12 January 2011

POLAND/ RUSSIA: 13 Jan. UPDATE: Moscow Blames Incompetent/Pressured Polish Pilots For Tragic Smolensk Crash; Jaroslaw Kaczynski Calls Report A "Joke."

LINK CHANGE/ MORE DETAILS, CONTEXT/
NYTIMES/ Ellen Barry/

    So much for the recent thaw and new good feelings between Moscow and Warsaw.
     Russian officials (pictured left) have blamed the April Smolensk air crash which killed Poland's president and 95 others solely on Polish pilot error.
    The Russians say that the Polish crew refused to heed bad weather warnings to avoid displeasing President Lech Kaczynski and the pressure of hovering Air Force chief Gen Andrzej Blasik, whom they claim had a concentration of 0.6 grams per liter of alcohol in his blood - just above the drink-driving limit for most EU states.
                                       The report states flatly that the pilots  took "unjustified risk."
          As expected, the dead president's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski  called the report a " joke against Poland."

FOR  ENGLISH EURONEWS REPORT ON POLISH REACTION:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GONMEEJ8stQ&feature=player_embedded#!