To mock President Putins pride and test his paranoia is folly | Simon Jenkins

The downing of flight MH17 was clearly an accident. This tragedy should not be used as an excuse to punish Russia.

Why does foreign policy default to stupid? From the moment that we heard of the Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine it was clearly an accident. Whoevers finger was on the trigger, the tragedy cannot have been meant. This was not another 9/11. It was cock-up, not conspiracy.

Yet foreign policy craves conspiracy. Vladimir Putin blamed the Ukrainian government. Ukraine blamed th...