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The United States gave a conflicting response to the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine over the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner.

On Friday, President Obama gave a subdued and measured response to the tragedy in Ukraine over the missile attack which brought down the Malaysia jetliner

The Washington Post reported the United States is building a circumstantial case against Russia for the downing of a Malaysian airliner, as President Obama said Russian supplies of sophisticated weapons to Ukrainian separatists were “not an accident.”

The Washington Post continued to report that Obama stopped short of publicly accusing the separatists, or their Russian patrons, of pulling the trigger. But he left little doubt whom he believed was to blame for what he called “an outrage of unspeakable proportions.”

President Obama stated that evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that is controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine.  We also know that this is not the first time a plane has been shot down in eastern Ukraine.  Over the last several weeks, Russian-backed separatists have shot down a Ukrainian transport plane and a Ukrainian helicopter, and they claimed responsibility for shooting down a Ukrainian fighter jet. Moreover, we know that these separatists have received a steady flow of support from Russia.  This includes arms and training.  It includes heavy weapons, and it includes anti-aircraft weapons.

The president continued to state, “There has to be a credible international investigation into what happened.  The U.N. Security Council has endorsed this investigation, and we will hold all its members — including Russia — to their word.  In order to facilitate that investigation, Russia, pro-Russian separatists, and Ukraine must adhere to an immediate cease-fire.  Evidence must not be tampered with.  Investigators need to access the crash site.

The question is who is going to access and preserve the crash site when Russian separatists have prevented access to the site?

This subdued remark was a far cry from the statement United States U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power gave at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

Ambassador Power gave a stinging condemnation of the tragedy and stated by giving a legal point by point assessment of evidence which led to this tragedy and who is ultimately responsible.

Powers stated, Russia says that it seeks peace in Ukraine, but we have repeatedly provided this Council with evidence of Russia’s continued support to the separatists. Time after time, we have called on the Russian government to de-escalate the situation, by stopping the flow of fighters and weapons into Ukraine, pressing separatists to agree to a cease-fire and release all hostages, and support a roadmap for negotiations. Time after time, President Putin has committed to working towards dialogue and peace: in Geneva in April, in Normandy in June, and in Berlin earlier this month.  And every single time, he has broken that commitment.

Powers concluded by stating, “This war can be ended. Russia can end this war. Russia must end this war.”

The president commented that “I think that this certainly will be a wake-up call for Europe and the world that there are consequences to an escalating conflict in eastern Ukraine; that it is not going to be localized, it is not going to be contained.”

The problem even after this the Europeans will not do anything unless the United States takes the led first, the Europeans have never been able to do anything internationally unless the U.S. led from the front.

The conflicting statements by the U.S., and the subdued and unemotional response by the president, just feed s into a narrative that Obama is disengaged from world events.

Even onn Monday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest stated, “I think that there have been a number of situations in which you’ve seen this administration intervene in a meaningful way, that has substantially furthered American interests and substantially improved the, uh, you know, the – the tranquility of the global community.”

This was a strange statement considering you had conflicts in Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, and in the South China Sea.

Too often our allies continue to be perplexed and confused at the rudderless direction and commitment of the U.S. in the international arena.   This lead from behind has only embolden our adversaries and encouraged others to fill the vacuum left by the United States.