recorded temperatures of any permanently inhabited location should have access to peaceful air conditioning. Exactly how could one be this clueless and trusting, unless you are Charlie Brown thinking that this is the one time Lucy will not pull the ball away before you kick it? In the very sentence that Obama claims Iran should have access to nuclear energy, he comments they have a record of violating its obligations. Um, and it is going to be different this time, how exactly?

“Iran should be able to access peaceful nuclear energy, but because of its record of violating its obligations, Iran must accept strict limitations on its nuclear program.”

The NRO opines, that this is a  “Foreign-Policy Disaster”.  Yeah, how did that piece of paper signed by Adolph Hitler and peace in our time work for Britain and Europe?

This wretched deal offers one of those rare occasions when comparison with Neville Chamberlain in Munich in 1938 is valid. An overeager Western government, blind to the evil cunning of the regime it so much wants to work with, appeases it with concessions that will come back to haunt it. Geneva and Nov. 24 will be remembered along with Munich and Sep. 29.

Barack Obama has made many foreign-policy errors in the past five years, but this is the first to rank as a disaster. Along with the health-care law, it is one of his worst-ever steps. John Kerry is a too-eager puppy looking for a deal at any price.

With the U.S. government forfeiting its leadership role, the Israelis, Saudis, and perhaps others are left to cope with a bad situation made worse.

UPDATE I: Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, said in a statement broadcast live on television Sunday morning: “Trust is, of course, a two-way street, and we must also find this trust in others. The first step in creating that trust has been taken.”  But then again, who has proved they cannot be trusted?

One of the achievements of Sunday’s agreement, according to Rouhani, is that “the sanctions will be broken. The cracks in the sanctions started began last night, and in future those gaps will be grow.”

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has long doubted the sincerity of Western leaders, expressed guarded approval of the agreement.

Responding to a letter from Rouhani, Khamenei thanked the efforts of Iran’s negotiating team, led by foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, but asked them to continue their vigilance in dealing with old enemies.

“God willing, standing against the arrogant powers is and will be the main criteria on the path forward for those in charge of this issue,” Khamenei wrote.

UPDATE II: Israeli Leader Calls Iran Deal ‘Historic Mistake’ … I think they would know better than John Kerry or Barack Obama seeing that it is Israel that is in the cross-hairs of Iran.

Because why would the Obama administration not get the OK from its greatest ally in the Middle East and the target of Iran’s offensive nuclear capability? PM Netanyahu said, ”What was reached last night in Geneva is not a historic agreement, it is a historic mistake. Today the world became a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world made a significant step in obtaining the most dangerous weapons in the world.”

Israel’s prime minister harshly condemned the international community’s nuclear deal with Iran on Sunday, calling it a “historic mistake” and saying he was not bound by the agreement.

Speaking to his Cabinet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the world had become a “more dangerous place” as a result of the deal and reiterated a long-standing threat to use military action against Iran if needed, declaring that Israel “has the right and the duty to defend itself by itself.”

Israel believes Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon, and in the weeks leading up to Sunday’s agreement, Netanyahu had warned the emerging deal was insufficient.

He had called for increased pressure on Iran, and warned that any relief from economic sanctions would make Iran less willing to compromise during a coming, six-month period aimed at reaching a final agreement.

Netanyahu told his Cabinet that Sunday’s deal gave Iran much-needed relief from the sanctions, but left most of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure intact. In particular, he cited Iran’s continued ability to enrich uranium, a key step in making a nuclear bomb.