The line that novichoks can only be produced by Russia is now proven to be a complete lie. As I previously proved by referencing their publications, in 2013 the OPCW scientific advisory committee note the evidence was sparse that novichoks had ever been successfully produced, and that was still the line being published by Porton Down in 2016. You can find the hard evidence of all that here.
I have now been sent the vital information that in late 2016, Iranian scientists set out to study whether novichoks really could be produced from commercially available ingredients. Iran succeeded in synthesising a number of novichoks. Iran did this in full cooperation with the OPCW and immediately reported the results to the OPCW so they could be added to the chemical weapons database.
This makes complete nonsense of the Theresa May’s “of a type developed by Russia” line, used to parliament and the UN Security Council. This explains why Porton Down have refused to cave in to governmental pressure to say the nerve agent was Russian. If Iran can make a novichok, so can a significant number of states.
While Iran acted absolutely responsibly in cooperating with the OPCW, there are a handful of rogue states operating outwith the rule of international law, like Israel and North Korea, which refuse to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention, join the OPCW or destroy their chemical weapons stocks. Russia has cooperated in the OPCW destruction of all its chemical weapons stocks, completed last year, which included regular OPCW inspection of all the sites alleged to have been in the original “novichok” programme. Why nobody is even looking at the rogue states outwith the OPCW is a genuine puzzle.
Extraordinarily, only yesterday the Guardian was still carrying an article which claimed “only the Russian state” could make a novichok. Despite the lying propaganda regurgitated by virtually every corporate and state “journalist”, in truth is it is now proven beyond dispute that “of a type developed by Russia” has zero evidential value and is a politician’s weasel phrase designed deliberately to mislead the public. The public should ask why.
ty th Che
Ever more proof that May is a propagandising liar.
Where are her lines coming from: Washington, Tel Aviv or Riyadh?
only Westminster
Keep on hammering at this please Craig.
Thank you Craig for digging out what the MSM never will or indeed if they did they’d never publish. I lost all faith in the UK at the time of the Iraq war lies – now the UK just sickens me!
It is very sad that Craig digs for information and finds very interesting data. Yet the media acts like a giant echo chamber with zero journalism. Well done Craig, you put countless media organisations to shame.
Craig, thank you for your work! It may save many lives. Your contribution is of a tremendous value. Thanks!
I’m asking why. I’m asking why we are swallowing the arguments put forward by May et al. Keir Starmer on QT the other night, in reply to the opening question over whether knowledge of this being the responsibility of Russia is beyond all doubt, said words to the effect of “May has asked repeated pointed questions of Russia, none of which have been answered, and so the conclusion has been rightly drawn that they are responsible”. And this is the former DPP! Doesn’t he have to be a lawyer to hold that post?
Keri Starmer was a practising barrister and is Queen’s Counsel (Q.C.). He was former Director of Public Prosecutions and later Head of the Crown Prosecution Service. He, therefore more than almost anyone, would know that the burden of proof of guilt lies with the prosecution. The Defendant is entitled to remain silent and require the prosecution to make its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
For May and all her lickspittles who have asserted Putin’s and Russia’s “guilt” based on their refusal to answer a “when did you stop beating your wife” type question, is absurd. I am a lawyer; I know of what I speak.
What is especially disappointing, is the Labour Party’s (including Corbyn’s) acceptance of May’s conclusion. Their response has been as pusillanimous as the main stream media’s.
Damned autocorrect! It is of course Keir Starmer.
Never mind. And thanks for the lesson on law after my rhetorical question 😉
Interesting thing about Autocorrect: when I try to type “bankster”, it keeps changing it.
You could always turn off autocorrect, and indeed predictive text.
Brave Det Sgt Nick Bailey is reported to have recovered from his ordeal, tellingly he hasn’t yet denied he was involved in administering the poison or contaminating the Skripal home
Nice work !
One bonus of this sordid propaganda is that all the shills and weasels come out to bat for government and show their true colours.
James O Brien’s faux outrage and patriotism was truly laughable.
Then Piers Moron made a spectacle of himself “grilling” RT’s Afshin Rattansi.
Once you’ve seen these weak stooges bare their arses, that’s them done.
For ever.
the most encouraging thing is the reaction of readers of the Daily Mail , i was reading only this morning the hatchet job they did on RT, its not one the readers agreed with incidentally, at the time i read the article over 700 people had responded, the best rated where from those totally against the MSM naritive, the best thing our establishment could do is listen to the people, unfortunately they won’t, encased in their bubble environment of Westminster
resistance, or a form of inoculation to MSM propaganda is growing, the elite establishment are now on the back foot, question is how will they respond ban RT, or this blog ??? ….i suspect the gloves will come off very soon
About three days ago Janet Street Porter wrote an article for the Mail supporting Corbyn and got far more red arrows than green. It was one of the firstcarticles supportive of Corbyn I’ve seen and if Russian trolls are red and green arrowing I’d have expected far more green. So I am confident that this mornings red/green arrow counts in the Mail represent a significant shift in public opinion, people calming down after the hysteria.
Trolls is more an Israeli thing with the hasbara program, simple misdirection to blame the Russians, much this poisoning case.
When will a sample be handed over to OPCW? Will medical notes or other corroborating evidence concerning the purported victims be made publicly available?
i.e. Craig Murray’s first conspiracy theory on this subject “Theresa May is fabricating evidence” is BUNK.
So now he’s on to the next conspiracy theory.
Intellectual honesty would be admitting that you just proved yourself wrong.
No conspiracy theories here. Given the total lack of proper investigation, Craig is one of the few making any sense.
I would expect an event like this, if treated normally as a crime, to take months of investigation before anyone could be accused. I see no reason why we have to jump to accusing Russia and I’m glad that Craig, rather than delving into conspiracy theory, is simply confirming that we can’t know without a lot more investigation
Well said Elspeth. In point to support your statement look no further than the Grenfell Inquiry – dragging it’s feet and taking forever to conclude a truth which we already know; if it does at all. But not here. Not with this bullshit set-up where they had it a done deal, up for wraps within 24 hours! Well done oor Craig; keep it up. Courage and health to you sir.
No conspiracy theories here? So no suggestion it was the British Gov. No suggestion that it was the Clinton family. No suggestion it was that organisation that prepared a dossier on Trump. No suggestion it was Israel. No I’m just making it up. I’m parroting the MSM. Oh wait, we got the Israel theory here, hinted at rather than stated, in true conspiracy theory style. Oh and all those other theories still going strong on earlier posts.
No conspiracy theories, my arse.
The OPCW hasn’t even received a sample yet so there are only conspiracy theories so far. By far the most prevalent one, the one being honked shamelessly round the world by our own damned Prime Minister, is that Putin did it. You missed that one off your list for some reason.
The contention was that there are no conspiracy theories here. It was false, as should be obvious to anyone reading of CW blog over the last few days – ATL or BTL.
How anyone can believe there haven’t been is completely beyond. Others may think it suggests rank stupidity or dishonesty. I make no comment.
It’s a bit like the Grand National. Let’s say Putindidit is 12/1 favourite. The most likely of fifty horses to win but at the same time not very likely to win.
I’m curious to know why anyone would unquestioningly believe a Prime Minister who refused to publish a report (denying the request of the 9/11 survivor’s group) concerning Saudi involvement in (UK) terrorism.
We are witnessing a very odd form of patriotism in these times: When a Russian spy gets poisoned in Salisbury, the nation’s press (and a large swath of the public) joins the outraged battle cries of our corrupt politicians, yet when 23 innocent people are killed in Manchester there are no accusations against foreign powers, no threats, no platoons of soldiers at the crime scene – just condolences and a chant of “We will not be intimidated”.
You don’t need to be a “Russian troll” – or whatever other thought-terminating label the Guardian and other “respectable” newspapers throw at people who they disagree with – to realize that something stinks in this case – and the stench leads all the way to the door of No. 10.
What stinks is that three people are seriously ill, and Russian state TV while denying any involvement are rather gloating that traitors in London are meeting early deaths.
Are they? You’ll be sure to put a link to that ‘gloating’ then? How seriously are they when one has been visited by his family and no-one has any idea of the other two. Do you work at the hospital or security services perhaps? Do tell…
Oh FFS. Are you seriously suggesting that no on is seriously ill. It’s all a conspiracy made up by the police and the hospital? That they have made it all up?
Yes you are. Which is really the level of some around here.
“What stinks is that three people are seriously ill, and Russian state TV while denying any involvement are rather gloating that traitors in London are meeting early deaths.”
I am aware of one commentator on Russian TV who made such a comment. Do you have proof of others? In any event, anyone who knows anything about Russia knows that the government doesn’t control all commentary on TV, there are plenty of crazy commentaries on all sides of issues.
I don’t think Craig is propounding a theory of any sort.
He is just telling it as the information comes out.
Not only is the government unable to provide any evidence of their claims, but they are not even able to give a description of what happened. Lady with Red Handbag one day, then VX, or similar, in Julia’s knickers or lipstick. Risible.
Briiliant Article Craig..And Truth seeker made a good point.. That your Exposing of the U.K lies could save Lives.
I’m no longer sure if there is a Big Syria connection, because Russia was not invited by Assad to help defend Syria durring the Sochi winter games, yet we had the same old Targeting of Russian Athletes..It seems every time Russis Holds / are involved in a Major sporting event they the same treatmen ( think PyeongChang Winter Games..is there another Prestigious event due in Russia I wonder.
Well done indeed Craig.
Hi Craig,
Your comments on this matter are serving the public interest, and you can hold your head up high.
Best regards,
Scott
The Wikipedia entry for the Israel Institute for Biological Research, located in Nes Ziona, is most interesting.
Wait till Luke Harding gets to write something… Judge, Jury and executioner!
The Iranian article by Hosseini & al. in the Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry journal is available online for free with all diagrams. The original paper appeared in 2016, the summary in ”Spectroscopy Now” is dated January 1, 2017.
I think we have to thank Charles Wood for finding the work. He posted the link to our research site A Closer Look On Syria yesterday.
It was also cited in a reddit comment from 2 days ago.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NeutralPolitics/comments/84hye1/comment/dvqgml6
So….wait, is the OPCW now claiming they do exist?
Because a few days ago you were claiming the OPCW said Novichoks didn’t exist.
In addition, for someone demanding evidence of the govt, you have expressed no motivation for why e.g. Israel, which you seem rather obsessed with bringing up, would attack a former Russian spy on British soil with a chemical warfare agent.
(Out of curiosity, do you believe Assad is using chemical weapons on its own people?)
Methinks you Israel defenders do protest too much. You do realize, don’t you?, that by protesting that particular angle, you only direct suspicion in the direction you claim.
Of course, maybe you do realize it.
You claim not to want, that should have been.
Yeah, you’re going to need more of an argument than referring to the fact that someone challenged your point of view. Try again, eh?
Triumvirate
You seem to be holding Craig responsible for the glaring inconsistencies in Mrs May’s report.
In 2013 the OPCW believed Novchoks were dubious, having never found any compelling evidence the Russians had succeeded in synthesising them, In 2016, the Iranians tested it out and found they could be synthesised, and told the OPCW.
Do keep up,
Keynes is said to have said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”
Ah, ok, so the 2013 OPCW statement is irrelevant, and you are just tossing any old thing out there. Good to know.
And Israel’s motivation?
Also, do you, or do you not think Assad is using CW on his own people?
“And Israel’s motivation?”
Maybe I can help out. You’ll need to do a bit of reading, but check this out and see if you can connect the dots:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/yaalon-syrian-rebels-keeping-druze-safe-in-exchange-for-israeli-aid/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-giving-secret-aid-syrian-rebels-bashar-al-assad-golah-heights-hezbollah-fursan-al-joulan-a7797151.html
http://www.dw.com/en/eu-to-cut-gas-dependency-on-russia-with-israel-pipeline/a-38269274
Also see Oded Yinon -Plan for a greater Israel
Israel has threatened neighbouring countries for years. These threats are now shown to be hollow. The only people using CW in Syria have been Israel, by proxy, and those funded, trained and armed by the UK and US. Do keep up.
It is embarrassing for me, having so may ‘Israelis’ in the family, but it must be said.
In 2013?
Was Dagger Missile even theoretical that year?
Much Putin hubris has been fortified since then, enabled by apathy and Leftists.
You once fought that rock-headed red tide over the Annexation of Ukraine environs and I shamefully opposed you.
You have evolved or devolved in Russia because of, or in spite of Putin …which position is firm for you?
Have you abandoned the thread already?
slightly off topic has anyone actually seen the victims of this ” crime” or have they simply disappeared down some sort of NHS black hole, does anyone know the medical staff who are treating these victims
“So….wait, is the OPCW now claiming they do exist?
Because a few days ago you were claiming the OPCW said Novichoks didn’t exist.”
Craig is asking the questions that our mainstream so-called journalists ought to have been asking, and fumbling his way towards an understanding of the situation despite the dark shade deliberately cast by the aforementioned media and our government.
“In addition, for someone demanding evidence of the govt, you have expressed no motivation for why e.g. Israel, which you seem rather obsessed with bringing up, would attack a former Russian spy on British soil with a chemical warfare agent. ”
Given Israel’s well known frustration with Russia foiling its hopes of regime changing Syria in order to isolate Hezbollah, it’s not remotely difficult to come up with a motive for Israel in creating this propaganda weapon against Russia. And those motives are a lot more plausible than the juvenile nonsense about Putin “sending a message” or trying to whip up voter numbers (in an election he is winning so easily he reportedly hasn’t even bothered campaigning much) that we are being fed by the aforementioned BBC, Guardian, Times, Telegraph etc and the British government.
But doubtless you knew that.
Of course there’s no better actual evidence that Israel was involved than there is that Russia (or the US, or the UK) was the perpetrator. That’s why an honest and competent government would have refrained from shouting insulting accusations and giving ultimatums at this stage.
Props for being the first person I’ve come across in this mess to actually propose an alternative motivation for another potential culprit rather than merely casting aspersions.
Israel promotes itself as at the leading edge in science and technology.
It’d be fun hearing them explain why they couldn’t develop technology such as this.
Especially with all those Russians who emigrated to Israel in the 90s.
It’s a big joined-up world innit.
Feb “game changing” shoot down of F16 and subsequent humiliation. Israel/Mossad/Netanyahoo message to Russia “game doesn’t change so easily”. What happens in Syria over the next months will probably be most telling on this front. Does Israel start getting away with over-flights, bombing at will again? Will there be another supposed regime “chemical weapon” attack, with chemicals “of a type developed by Russia”? etc. Now we have been prep’d to understand just how serious such a thing is. Note I am not saying this is what happened, but a considerably more likely possibility than that Russia/Putin would be behind this at this time. Israel more used to getting its own way than Russia–Russia being used to getting its own way seems a favorite fallback argument for why it IS Russia! Mr “America is easily moved” Netanyahoo is about the most brazen product of this so far, and would almost certainly have no trouble giving go ahead to something like this. It also seems a pretty likely option to come up if you set you set MOSSAD the task of creating problems for Russia, in the given climate.
May must resign. She scripted the farce about Abu Qatada who was eventually deported to Jordan, a country which hosts joint Saudi – Israeli terrorist training camps which were used for training Daesh. The present farce about Salisbury stars the same cast of buffoon MPs from both sides of the House, ra-ra-ing against Russia while USUKIS who started the proxy war against Syria is hiding under the bed. Pants down, she swiftly places a bucket over her head, and expels 23 of her own diplomats from Russia. Then accidentally falls into the embrace of her arch-Brexit enemies Germany and France. Side-splitting comedy. Never had such a good laugh at the expense of the hapless Tories.
“May must resign”
Yeahbut, It’s who’s to replace her is the thing. It’s a divided party and she’s just about holding it together.
There may be no other suitable candidate.
That’s what’s kept her going so far.
That, and already being familiar with the lesser known ways of state.
Here in North America we’re witness to a campaign of propaganda that is of a DNA strand with the Salisbury story.
In late 2016 a private outfit named CrowdStrike fabricated word of an “Ukrainian artillery hack” by the GRU – this provided CrowdStrike and the US intell community the needed “high confidence” re Russia being responsible for a DNC “hack” – and this (amplified by recitation of CS agent Dmitri Alperovitch et al’s false claims in the Washington Post etc.) preceded Obama’s sanctions against Russia.
Cyber-security expert @jeffreycarr, among others, has debunked the GRU attribution by CrowdStrike: https://medium.com/@jeffreycarr/the-gru-ukraine-artillery-hack-that-may-never-have-happened-820960bbb02d but, as with the Christopher Steele “dossier”, the false reports in the mainstream press created the narrative and, no doubt, helped construct the FBI illusion of things.
It appears now as if neither the Republicans nor the Democrats will really want to reveal all – and are moving to settle on “no collusion” but will avoid the “no hack” evidence as the latter would harm the ongoing military desire to stoke a war, cold or hot, with Russia.
With Christopher Steele, Pablo Miller, Sergei Skripal in the UK script of the moment – the official deception is at a place of convergence.
Thank you for helping dispel the smoke-and-mirrors.
Adrian
The missing link, attested to by Craig Murray, in your US farce, is that the Democrats leaked the damning evidence against Hillary Clinton. The missing link in our farce is that for all the constant threats from Israel against Iran, in reality Israel helped Iran to achieve its nuclear capability, and secretly supports Iran, especially in regards to inciting Iran against Sunni Islam in Yemen and Iraq..
Political lying on this level is Satanic, in other words highly manipulative and extremely weak. As Craig points out, Mrs May has put out the slogan ” of a type developed by Russia ” which is the weakest possible evidence.. A bit like Bill Clinton saying he didn’t know a blow-job counted as sex.
And ‘I did not inhale’, when asked if he had ever smoked cannabis!
Without you Craig where would we be?
A lone dissenter prepared to challenge established narratives, echoing much of what many people think. Your reputation is such that you are even being quoted on specialized aviation forums! Quite amazing the reach you have.
Much respect.
Heh.
I see where this is going
Stuxnet..US/Israel….Her Satanic Majesties was recorded in 1967 and Rolling Stones gather wool and moss from black oaks in England.
Naturlich!
Leaves Theresa May’s putrid lies in tatters. Well done Craig!
THE LITVINENKO ‘RUSSIA DID IT’ STORY WAS A LIE
In the nature of the internet, someone somewhere knows the truth but usually search engines and governments make sure you don’t find it. Ever.
But occasionally the internet gods smile.
If you are obsessed with electric bicycles, long time UK Pedelecs poster flecc knows all about Polonium 210 and why the Litvinenko ‘Russia did it’ story was a pack of lies. –
Polonium 210 is _not_ just available in Russia. It is and was commercially available from the U.S. …
– Fancy that department! Why the UK government ‘Russia did it’ Litvinenko story was a pack of lies, by flecc, today (17/3/18) at 1:48 PM post #28622 – Pedelecs UK –
– http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/brexit-for-once-some-facts.24369/page-1432#post-428232
How amusing that when someone tries that ‘murder a Russian dissedent and blame Russia’ wheeze one time too often, the truth falls out of the cupboard in spades!
Combine that with the lies about the apparent false flag Skripal attack –
– https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/03/on-not-being-refuted/comment-page-1/#comment-722843
No change there, then!
See? Even Litvinenko is Israeli/’American subterfuge.
Poootin..is innocent!
At the moment we’re simply testing the British govt’s case, and it’s been found wanting.
So May has laid a charge and it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
That’s kinda how it works.
When the original Polonium story came out, the first thing I did was look at who was selling the stuff. A quick search gave me dozens of companies in America willing to sell me quantities of the stuff.
Risible crap from the UK government.
i found this interesting look at season 6 episodes 4-6 coincidence? narrr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strike_Back:_Retribution
Thank you for showing us the truth. I am truly sickened by the bullshit the government spit out. We need people like you to speak out or we will be forever in the dark.
Perhaps Russia will instruct a challenge inspection of Porton Down? On my quick reading, an inspection would have to go ahead unless three-quarters of the OPCW council block it within 12 hours. (Possibly a “stop” is different from a “block” and only requires a majority?)
I increasingly suspect that the Western power’s stubborn support for Israel is explained by their need to have a scofflaw nation do their dirty work for them. Nes Ziona can’t be inspected, because Israel is not a signatory.
powers’
Very well put.
Unaccountable pirates and privateers, the model for quite some time now.
I’m struggling to keep up!
Have you seen this, Craig? See pp18ff. http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a333126.pdf
Sorry, I should have said: it’s an interview of one of the Novichok scientists, Vladimir Uglev, done in 1993. He says that the compounds were successfully synthesised and tested, and would be easy for others to produce as long as they had the technology. He also makes some references to corruption and deceit in the Soviet military research system.
Did he mention anything about those one million Russians who emigrated to Israel in the 90s, and their creation of the Israeli technology sector, now one of the most advanced in the world.
Seems relevant.
That’s of course also the rise of the right in Israel, who dominate Israeli politics to this day.
That Russian influx created both.
page 18 on the page, or 21 pdf page number and on for about 3 pages are very central to this discussion.. thanks for sharing it here.. i have seen it posted elsewhere, but not at craigs site..
On that link I have a message. ‘This document cannot be opened because it is corrupted or damaged.’
?????
Works for me. Check your security app settings. Oh and login to your ISP and turn off family protection filters.
There’s a whole load of literature on this. This one:
https://academic.oup.com/jat/article/39/2/96/763160
says “Organophosphate nerve agents (OPNAs) are some of the most widely used and proliferated chemical warfare agents. As evidenced by recent events in Syria, these compounds remain a serious military and terrorist threat to human health because of their toxicity and the ease with which they can be used, produced and stored.
…
The theoretical possibilities for nerve agents derived from the Schedule 1.A.1 and 1.A.3 core structures exceed 270000”
This article says “Russia’s chemical weapons commander was a Mossad target”
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5172264,00.html
Russia’s stockpile being destroyed is a red herring. This is tiny amounts of nerve agent that anyone who can purchase the commonly available ingredients can make – provided they have the technical knowhow – and that’s a huge proviso. Russia invented these and could do it. The Israelis could do it too.
May is surely being sincere – there’s no reason to think otherwise. We come back to who wants to kill this Russian “traitor” and b) the recently strangled person at the top of Russia’s most wanted list. Russia having form for these things doesn’t help their denials…
Why aren’t the police trying harder to enlist public help in finding “the woman with the red bag”?
Or the polka-dot skirt.
I mean, let’s be honest, the police are the last you’d want handling an investigation of anything.
You need investigative journalism and a properly public media to ensure things are investigated, brought to public attention and debated.
We’re a long long way past that.
Well, it looks like ‘the ~ 400 witnesses’ they have would include all of the staff members at the hospital who would have been served with notices that require them to keep the mouth shut about what they actually saw.
The Iranian paper is very interesting. Thye ran some lab syntheses of Novichok compounds using two separate precursors (presumably the so-called ‘safe binary agents’) at low levels to minimise exposure. They say nothing about the effectiveness of combining the two compounds in the variable conditions of pressure, humidity and temperature in a non-lab environment.
One of the so-called ‘safe’ binary components they utilised is methylphosphonic difluoride. This is used in other binary cw weapons (eg M687 artillery shell) to produce sarin or soran. Rather than being safe in the common sense, it is described as reactive and corrosive (not surprising given it contains fluorine). It may cause burns, is rapidly absorbed through the skin and may cause symptoms of mild nerve agent exposure. It strikes me that rather than going through the rigamarole of relying on exposure untested uncontrolled binary agents, exposure to methylphosphonic difluoride may be sufficient. It is also a standard cw component so it could be produced almost anywhere with suitable lab facilities.
Its possibly a big leap from what the Iranians did to a viable weapon that fits the description of a binary agent that can be made with readily available chemicals and safely enough for the person not to kill themselves? Maybe that needs the decade of research the Soviets did…???
Further reading reveals more details. It is not simply a malter of combining to two ‘safe’ precursor copmpounds and bingo! – lots of nasty cw nerve agent. They are mixed together in the presence of a third chemical to produce an intermediate compound which is then converted to the desired nerve agent by the presence of ‘alcohols’. This is certainly a long way from the Clown Car comedy description of how these things are supposed to work. This also suggests that whatever was used to poison the people, it was almost certainly not a nerve agent derived from novichok compounds released haphazardly in the house, restaurant, etc.
There’s more than a fair chance it wasn’t a nerve agent at all. The lead consultant in Emergency Medicine at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, Stephen Davies, said as much in his letter to The Times: “no patients have experienced symptoms of nerve agent poisoning in Salisbury and there have only ever been three patients with significant poisoning.”
Lots of things are nasty, corrosive and interfere with nerve function. Nicotine interferes with nerve function, it affects Acetylcholine transmission just like Novichok does, only not as strongly or with such persistence. The natural world is full of things which block ACh. Botulinum toxin for eg.
There are also chemicals which can penetrate the skin without being corrosive and carry other substances in with them which do not have this property. DMSO, dymethyl sulfoxide for eg, a common lab chemical, at least in biology labs where we utilise this property to carry things into tissues for staining etc purposes. We just take care with it and wear gloves. If there are viruses on the skin it can carry them through it so it pays be careful.
So just because something has the properties you describe does not make it a chemical which requires hazmat suits to handle it. Just sensible lab precautions, most labs for eg have fume hoods, a fume hood, gloves and disposable pipette tips would be all you need.
“In Britain, concerns about Russian propaganda have been mounting, with the prime minister, Theresa May, recently attacking Russia for spreading fake news, accusing Moscow of attempts to “weaponise information” and influence polls.
Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil company, discussed with Cambridge Analytica the data company’s powerful social media marketing system, which was already being deployed for Republican Ted Cruz in the US presidential primaries and was later used to back Brexit and Trump.”
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-academic-trawling-facebook-had-links-to-russian-university
Putin is merely misunderstood.
Whilst I agree that the article does indicate how Russia could have come by a method that could have enabled it to influence the US 2016 election and Brexit, it is a theory that is denied and for which there is a lack of evidence beyond a couple of meetings – although they do look like things that need to followed up for more evidence that more solidly ties Russia to Cambridge Analytica than a couple of ‘exploratory meetings’, that can be explained away.
As with Cambridge Analytica and Leave.EU, a paid working relationship is denied between both parties. This is despite both Aaron Banks and CA both promoting working with each other early on, but seem now to be (outwardly, anyway) far from happy bunnies. Banks has called CA “liars”. That could be his little false flag op, or perfectly genuine. He could merely be a rich racist happy to be used as a stooge, as it gets him what he wants, too.
But as far as the paper trail goes, there is no money trail between Leave EU and CA. It is very fishy though. It certainly looks like CA did provide their wares to Leave.EU without leaving a paper trail and beyond what was declared to the Electoral Commission, hence their investigation. If it was unpaid, it was a ‘benefit in kind’ or donation of work which should be declared, as I understand it.
The Russian oil company was apparently only interested in political rather than commercial exploitation of Cambridge Analytica’s work, according to the whistleblower. He could be wrong, but if not, they could have been a front for Putin, as implied by the article. Again, both the oil company and CA deny doing business. Again, it could be that they did, and they avoided a paper trail.
Let us then suppose for the sake of argument that CA is guilty; they worked with Leave.EU and provided their expertise to Russia, via Lukoil, which enabled Russia to interfere with the US elections, and Brexit, with Leave.EU.
What has that got to do with Skripal? And how does killing (or trying to kill) Skripal now have any bearing on all this but a negative one?
Why bring the heat down on yourself and make everyone look at you and your dealings with the far-right, with Putin who has funded Le-Pen and the French far-right, who links to Bannon, who links to Trump, and to Mercer who links back to Cambridge Analytica?
People weren’t quite so bothered about these relationships a couple of weeks ago.
For if Putin’s aim is to undermine the EU, and if he is shown to have had anything to do with Brexit (the Internet Research Company’s tweets on Brexit are ridiculously small in number to have had any effect, at least on their own – whereas CA could have influenced millions), then there would be a far more potent way to respond to Putin’s interference which could have altered the Brexit result, with it being so close.
Stop Brexit.
For Brexit look at Aggregate IQ. Still Mercer and co. But allows CA a degree of plausible denial.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/brexitinc/peter-geoghegan-adam-ramsay/new-email-release-shows-how-leave-campaigners-used-vast-loo
I wouldn’t be celebrating to much craig. Do you not think the actual perpetrators of this crime are fully aware of the recent history of ‘Novichok’? And where the breadcrumbs will lead to?
Next weeks dose of MSM fiction will be to evolve the narrative into;
”Theresa May’s “of a type developed by Russia” line” + ”First Recorded Successful Novichok Synthesis was in 2016 – By Iran” = Russia and Iran responsible.
Trump prepping the Tomahawks already – Damascus and/or Tehran? US/Israeli warlords win again.
Maybe that’s why the Fraudian decided to contact you and send traffic to your blog a couple of days before you received this Iranian news.
Human rights campaigner. Skeptic. Truth seeker. Unwitting patsy?
Knuckles, I fear that you are absolutely correct. Iran has always been next on the list after Syria…