--- title: Ron Paul Hints U.S. Actually Responsible for Malaysia Airlines Crash description: He raises the possibility that the U.S. may be using the crash to start a war against Putin. canonical: https://time.com/3012968/malaysia-arilines-ukraine-crash-ron-paul/ author: Jay Newton-Small article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-21T17:33:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:01:03.521Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ron Paul Hints U.S. Actually Responsible for Malaysia Airlines Crash og:description: He raises the possibility that the U.S. may be using the crash to start a war against Putin. og:url: https://time.com/3012968/malaysia-arilines-ukraine-crash-ron-paul/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc720a2b58b53b703/69869c86cd68482453095bee/ap617988751073.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1935 og:image:height: 1088 og:image:alt: Ron Paul og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ron Paul Hints U.S. Actually Responsible for Malaysia Airlines Crash twitter:description: He raises the possibility that the U.S. may be using the crash to start a war against Putin. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc720a2b58b53b703/69869c86cd68482453095bee/ap617988751073.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ron Paul Says U.S. May Share Responsibility for Malaysia Airlines Plane Crash > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5d1d4f75-82a3-4816-bc93-342a64430e78&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Malaysia Airlines Ukraine Crash: Who Shot Down MH17 [Watch (HLS stream): Malaysia Airlines Ukraine Crash: Who Shot Down MH17](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GVJ1uqxb.m3u8) (2:44)  _Published 2014-07-18. With the White House confirming MH17 was shot out of the air, the question becomes who pulled the trigger?_  by [Jay Newton-Small](https://time.com/author/jay-newton-small/)  ## Jay Newton-Small Jul 21, 2014 5:33 PM UTC  Former U.S. Rep. and presidential candidate Ron Paul waves to supporters before speaking at a campaign rally for U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel, Saturday, June 14, 2014, at Gander Mountain in Hattiesburg, Miss. Former U.S. Rep. and presidential candidate Ron Paul waves to supporters before speaking at a campaign rally for U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel, Saturday, June 14, 2014, at Gander Mountain in Hattiesburg, Miss. Kelly Price—AP/The Hattiesburg American  by [Jay Newton-Small](https://time.com/author/jay-newton-small/)  ## Jay Newton-Small Jul 21, 2014 5:33 PM UTC Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul claimed Sunday that the U.S. and European Union may share responsibility for the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine last week. “While western media outlets rush to repeat government propaganda on the event, there are a few things they will not report,” Paul, a former Republican congressman from Texas, wrote [on his website](http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2014/july/20/what-the-media-won’t-report-about-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh17.aspx). “They will not report that the crisis in Ukraine started late last year, when the EU and U.S. overthrew the elected Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych. Without U.S.-sponsored ‘regime change,’ it is unlikely that hundreds would have been killed in the unrest that followed. Nor would the Malaysian Airlines crash have happened.” Paul is the father of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who is ahead in polls of likely candidates running for the GOP nomination for president in 2016\. The younger Paul has come under attack in recent weeks from Republicans such as former Vice President Dick Cheney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a potential rival, for being too isolationist on his foreign policy. Ron Paul, who ran for president in 2008 and 2012, and his son Rand both hail from the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, which advocates less intervention abroad, though Rand Paul has in recent months tried to distance his himself from his father. Rand Paul’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his father’s editorial. In the post Sunday, Ron Paul goes on to write that Ukraine separatists would have everything to lose if they shot down the plane, and nothing to gain, suggesting Ukrainian culpability. “They will not report that the Ukrainian government has much to gain by pinning the attack on Russia, and that the Ukrainian prime minister has already expressed his pleasure that Russia is being blamed for the attack,” Paul said. “They will not report that the missile that apparently shot down the plane was from a sophisticated surface-to-air missile system that requires a good deal of training that the separatists do not have.” President Obama suggested Friday that blame for the crash lay with Russian-backed separatists, and Ukraine has released audio-recordings allegedly documenting conversations about the missile strike among separatists. “Evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that is controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine,” he said. Ron Paul compared the incident to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own people last summer. “Assad was also gaining the upper hand in his struggle with U.S.-backed rebels and the U.S. claimed that the attack came from Syrian government positions,” Paul said. “Then, US claims led us to the brink of another war in the Middle East.” At the end of the post, Ron Paul says it is entirely possible that Russia is responsible for the crash, just as the Obama administration has suggested. “Of course it is entirely possible that the Obama administration and the US media has it right this time, and Russia or the separatists in eastern Ukraine either purposely or inadvertently shot down this aircraft,” he writes. “The real point is, it’s very difficult to get accurate information so everybody engages in propaganda.” ## Transcript Welcome to The Brief for Friday July 18th I'm Ben Goldberger and today we're looking at what happened in Malaysian Airlines flight 17. US officials confirmed that a surface to air missile brought down the commercial passenger jet in Eastern Ukraine yesterday as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur killing all 298 people on board. Apparantly, have been shot down. Shot down, not an accident. Blown out of the sky. But what isn't known is who is responsible for firing the fatal missile. President Obama filled in some more details in public remarks today. Over the last several weeks, Russian backed separatists have shot down a Ukrainian transport plane. And a Ukrainian helicopter, and they claimed the responsibility for shooting down a Ukrainian fighter jet, moreover, we know that these separatists have received a steady flow of support from Russia. Those rebels have used Russian made missiles to take down Ukrainian military planes as recently as this week. And it's possible that separatists mistook the plane for a military aircraft. That's a sentiment former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed with in an appearance on Charlie Rose. It probably had to be Russian insurgents. Now, how we determine that will require some forensics. But then, if there is evidence pointing in that direction. The equipment had to have come from Russia. Russian president Vladimir Putin has been careful with his words. He said Ukraine bares responsibility for creating a climate of political unrest. But he did not accuse the country of shooting the plane down. Nor has he said whether Russia armed the rebels with such a powerful missile. Putin did echo the international calls for a cease fire earlier today. That's essential for any investigation at the crash site to be of value. Right now the area's controlled by the separatists and is considered unsecure. Meaning plenty of evidence could be tampered with before investigators get their hands on it. What's still not clear is which country will lead the investigation. Or whether the black box flight recorders that could contain critical clues have been found. The rebels have said they have the devices, but experts are not sure if that's true. Meanwhile, friends and families of the victims are grieving around the world. The tragedy has hit the Dutch especially hard. 189 of the passengers are from the Netherlands. They included the renowned AIDS researcher Jeop Lange, who was traveling with colleagues to the 20th International AIDS Conference. For one Australian family, the attack was an especially cruel twist of fate. [ UNKNOWN ] lost her brother and sister- in- law on the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared in March. Yesterday, she found out her step- daughter was on Flight 17. Thanks for watching The Brief. 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