The Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash in restive eastern Ukraine, a tragedy of great proportions, has escalated tensions in Ukraine, and between Russia and the West. An earlier air tragedy, the disappearance of flight MH370 on March 8, proved that only total transparency in international investigation procedures and cooperation built on trust can prevent speculations, conspiracy theories and mutual accusations from spreading panic and increasing tensions.

As of now, the MH17 incident has not seen any such cooperation. The two sides of the Ukraine conflict, the government in Kiev and pro-Russian insurgents, continue to accuse each other of shooting down the plane. The United States and some European Union countries, on their part, hold Russia accountable for the tragedy because it supports the insurgents and supplies them with sophisticated surface-to-air missiles.

Why does the West do so without proper evidence while the investigation is still going on?