Regarding the apparent decision to get the BUK system out of Ukraine in the immediate aftermath of the MH17 shoot down ; perhaps the operators of the system and their immediate leadership's decision making process was being influenced by a certain measure of panic, and they simply weren't thinking straight?
People are sat here, now, picking apart decisions with the benefit of hindsight, and without the weight of trying to cope with what must be the truly horrible realisation that your actions may well have just killed nearly 300 innocent people, with the potential to open a veritable Pandora's box of consequences for your own side.