Don’t ask questions please!! The Russians did it …
My understanding the international OPCW is doing some sort of investigation. Not sure the British are cooperating, see earlier diaries @EuroTrib
○ Novichok: Cui Bono? by Frank Schnittger
○ Gulf War Veterans – NOVICHOK a Deadly Deception
British scientists cannot prove that the novichok nerve agent used to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter was made in Russia, the military laboratory which tested it has said.
Experts at the Porton Down research laboratory were unable to establish “the precise source” of the chemical weapon, the chief executive of the Ministry of Defence facility told Sky News. He added the government had used “a number of other sources to piece together” the conclusion that the Kremlin was responsible.
The admission comes after Russia demanded the UK present “every possible element of evidence” that it was responsible for the suspected assassination attempt that has triggered a global diplomatic row and plunged Moscow’s relationship with many western nations to lows not seen since the Cold War.
[Update-4] Today’s development in context of OPCW history. Playing out the Cold War …
○ The Hague: OPCW Crisis Deepens
More below the fold …
[Update-3]
The Guardian front page, Wednesday 4 April 2018: UK chemical experts unable to confirm nerve agent made in Russia pic.twitter.com/vsV0pjf6Ob
— The Guardian (@guardian) April 3, 2018
END OF 3RD UPDATE
Hey fools, but it fits our propaganda ever since the “reset” button of better relations went up in “orange” smoke … and CIA mirrors. Been taken for a ride?
Novichok nerve agent: What exactly is it? | Sky News |
Novichok chemicals, which are dispersed as ultra-fine powder, are reputed to be the most deadly nerve agents ever made.
« click for more info
Britain says it was "highly likely" Russia was involved in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal.
Russian spy case: Lavrov accuses West of “child games” | ABC Net |
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Britain and its Western partners of playing “childish games” in their response to the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergey Scrippel and his daughter.
He accused all countries of “ignoring all acceptable rules of conduct” and resorting to “false lies and false information”.
Lavrov renewed his denial of Russia’s involvement in the process at a press conference on Monday.
Lavrov’s comments came in response to a question from BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg on the seriousness of the steady tensions in relations between Russia and the West compared to the Cold War era.
“In the classical Cold War, there are rules and acceptable behavior,” Lavrov said.
“I think our Western partners, Britain first, the United States and a few other countries are following them with no insight, they have ignored all acceptable rules of conduct,” he said.
[Update-1]
UK scientists unable to verify source of spy attack nerve agent | DW |
British scientists have been unable to identify the source country of the poison used against Sergei Skripal. Authorities had been quick to blame Russia for the attack and were confident tests would confirm this.
Britain’s Porton Down defense laboratory announced on Tuesday it was unable to verify the precise source of the nerve agent used against Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson told DW in March that Porton Down had “categorical” evidence that Russia was the source of the agent.
For the avoidance of doubt – here is Boris Johnson clearly claiming that Porton Down had confirmed to him the source of the Salisbury nerve agent. Words matter. He lied. pic.twitter.com/oeuZNNxbAZ
— EL4C (@EL4JC) April 3, 2018
Russia says spy poisoning could be distraction from Brexit problems
[Update-2]
Porton Down experts unable to verify precise source of Novichok | The Guardian |
British scientists at the Porton Down defence research laboratory have not established that the nerve agent used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal was made in Russia, it has emerged.
Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), said the poison had been identified as a military-grade novichok nerve agent, which could probably be deployed only by a nation state.
Aitkenhead said the government had reached its conclusion that Russia was responsible for the Salisbury attack by combining the laboratory’s scientific findings with information from other sources.
… two weeks ago Boris Johnson was asked by an interviewer on Deutsche Walle, Germany’s public international broadcaster, how the UK had been able to find out the novichok originated from Russia so quickly.
He replied: “When I look at the evidence, the people from Porton Down, the laboratory, they were absolutely categorical. I asked the guy myself, I said: ‘Are you sure?’ And he said: ‘There’s no doubt.’ So we have very little alternative but to take the action that we have taken.”
Looking ahead to Wednesday’s OPCW meeting, a Foreign Office spokesman said Russia had called it to try to undermine the work of the organisation. The spokesperson said: “This Russian initiative is yet again another diversionary tactic, intended to undermine the work of the OPCW in reaching a conclusion.”
WhoIs Gary Aitkenhead, head of Porton Down? Hired during 2017, he is just a f*cking manager with no knowledge of Porton Down’s historic lab for chemical warfare, established at the end of the First World War … providing Winston Churchill with chemicals to use in Mesopotamia during the 1920s as part of the British Colonial Empire. War criminals!