> The first article reports the "copious" justification given by other sources

Which isn't done when it is the enemy. Here is a media analysis of the Iranian downing with the downing of a Korean airliner by Russia during the same period. http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/kal-007-and-iran-air-6...

Here are examples for MH17 after cursory searches (imagine swapping Russia/US in the sentences).

https://twitter.com/fstonenyt/status/489926529619476480

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/opinion/malaysia-airlines-...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/opinion/roger-cohen-malays...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/opinion/masha-gessen-does-...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/opinion/Putins-Unconvincin...

This isn't to equate Russian and American propaganda, only pointing out the material and serious distortions of western media.