Those who have so kindly followed my analysis of the Skripal case so far will not have been surprised by this formulation appearing yet again in today’s European Union statement:
The European Union strongly condemns the attack that took place against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, UK on 4 March 2018, that also left a police officer seriously ill. The lives of many citizens were threatened by this reckless and illegal act. The European Union takes extremely seriously the UK government’s assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation is responsible.
The European Union is shocked at the offensive use of any military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, for the first time on European soil in over 70 years. The use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances is completely unacceptable and constitutes a security threat to us all. Any such use is a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, a breach of international law and undermines the rules-based international order. The EU welcomes the commitment of the UK to work closely with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in supporting the investigation into the attack. The union calls on Russia to address urgently the questions raised by the UK and the international community and to provide immediate, full and complete disclosure of its novichok programme to the OPCW.
The European Union expresses its unqualified solidarity with the UK and its support, including for the UK’s efforts to bring those responsible for this crime to justice.
The EU will remain closely focussed on this issue and its implications.
While Boris Johnson may spout off the cuff lies while giving TV interviews, when it comes to any formal document or statement – in parliament, the Security Council, NATO and now the EU – the British government always reverts to this precise formulation “of a type developed by Russia” which attempts to disguise the fact that they have no evidence the material is made in Russia. Many laboratories can produce “novichoks”.
The EU statement very obviously eschews the British government line that Russia is evidently to blame. “The European Union takes extremely seriously the UK government’s assessment” is a double edged statement. Of course such a profound accusation must be taken seriously – whether the accusation redounds eventually to the discredit of the accused and accuser is a different question. There is something patronising about the “takes extremely seriously” line.
As in “we take the views of our customers extremely seriously. Unfortunately none of our agents is available right now, please continue to hold…” followed by thirty minutes of jingle then cuts off. I am told the French text sounds still more disdainful.
Apparently the BBC’s Eddie Mair on the PM programme on BBC Radio 4 today did take up the subject of the peculiar wording “of a type developed by Russia”, though without reaching any conclusion. He mentioned me by name. Now both the UK’s main political radio programmes – PM and Today – have mentioned me by name and discussed my ideas, but neither has given me a chance to reply. Mair is interesting – he first interviewed me on Radio Tay in 1984. He was then a brilliant young school-leaver who looked 12 years old, and came from the Whitfield housing scheme in Dundee, then one of the most deprived and toughest estates in the entire UK. It is a shame that his talent and energy have been wasted in the BBC, but his background does perhaps lead him to go outside the Establishment consensus sometimes.
As it is, here I am on some “fringe” media outlets today, which there are increasing calls from MPs of all major parties to close down, so that non-Establishment views can be completely suppressed.
The Met’s Neil Basu is boasting of how many statements and how many ‘exhibits’ have been collected.
I didn’t know that ‘thin air’ could be put into packets or bottles?
How shameful to see the removal lorries arriving at the Russian Embassy in London.
“No Patients Have Experienced Symptoms Of Nerve Agent Poisoning In Salisbury”
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/03/no-patients-have-experienced-symptoms-of-nerve-agent-poisoning-in-salisbury.html
As seen on previous page, this is a must for those interested.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/03/dun-type-developpe-par-des-menteurs/comment-page-1/#comment-724856
Thank you for highlighting this particular link.
The Russians certainly understand the mindset and MO of the British.
Also interesting to note that Sweden is one of a short list of countries referenced by the Russians as having the capability to manufacture the particular type of chemical weapons under discussion. That would be the same Sweden that has spent years conspiring with the UK to keep Julian Assange locked up in the Ecuadorian Embassy.
Maybe one day people will appreciate Sweden for the pariah state that it truly is.
Loony
Having the ability to make the stuff doesn’t mean that you have done it , as has been assumed by our government.
Craig, thank you for great articles, many people in Poland follow them.
Whole Skripal case is obvious false flag operation. However all accusations and allegations are at odds with logic, obnoxious ‘elites’ keep their course and push all of us to confrontation with Russia. US vassals (among them my country on the top of US lackeys) and puppets controlled by neocon warmongers even don’t try to mask their intentions.
Hysterical rusophobia is a hallmark of Polish authorities/media since 1989. Literally there are no single day without disrespectful, malicious and slanderous comments about Russia and President Putin from Polish politicians and MSM (btw – most of ‘our’ MSM belong either to US (Scripps/Discovery) or Germany (Ringier Axel Springer, Bauer, G+J)). For years they have been increasing. However in last days noticeably moved level up.
Yesterday chancellor Merkel visited Warsaw for a few hours. After meeting with her Polish PM Morawiecki told that Russia is ‘aggressor’ and ‘attacked NATO member’ what requires ‘harmonized and joint response’. Merkel was a bit careful in her words and said ‘There are serious information Russia has something in common with that [Skripal]. Fortunately UK acts [in Skripal case] in transparent manner’. (transparent?? it’s time to cry here or laugh?)
President Putin is politcal chess grandmaster and I admire his patience and calmness. But I’m afraid very narrow margin left he can step back.
I feel so tired. Tired of rampant international terrorism. Of a type developed by US.
PS I’m sorry for mistakes and vocabulary clumsiness, but English is not my language.
L. Very interesting comment on Polish media. Thank you for the insight. Visited there in 1990 and lectured in Warsaw, Lublin, and Krakow.
Extremely interesting about Merkel. Do you mean to say she stated Russia attacked UK in the Skripal incident?
Read for yourself, the statement is here: https://www.bundeskanzlerin.de/Content/DE/Artikel/2018/03/2018-03-15-gift-attacke.html
A lot of changes since 1990 in Poland.
No, she didn’t. During press conference with the clown called Polish PM she was laconic about Skripal and avoided unambiguous terms. Only Morawiecki used words as ‘attack’, ‘aggressor’ etc.
In order to understand better the way news manipulation operates, you should read the very interesting article by Juan Cole on Cambridge Analytica (https://www.juancole.com/2018/03/cambridge-analytica-information.html).
Here is a short quote:
…Chris Wylie, a Cambridge Analytica co-founder, told NBC, “This is based on an idea called ‘informational dominance,’ which is the idea that if you can capture every channel of information around a person and then inject content around them, you can change their perception of what’s actually happening.” He called it “fake news to the next level.”
There is a video which accompanies the article:
https://youtu.be/mpbeOCKZFfQ
How Mr Murray can call himself a “Human Rights Activist” and at the same time act as an apologist for Vladimir Putin is beyond me.
Fine to question The UK government’s evidence carefully. Obviously there must be more to the story than Putin used a secret weapons program to kill a retired old spy who no longer had much to do with anything. Whatever is missing from the story is anybody’s guess right now but making up competing stories of Israeli involvement on even less evidence is not helpful to anybody except Putin.
Mr Murray writes very convincingly in other articles about growing wealth inequality, about ownership of resources being stolen from large portions of the population for the benefit of the elite, about elections and legal systems being corrupted so most people don’t have a democratic or legal voice, about the abuse of the financial system to create and hide obscene personal income. Putin and his oligarch gangster chums are on the wrong side of all these arguments and more. They deserve no benefit of the doubt whatsoever when it comes to the possibility of committing heinous crimes anywhere in the world.
When this self righteous tone extends to dealing with the fact that many Russian oligarchs have now used London for money laundering and donate very freely to the Tories, when we consider that the origin of the international gangster lawlessness in Russia starting 1992 was fostered by the west, then we can look at the origins of why this is happening now.
The pont of Craig Murray’s mention of Israel here is that Russia is not the only possible state with means motive and opportunity here.
Well, means anyway. No one said anything about motive or opportunity…
Israel has a very strong motive and it is obvious to anyone with a map of the Middle East and a knowledge of the fact that Hezbollah is the only Arab army to EVER make Israel leave somewhere they wanted to occupy. . Russia saved Syria from destruction at the hands of extremist sunni jihadis who would make sure that shi’a militia like Hezbollah would get no help via Syria. Why is this not obvious?
Don’t be silly. The reprisals against Putin on this will be minor and have no effect whatsoever on the Middle East, unless The UK government can come up with much stronger evidence, which I guess they are working hard to do. As Mr Murray points out, the current evidence is circumstantial at best. The EU are not fully backing the theory that Russia did it. Trump isn’t at all concerned. Even May’s expulsions of diplomats didn’t go very high. You never know what may happen, though. It took years for the evidence that Russian agents killed Litvinenko to really be made in public beyond reasonable doubt. Not that Litvinenko is at all the same character as Skripal, but it shows Russia has form at killing people that irritate them on foreign soil and that evidence in such cases takes time to become clear.
Did Skripal work for Christopher Steele and his company?
Has such a connection been reported and verified anywhere in the UK press?
Did Skripal work on the Steele “Pee Dossier” used in the Trump-Russia investigations by the FBI?
Another pertinent question is did he ever work for Boris (Abramovich that is)?
SA, yes and links to any other Mafiya types? The various mafiyas are organized on an ethnic basis: Russian, Ukrainian, Jewish, Chechen, etc.
One can notice that Putin split the Oligarchs into two. Ones who cooperate with the Russian state led by Putin and ones who do not and oppose the present Russian leadership and subvert the state.
For myself and colleagues these are, indeed, very pertinent. As to Trump and Steeles Pee Dossier, whether one likes Trump or not, this operation has been used to influence and subvert the Constitutional election processes of the United States. Steele and his dossier are serious matters. Some might advise the man to get his will in order given the Skripal case.
For example,
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/07/poisoned-russian-spy-sergei-skripal-close-consultant-linked/
This connection was reported in Newsweek also. There are several such reports around March 8 and 9.
Sounds like he was murdered by Hillary Clinton instead. Much more plausible than the ridiculous idea that someone with ties to the Russian opposition might get killed by the Russian government!
Very interesting. Keep up the good work Craig.
I’m pretty disappointed on the stance the EU has taken on the Skirpal event, although I suppose they must take a members states accusation seriously. We shall see how the evidence pan’s out.
As for Eddie Mair, he could’ve been one of the great interviewers of his generation, if he hadn’t succumbed to the BBC’s doctrine.
Here he doesn’t hold back as he tears Boris Johnson apart.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAxA-9D4X3o
Well, at least Juncker congratulated Putin on his “re-election”, so there’s that…
https://twitter.com/JunckerEU/status/976061272293871616
It wouldn’t surprise me if Cambridge Analytica, which in my opinion is a front, for mass data gathering amongst other shady dealing, was involved in some way or another.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mpbeOCKZFfQ
One day soon the Citizens of the UK will wake up to the realisation, that they are governed by a bunch of Charlatans!
Although I agree that the phrase “of a type developed by Russia” looks like politician-speak and is intended to have cake and eat it, how, from analysing the chemical, could Porton Down say any differently? If Novichok is so easy to produce, then it could be made anywhere in the world and it surely wouldn’t have a unique fingerprint such that one could say it came from a particular lab in a particular country.
In order to say it definitively came from Russia, surely one has to have (a) evidence the Russians actually had it (b) evidence as to who administered it and (c) evidence of a motive to administer it. Although Russia (or even certain rogue parts of Russian intelligence) might have motive, I don’t see evidence that they actually had Novichok (despite what Boris said) or evidence as to who administered it. But I’m not sure “of a type developed in Russia” is such a huge deal.
Also Craig, whilst I agree it would be rather odd for Russia to have done this, I also think any other suggested explanation (Israel, CIA, Orbis) seems equally outlandish, although one of them is probably true. I’m not sure why you seem to so certain that Russian DIDN’T do this. I suspect much criticism could be deflected if you said, “Yes, given the history etc. Russia has to be one of the prime suspects, but there no clear evidence linking Russia and others could be involved. We should await the evidence”. Obviously, you can only say what you believe but that seems like a much more reasonable formulation.
Anyway, keep up the good work which will hopefully combat some of the current hysteria.
The reason it is a huge deal is because it posits a link to Russia where none exists.
And as Craig has pointed out elsewhere, it isn’t even correct on its own terms. The chemical was developed by the USSR, not Russia.
You mean other than that the victim was an enemy of the Kremlin and that the Russian embassy and Russia Today practically bragged about having done it?
No link has been shown to exist between the poison used and Russia. The Tory narrative falsely pretends such a link has been shown.
And far from having “practically bragged” about having done it, the Russian response has veered from derision at the paucity of the evidence being levelled against them to outright denial and a flat-out challenge to apologise for the false allegations.
They may be lying. They may not. But to date, we barely have even enough evidence to claim reasonable suspicion, let alone enough to start making accusations of committing a war crime. And this is proved by the response from the leaders of other European countries and Trump.
Would you be so kind as to post a link to the clip where RT “practically bragged about having done it”? This is, on the face of it, absurd. Stop reading the talking points that you have been given and watch some RT.
Twitter comment of the day (at least as far as things related to this scandal goes):
Loving the irony of Trotyskists refusing to believe the Russian state could murder its citizens abroad
https://twitter.com/Sam_Stopp_27/status/975515058246742016
You actually believe the Russian State as it is now has anything to do with Communism or Trots here? They are disaster capitalists in the US vein. Oligarchs and mafioso with links to the Tory party and Trump. Not Trots ffs!
Well done for exposing the real facts of this Salisbury, Novachok story and even IF Russia or a Russian National are proven to be guilty, it does not vindicate the indecent haste with which the UK Government announced that Russia was “probably” behind it.
For all the tinfoil hatted conspiracy theorists, you have been proven correct in your suspicions:
Salisbury (dpo) – Last doubts over Russia’s guilt in poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal have been eliminated. As the British government announced today, the passport of Russian president Vladimir Putin was found at the scene in Salisbury.
According to Prime Minister Theresa May, the passport was only now found in another search of the scene, as it had been hidden under a dollop of cowshite,hidden by fallen leaves.
There is a clear trail as with 9/11 passports and Charlie Hebdo passports. No need for Sherlock Holmes ,Inspector Clouseau, or the Belgian representative of the Constabulary, Dr Poirot.
Amateur sleuth Boris Johnson has been vindicated, He informed our roving Internation correspondent that His suspicions were first aroused when he found doo doo on his shoe.
Guilty as charged.
Craig, I think you should take the term ‘conspiracy theorist’ at its heart and explain to the MSM what it actually means.
Conspiracy – a sinister design, a subversion of truth; theory – a hypothesis with evidence.
This is key, because I feel people hear that and miss the important distinction that should be drawn. There are conspiracy hypotheses, you know – aliens with anal probes – but these are evidence free.. well, at least not evidence that would hold up in a court of law, one person’s experience, no witnesses etc etc.
What you prosent is conspiracy theory – that official reports (OPCW, Porton Down, public declarations of Iranian Program), do not agree with the timeline presented by the UK government is evidence as to the plausible inaccuracy of their story. It’s a theory, not a hypothesis.
That the unquestionable facts don’t line up with the government explanation of things, however indirectly, is revealing of at least something sinister!