A fine example of spin: MH370 & the Uighurs

In a moment I'll provide a link to a Thompson/Reuters piece from the CBC news website, concerning the investigation into the disappearance of flight MH370, March 8, 2014.
It is a fine news piece and I'm not calling into question anything about the journalism.
I'm sure everything in the piece is factual.
The problem I have with the piece, the reason it is "spin" is that it speculates on (reasonable) hypotheses that assign blame to a particular group, the Uighurs, Chinese Muslims.
Furthermore, it brazenly does so in the middle of a very important investigation. (The next day...)
The fact that this news piece exists in the first place indicates a desire for the populace to think a certain way.
Now, it may turn out that everything speculated upon in the piece will turn out to be 100% accurate, this is not what is in contention.
Obviously, this is a story everyone should be watching closely.

A SUMMARY of Malaysia Airlines missing jet...

-Suspicions abound that MH370 might have been highjacked or deliberately destroyed because of the two passengers with stolen passports (Austrian and Italian) as well as "Two other European travelers, possibly Ukrainian."

-'People with fake passports present a huge problem for security. I strongly believe that they had something to do with the plane going missing.' says the Chinese university security expert.

-"Early indications show some sort of a security lapse, but I cannot say any further right now." - says the Malaysian security official.

-Asked how strongly investigators suspected foul play, the second Malaysian official said: "There are initial indications but it's too early...who knows what happened on that plane. But we are keeping our minds open."

-The timing of the incident, a week after knife-wielding assailants killed at least 29 people at a train station in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, led to speculation that militants from China's Uighur Muslim minority could be involved." (This is not a quote from anyone, this is the journalist, this is pure spin.)

-One of the Malaysian officials said the authorities were not ruling out Uighur involvement in the jet's disappearance, noting that Uighurs were deported to China from Malaysia in 2011 and 2012 for carrying false passports.

The rest of the piece goes on to explain that Malaysian and Chinese officials have not been able to find anything tying MH370 to the Uighurs, but they really, really feel like it was them.

So now we know who they would prefer we blame regardless of the outcome.

Please do read the article.
Please to be keeping one's eyes peeled.

reply to post by briantaylor


Well if they knew there were people on board with false identities, they could have kept the plane sequestered and vetted everyone. I don't see them blowing a passenger jet out of the sky for this.

An Update, (of sorts)

The following link is to a Singapore site that claims to have published a censored and uncensored picture of the passenger list for flight MH370.
It further claims that the name blurred out is an Uygher name. (And yes apparently you can spell it Uygher or Uigher.)
Have a look, if you like unverified spin...

Who is passenger 84?

originally posted by: briantaylor
The problem I have with the piece, the reason it is "spin" is that it speculates on (reasonable) hypotheses that assign blame to a particular group, the Uighurs, Chinese Muslims.


The rest of the piece goes on to explain that Malaysian and Chinese officials have not been able to find anything tying MH370 to the Uighurs, but they really, really feel like it was them.

Did you not see the satellite chart showing the Arcs of position for the final contact with MH370?

The northern arc passed through Kazakhstan which is Uighur and Al Qaeda territory.

That seems like pretty good evidence to me.

Yet I've not heard a single word about any satellite images of the region or even whether a search there was ever considered.

Does anyone else consider that odd?

a reply to: Psynic

Well the whole thing is odd. It was squirrely from the beginning. If it were these guys they would have been shouting it from the rooftop. The fact that they came out and said hey was not us means everything. History tells us if it were a terror group they would have taken credit for it.

No, I am more apt to believe we have another pilot gone bonkers. He had a second apartment, something going on and you can bet it had something to do with a relationship. Something just not right there. Why would the wife not talk. The family been to off the scenes for me, speaking thru spokesman etc. Just don't buy it.

The Bot

originally posted by: dlbott
a reply to: Psynic

Well the whole thing is odd. It was squirrely from the beginning. If it were these guys they would have been shouting it from the rooftop. The fact that they came out and said hey was not us means everything. History tells us if it were a terror group they would have taken credit for it.

No, I am more apt to believe we have another pilot gone bonkers. He had a second apartment, something going on and you can bet it had something to do with a relationship. Something just not right there. Why would the wife not talk. The family been to off the scenes for me, speaking thru spokesman etc. Just don't buy it.

The Bot

The Uighurs DID come out and claim responsibility!

It is our news agencies and spin doctors that have suppressed that truth.

Your suspicion that things aren't adding up with the pilot is well founded. Him having been in court on the the day of the flight in the trial of his political leader who was deposed with a conviction for homosexual behaviour could mean he was emotionally distressed. We know he was a man of political conviction from this and the shirt he was photographed wearing that read "Democracy is Dead".

Perhaps he was sympathetic to the Uighur cause, it certainly was one devoid of Democratic principle.