The Shootdown of Malaysian Flight 17 and the Escalating Crisis in Ukraine

On July 17th, a civilian airliner flying over Ukraine crashed into a field about 30 miles from the Russian border. All 298 people aboard tragically lost their lives. Today, before we do anything else, let us make it clear that we all extend our sympathy to the families of those victims of that crash. There are 298 families at least who are now in deep mourning and suffering, and they have our sympathy and our thoughts and prayers today. Our world today seems overwhelmed with such turmoil. On each continent there are various groups battling each other who are willing to use force and kill others in order to change the status quo or to protect the status quo. We see this today, but we also saw this through the 40 years of Cold War that is within our memory. During that time, people in Hungary, Vietnam, Czechoslovakia, and so many other trouble spots were caught up in local differences and local power struggles that had far-reaching, way beyond their borders implications. Today, Ukraine and Russia are in transition from what is what, and to who knows what is going to happen, but it is a transition, and that transition makes for volatility and undermines the stability, yes, it undermines the stability of the world and threatens world peace.