Strobe Talbott, President of the Brookings Institution and former Deputy Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton, is claiming that Russian separatist Igor Girkin (also known as “Igor Strelkov” or simply “Strelkov”) has taken responsibility for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
Stanford University professor Michael McFaul, who was the U.S. Ambassador to Russia up until February 2014, said the same thing earlier today:
Russian GRU officer Strelkov admitting that he ordered the missile strike against the Malaysian jet.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 17, 2014
Both tweets are being widely circulated on Twitter, each with more than 2,000 retweets at the moment.
We have seen the same claim made elsewhere, including here and here.
Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov, wrote: "In the vicinity of Torez, we just downed a plane, an An-26. It is lying somewhere in the Progress Mine."
— Routes Editor (@RoutesEditor) July 17, 2014
There are, however, serious doubts about the authenticity of Strelkov’s “admission”:
https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/489821307177943040
McFaul himself, who seemed quite sure of himself earlier, is now backpedaling:
.@maxseddon ok thanks for this correction. I was putting into English what other reporting in Russian
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 17, 2014
controversy over whether Strelkov comments were real.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 17, 2014
He also retweeted this:
Donetsk Republic tell me the Strelkov VK page @McFaul and others are citing is a fake made by fans. https://t.co/lrBzlTQRKj
— max seddon (@maxseddon) July 17, 2014
Talbott, on the other hand, has doubled down:
Separatist commander & Kremlin proxy Strelkov reported to have acknowledged shootdown thinking plane was Ukrainian pic.twitter.com/uaWKVlsA7q
— Strobe Talbott (@strobetalbott) July 17, 2014
The truth will come out. As always, remain skeptical. Twitchy will update as news develops.
Update:
And just like that, Talbott is now hedging his bets, too. All of a sudden it’s all very “murky”:
INTERFAX & other pro-RU sources deny Strelkov role in shootdown. This thing is as murky as it is horrendous. But answer & blame will emerge.
— Strobe Talbott (@strobetalbott) July 17, 2014
Update:
And McFaul says he was “just putting out all reports” for the benefit of his readers:
.@ShannonPoe just putting out all reports so my readers themselves can evaluate
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 17, 2014
Next he’ll be telling us that Tom Hanks is dead.
Update:
Now he seems to be saying it’s his job to present the latest rumor as truth:
@ShannonPoe agree. But it's my job Asa a media analyst. Asked to draw conclusions based on imperfect info
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 17, 2014
Update:
Talbott has now deleted one of the tweets (the one at the top of this post). Poor Strobe. That trick never works!
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