A lie repeated often enough enters the public consciousness, so I am republishing this in the hope of stimulating the honest and the intellectually awake.
I still do not know what happened in the Skripal saga, which perhaps might more respectfully be termed the Sturgess saga. I cannot believe the Russian account of Boshirov and Petrov, because if those were their real identities, those identities would have been firmly established and displayed by now. But that does not mean they attempted to kill the Skripals, and there are many key elements to the official British account which are also simply incredible.
Governments play dark games, and a dark game was played out in Salisbury which involved at least the British state, Russian agents (possibly on behalf of the state), Orbis Intelligence and the BBC. Anybody who believes it is simple to identify the “good guys” and the “bad guys” in this situation is a fool. When it comes to state actors and the intelligence services, frequently there are no “good guys”, as I personally witnessed from the inside over torture, extraordinary rendition and the illegal invasion of Iraq. But in the face of a massive media campaign to validate the British government story about the Skripals, here are ten of the things I do not believe in the official account:
1) PURE
This was the point that led me to return to the subject of the Skripals, even though it has brought me more abuse than I had received in my 15 year career as a whistleblower.
A few months ago, I was in truth demoralised by the amount of abuse I was receiving about the collapse of the Russian identity story of Boshirov and Petrov. I had never claimed the poisoning, if any, was not carried out by Russians, only that there were many other possibilities. I understood the case against the Russian state is still far from established, whoever Boshirov and Petrov really are, and I did not (and do not) accept Bellingcat’s conjectures and dodgy evidence as conclusive identification. But I did not enjoy at all the constant online taunts, and therefore was not inclined to take the subject further.
It is in this mood that I received more information from my original FCO source, who had told me, correctly, that Porton Down could not and would not attest that the “novichok” sample was made in Russia, and explained that the formulation “of a type developed by Russia” was an agreed Whitehall line to cover this up.
She wanted to explain to me that the British government was pulling a similar trick over the use of the word “pure”. The OPCW report had concluded that the sample provided to them by the British government was “of high purity” with an “almost complete absence of impurities”. This had been spun by the British government as evidence that the novichok was “military grade” and could only be produced by a state.
But actually that is not what the OPCW technical experts were attempting to signal. The sample provided to the OPCW had allegedly been swabbed from the Skripals’ door handle. It had been on that door handle for several days before it was allegedly discovered there. In that time it had been contacted allegedly by the hands of the Skripals and of DC Bailey, and the gloves of numerous investigators. It had of course been exposed to whatever film of dirt or dust was on the door handle. It had been exposed to whatever pollution was in the rain and whatever dust and pollen was blowing around. In these circumstances, it is incredible that the sample provided “had an almost complete absence of impurities”.
A sample cannot have a complete absence of impurities after being on a used doorknob, outdoors, for several days. The sample provided was, on the contrary, straight out of a laboratory.
The government’s contention that “almost complete absence of impurities” meant “military grade” was complete nonsense. There is no such thing as “military grade” novichok. It has never been issued to any military, anywhere. The novichok programme was designed to produce an organo-phosphate poison which could quickly be knocked up from readily available commercial ingredients. It was not part of an actual defence industry manufacturing programme.
There is a final problem with the “of high purity” angle. First we had the Theresa May story that the “novichok” was extremely deadly, many times more deadly than VX, in minute traces. Then, when the Skripals did not die, it was explained to us that this was because it had degraded in the rain. This was famously put forward by Dan Kaszeta, formerly of US Intelligence and the White House and self-proclaimed chemical weapons expert – which expertise has been strenuously denied by real experts.
What we did not know then, but we do know now, is that Kaszeta was secretly being paid to produce this propaganda by the British government via the Integrity Initiative.
So the first thing I cannot believe is that the British government produced a sample with an “almost complete absence of impurities” from several days on the Skripals’ doorknob. Nor can I believe that if “extremely pure” the substance therefore was not fatal to the Skripals.
2) Raising the Roof
Three days ago Sky News had an outside broadcast from the front of the Skripals’ house in Salisbury, where they explained that the roof had been removed and replaced due to contamination with “novichok”.
I cannot believe that a gel, allegedly smeared or painted onto the doorknob, migrated upwards to get into the roof of a two storey house, in such a manner that the roof had to be destroyed, but the house inbetween did not. As the MSM never questions the official narrative, there has never been an official answer as to how the gel got from the doorknob to the roof. Remember that traces of the “novichok” were allegedly found in a hotel room in Poplar, which is still in use as a hotel room and did not have to be destroyed, and an entire bottle of it was allegedly found in Charlie Rowley’s house, which has not had to be destroyed. Novichok was found in Zizzi’s restaurant, which did not have to be destroyed.
So we are talking about novichok in threatening quantities – more than the traces allegedly found in the hotel in Poplar – being in the Skripals’ roof. How could this happen?
As I said in the onset, I do not know what happened, I only know what I do not believe. There are theories that Skripal and his daughter might themselves have been involved with novichok in some way. On the face of it, its presence in their roof might support that theory.
The second thing I do not believe is that the Skripals’ roof became contaminated by gel on their doorknob so that the roof had to be destroyed, whereas no other affected properties, nor the rest of the Skripals’ house, had to be destroyed.
3) Nursing Care
The very first person to discover the Skripals ill on a park bench in Salisbury just happened to be the Chief Nurse of the British Army, who chanced to be walking past them on her way back from a birthday party. How lucky was that? The odds are about the same as the chance of my vacuum cleaner breaking down just before James Dyson knocks at my door to ask for directions. There are very few people indeed in the UK trained to give nursing care to victims of chemical weapon attack, and of all the people who might have walked past, it just happened to be the most senior of them!
The government is always trying to get good publicity for its armed forces, and you would think that the heroic role of its off-duty personnel in saving random poisoned Russian double agents they just happened to chance across, would have been proclaimed as a triumph for the British military. Yet it was kept secret for ten months. We were not told about the involvement of Colonel Alison McCourt until January of this year, when it came out by accident. Swollen with maternal pride, Col. McCourt nominated her daughter for an award from the local radio station for her role in helping give first aid to the Skripals, and young Abigail revealed her mother’s identity on local radio – and the fact her mother was there “with her” administering first aid.
Even then, the compliant MSM played along, with the Guardian and Sky News both among those running stories emphasising entirely the Enid Blyton narrative of “plucky teenager saves the Skripals”, and scarcely mentioning the Army’s Chief Nurse who was looking after the Skripals “with little Abigail”.
I want to emphasise again that Col. Alison McCourt is not the chief nurse of a particular unit or hospital, she is the Chief Nurse of the entire British Army. Her presence was kept entirely quiet by the media for ten months, when all sorts of stories were run in the MSM about who the first responders were – various doctors and police officers being mentioned.
If you believe that it is coincidence that the Chief Nurse of the British Army was the first person to discover the Skripals ill, you are a credulous fool. And why was it kept quiet?
4) Remarkable Metabolisms
This has been noted many times, but no satisfactory answer has ever been given. The official story is that the Skripals were poisoned by their door handle, but then well enough to go out to a pub, feed some ducks, and have a big lunch in Zizzi’s, before being instantly stricken and disabled, both at precisely the same time.
The Skripals were of very different ages, genders and weights. That an agent which took hours to act but then kicks in with immediate disabling effect, so they could not call for help, would affect two such entirely different metabolisms at precisely the same time, has never been satisfactorily explained. Dosage would have an effect and of course the doorknob method would give an uncontrolled dosage.
But that the two different random dosages were such that they affected each of these two very different people at just the same moment, so that neither could call for help, is an extreme coincidence. It is almost as unlikely as the person who walks by next being the Chief Nurse of the British Army.
5) 11 Days
After the poisoning of Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, the Police cordoned off Charlie Rowley’s home and began a search for “Novichok”, in an attitude of extreme urgency because it was believed this poison was out amidst the public. They were specifically searching for a small phial of liquid. Yet it took 11 days of the search before they allegedly discovered the “novichok” in a perfume bottle sitting in plain sight on the kitchen counter – and only after they had discovered the clue of the perfume bottle package in the bin the day before, after ten days of search.
The bottle was out of its packaging and “novichok”, of which the tiniest amount is deadly, had been squirted out of its nozzle at least twice, by both Rowley and Sturgess, and possibly more often. The exterior of the bottle/nozzle was therefore contaminated. Yet the house, unlike the Skripals’ roof space, has not had to be destroyed.
I do not believe it took the Police eleven days to find the very thing they were looking for, in plain sight as exactly the small bottle of liquid sought, on a kitchen bench. What else was happening?
6) Mark Urban/Pablo Miller
The BBC’s “Diplomatic Editor” is a regular conduit for the security services. He fronted much of the BBC’s original coverage of the Skripal story. Yet he concealed from the viewers the fact that he had been in regular contact with Sergei Skripal for months before the alleged poisoning, and had held several meetings with Skripal.
This is extraordinary behaviour. It was the biggest news story in the world, and news organisations, including the BBC, were scrambling to fill in the Skripals’ back story. Yet the journalist who had the inside info on the world’s biggest news story, and was actually reporting on it, kept that knowledge to himself. Why? Urban was not only passing up a career defining opportunity, it was unethical of him to continually report on the story without revealing to the viewers his extensive contacts with Skripal.
The British government had two immediate reactions to the Skripal incident. Within the first 48 hours, it blamed Russia, and it slapped a D(SMA) notice banning all media mention of Skripal’s MI6 handler, Pablo Miller. By yet another one of those extraordinary coincidences, Miller and Urban know each other well, having both been officers together in the Royal Tank Regiment, of the same rank and joining the Regiment the same year.
I have sent the following questions to Mark Urban, repeatedly. There has been no response:
Dear Mark,
As you may know, I am a journalist working in alternative media, a member of the NUJ, as well as a former British Ambassador. I am researching the Skripal case.
I wish to ask you the following questions.
1) When the Skripals were first poisoned, it was the largest news story in the entire World and you were uniquely positioned having held several meetings with Sergei Skripal the previous year. Yet faced with what should have been a massive career break, you withheld that unique information on a major story from the public for four months. Why?
2) You were an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment together with Skripal’s MI6 handler, Pablo Miller, who also lived in Salisbury. Have you maintained friendship with Miller over the years and how often do you communicate?
3) When you met Skripal in Salisbury, was Miller present all or part of the time, or did you meet Miller separately?
4) Was the BBC aware of your meetings with Miller and/or Skripal at the time?
5) When, four months later, you told the world about your meetings with Skripal after the Rowley/Sturgess incident, you said you had met him to research a book. Yet the only forthcoming book by you advertised is on the Skripal attack. What was the subject of your discussions with Skripal?
6) Pablo Miller worked for Orbis Intelligence. Do you know if Miller contributed to the Christopher Steele dossier on Trump/Russia?
7) Did you discuss the Trump dossier with Skripal and/or Miller?
8) Do you know whether Skripal contributed to the Trump dossier?
9) In your Newsnight piece following the Rowley/Sturgess incident, you stated that security service sources had told you that Yulia Skripal’s telephone may have been bugged. Since January 2017, how many security service briefings or discussions have you had on any of the matter above.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Craig Murray
The lack of openness of Urban in refusing to answer these questions, and the role played by the BBC and the MSM in general in marching in unquestioning lockstep with the British government narrative, plus the “coincidence” of Urban’s relationship with Pablo Miller, give further reason for scepticism of the official narrative.
7 Four Months
The official narrative insists that Boshirov and Petrov brought “novichok” into the country; that minute quantities could kill; that they disposed of the novichok that did kill Dawn Sturgess. It must therefore have been of the highest priority to inform the public of the movements of the suspects and the possible locations where deadly traces of “novichok” must be lurking.
Yet there was at least a four month gap between the police searching the Poplar hotel where Boshirov and Petrov were staying, allegedly discovering traces of novichok in the hotel room, and the police informing the hotel management, let alone the public, of the discovery. That is four months in which a cleaner might have fatally stumbled across more novichok in the hotel. Four months in which another guest in the same hotel might have had something lurking in their bag which they had picked up. Four months in which there might have been a container of novichok sitting in a hedge near the hotel. Yet for four months the police did not think any of this was urgent enough to tell anybody.
The astonishing thing is that it was a full three months after the death of Dawn Sturgess before the hotel were informed, the public were informed, or the pictures of “Boshirov” and “Petrov” in Salisbury released. There could be no clearer indication that the authorities did not actually believe that any threat from residual novichok was connected to the movements of Boshirov and Petrov.
Similarly the metadata on the famous CCTV images of Boshirov and Petrov in Salisbury, published in September by the Met Police, showed that all the stills were prepared by the Met on the morning of 9 May – a full four months before they were released to the public. But this makes no sense at all. Why wait a full four months for people’s memories to fade before issuing an appeal to the public for information? This makes no sense at all from an investigation viewpoint. It makes even less sense from a public health viewpoint.
If the authorities were genuinely worried about the possible presence of deadly novichok, and wished to track it down, why one earth would you wait for four months before you published the images showing the faces and clothing and the whereabouts of the people you believe were distributing it?
The only possible conclusion from the amazing four month delays both in informing the hotel, and in revealing the Boshirov and Petrov CCTV footage to the public, is that the Metropolitan Police did not actually believe there was a public health danger that the two had left a trail of novichok. Were the official story true, this extraordinary failure to take timely action in a public health emergency may have contributed to the death of Dawn Sturgess.
The metadat shows Police processed all the Salisbury CCTV images of Boshirov and Petrov a month before Charlie Rowley picked up the perfume. The authorities claim the CCTV images show they could have been to the charity bin to dump the novichok. Which begs the question, if the Police really believed they had CCTV of the movements of the men with the novichok, why did they not subsequently exhaustively search everywhere the CCTV shows they could have been, including that charity bin?
The far more probable conclusion appears to be that the lack of urgency is explained by the fact that the link between Boshirov and Petrov and “novichok” is a narrative those involved in the investigation do not take seriously.
8 The Bungling Spies
There are elements of the accepted narrative of Boshirov and Petrov’s movements that do not make sense. As the excellent local Salisbury blog the Blogmire points out, the CCTV footage shows Boshirov and Petrov, after they had allegedly coated the door handle with novichok, returning towards the railway station but walking straight past it, into the centre of Salisbury (and missing their first getaway train in the process). They then wander around Salisbury apparently aimlessly, famously window shopping which is caught on CCTV, and according to the official narrative disposing of the used but inexplicably still cellophane-sealed perfume/novichok in a charity donation bin, having walked past numerous potential disposal sites en route including the railway embankment and the bins at the Shell garage.
But the really interesting thing, highlighted by the blogmire, is that the closest CCTV ever caught them to the Skripals’ house is fully 500 metres, at the Shell garage, walking along the opposite side of the road from the turning to the Skripals. There is a second CCTV camera at the garage which would have caught them crossing the road and turning down towards the Skripals’ house, but no such video or still image – potentially the most important of all the CCTV footage – has ever been released.
However the 500 metres is not the closest the CCTV places the agents to the Skripals. From 13.45 to 13.48, on their saunter into town, Boshirov and Petrov were caught on CCTV at Dawaulders coinshop a maximum of 200 metres away from the Skripals, who at the same time were at Avon Playground. The bin at Avon playground became, over two days in the immediate aftermath of the Skripal “attack”, the scene of extremely intensive investigation. Yet the Boshirov and Petrov excursion – during their getaway from attempted murder – into Salisbury town centre has been treated as entirely pointless and unimportant by the official story.
Finally, the behaviour of Boshirov and Petrov in the early hours before the attack makes no sense whatsoever. On the one hand we are told these are highly trained, experienced and senior GRU agents; on the other hand, we are told they were partying in their room all night, drawing attention to themselves with loud noise, smoking weed and entertaining a prostitute in the room in which they were storing, and perhaps creating, the “novichok”.
The idea that, before an extremely delicate murder operation involving handling a poison, a tiny accident with which would kill them, professionals would stay up all night and drink heavily and take drugs is a nonsense. Apart from the obvious effect on their own metabolisms, they were risking authorities being called because of the noise and a search being instituted because of the drugs.
That they did this while in possession of the novichok and hours before they made the attack, is something I simply do not believe.
9 The Skripals’ Movements
Until the narrative changed to Boshirov and Petrov arriving in Salisbury just before lunchtime and painting the doorknob, the official story had been that the Skripals left home around 9am and had not returned. They had both switched off their mobile phones, an interesting and still unexplained point. As you would expect in a city as covered in CCTV as Salisbury, their early morning journey was easily traced and the position of their car at various times was given by the police.
Yet no evidence of their return journey has ever been offered. There is now a tiny window between Boshirov and Petrov arriving, painting the doorknob apparently with the Skripals now inexplicably back inside their home, and the Skripals leaving again by car, so quickly after the doorknob painting that they catch up with Boshirov and Petrov – or certainly being no more than 200 metres from them in Salisbury City Centre. There is undoubtedly a huge amount of CCTV video of the Skripals’ movements which has never been released. For example, the parents of one of the boys who Sergei was chatting with while feeding the ducks, was shown “clear” footage by the Police of the Skripals at the pond, yet this has never been released. This however is the moment at which the evidence puts Boshirov and Petrov at the closest to them. What does the concealed CCTV of the Skripals with the ducks show?
Why has so little detail of the Skripals’ movements that day been released? What do all the withheld CCTV images of the Skripals in Salisbury show?
10 The Sealed Bottle
Only in the last couple of days have the police finally admitted there is a real problem with the fact that Charlie Rowley insists that the perfume bottle was fully sealed, and the cellophane difficult to remove, when he discovered it. Why the charity collection bin had not been emptied for three months has never been explained either. Rowley’s recollection is supported by the fact that the entire packaging was discovered by the police in his bin – why would Boshirov and Petrov have been carrying the cellophane around with them if they had opened the package? Why – and how – would they reseal it outdoors in Salisbury before dumping it?
Furthermore, there was a gap of three months between the police finding the perfume bottle, and the police releasing details of the brand and photos of it, despite the fact the police believed there could be more out there. Again the news management agenda totally belies the official narrative of the need to protect the public in a public health emergency.
This part of the narrative is plainly nonsense.
Bonus Point – The Integrity Initiative
The Integrity Initiative specifically paid Dan Kaszeta to publish articles on the Skripal case. In the weekly collections of social media postings the Integrity Initiative sent to the FCO to show its activity, over 80% were about the Skripals.
Governments do not institute secret campaigns to put out covert propaganda in order to tell the truth. The Integrity Initiative, with secret FCO and MOD sourced subsidies to MSM figures to put out the government narrative, is very plainly a disinformation exercise. More bluntly, if the Integrity Initiative is promoting it, you know it is not true.
Most sinister of all is the Skripal Group convened by the Integrity Initiative. This group includes Pablo Miller, Skripal’s MI6 handler, and senior representatives of Porton Down, the BBC, the CIA, the FCO and the MOD. Even if all the other ludicrously weak points in the government narrative did not exist, the Integrity Initiative activity in itself would lead me to understand the British government is concealing something important.
Conclusion
I do not know what happened in Salisbury. Plainly spy games were being played between Russia and the UK, quite likely linked to the Skripals and/or the NATO chemical weapons exercise then taking place on Salisbury Plain yet another one of those astonishing coincidences.
What I do know is that major planks of the UK government narrative simply do not stand up to scrutiny.
Plainly the Russian authorities have lied about the identity of Boshirov and Petrov. What is astonishing is the alacrity with which the MSM and the political elite have rallied around the childish logical fallacy that because the Russian Government has lied, therefore the British Government must be telling the truth. It is abundantly plain to me that both governments are lying, and the spy games being played out that day were very much more complicated than a pointless revenge attack on the Skripals.
I do not believe the British Government. I have given you the key points where the official narrative completely fails to stand up. These are by no means exhaustive, and I much look forward to reading your own views.
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Aplogies for not reading all of the previous comments, but it seems entirely plausible that Skripal (a double-dealer) carried on trading despite being swapped and given a nice retirement.
In that murky world maybe he was still doing harm to one side or the other …(or even both!)…. and was spectacularly ‘treated’ as a signal to others in the trade. Makes sense that the Nato Chemical exercise was going on at the time …
Anyway, despite the moral ‘hoo-ha’-ing, Democracy is the least-worst system of government, because it requires fewer ‘agents’ to keep the show on the road. So, I wonder about Craig’s motivation in continuing this story. What does he hope to achieve? If it is to point the finger in order to catalyse change, how about Kelly? At least there is more chance of influencing change in the West with that story, rather than .than change in Russia with Skripal ……
Tone
With a virus so deadly and so dastardly as demoganda, pulling the wool over the eyes of the sheeps, you can’t have enough jabs because the virus is always changing its tactics, sometimes using a known suspect on a London Bridge, or blowing kids up at an event, shooting people with weapons that don’t shoot and loadsa tomato ketchup. The last home grown Integrity Initiative terror fest was before covid. Maybe we need jabbing again before May 6.
Northern ireland had ” troubles ” the British government’s euphemism for Gladio, you need your government. While Tory MPs rah rahing about London saving Scotland from covid has some truth in it, you can’t beat a good spooking just before an important election for the clingy effect it has on the peeps.
“London saving Scotland”?? Are you having a larf? As soon as the virus started to spread, English holidaymakers and those with holiday homes (and Royal tw@s) were pouring over the border, merrily spreading as they went their way.
Just read the comments from today then. The two were also involved in explosions in the Czech Republic in 2014, which has just been revealed.
“The two were also involved in explosions in the Czech Republic in 2014, which has just been revealed.”
Or that could be a piece of tosh dreamt up by the Czech spooks to distract attention from yet another failed western coup attempt in Belorussia.
What was “revealed” was that the Petrov and Boshirov passports – had been in the country when the explosion took place.” (in 2014)
That’s far removed from proven to have been being involved. Or is it just stirring the (propoganda) pot? Again.
What do you want? Your comments are not comprehensible and completely miss the point. The Skripal narrative is central to the smearing of Russia. Currently, the Czech government is using it as a basis for new accusations. At the same time, tension is rising in the conflict area on the Black Sea. In short, remembering that the official narrative around the Skripal case is extremely implausible is of utmost importance right now.
“than change in Russia with Skripal”
Why would the Skripal story produce change in Russia?
Thanks for the reminder of this gratuitous psyop. It’s become even more depressingly clear in the intervening years how supine the UK media is and how uninterested it is in embarrassing power. For all its supposed fascination with the poisoning story, what in-depth follow ups have there been — whether investigative documentaries or long reads — that mention the glaring flaws in the approved narrative? What interest has there even been in where the beloved Skripals disappeared to? Anybody who does commit real journalism like yourself or Assange has been ignored, mocked, silenced, locked away, while ‘enemy’ nations and anything to the left of Sir Keir and Lord Peter are relentlessly slandered by the Guardian’s stable of frauds. The UK media is nothing more than a tame propaganda appendage of the security state.
As outlined by Craig the British account is a contrived bit of deflection and deception to make the British state appear to be the ‘good guys’, as Alex Salmond pointed out in a recent interview on LBC with Ian Dale. Dale was attempting to back Alex into a corner by getting him to chose between Biden’s USA and Putin’s Russia. Alex was far too smart but the presenter Dale still pushed on with the idea that Alex supported Russia and that was far from what Alex said: the presenter Dale was actually putting words in Alex’s mouth. Dale had a agenda and it wouldn’t have made any difference what Alex said. Dale was determined to make him look bad, even attempting to contrive a retrial on air by insisting Alex made a apology to the women involved in the attempt to fit him up and eventually see him jailed: the same state intrusion being used to silence Craig. This pantomime is only being used to wear down Craig, the long drawn out farce is intended to break him, and all this is going on with apparent approval of an independence supporting SNP government.
” Dale was attempting to back Alex into a corner “
Leaving one to wonder why (oh why) does Alex Salmond bother with the likes of LBC. Nobody who is likely to vote for him watches it.
It is very amusing that Boshirov and Petrov are the same agents that the Czechs has just accused of an explosion in a warehouse 7 years ago, and they used the same file photos 🙂
Where are the Skripals now, after being “rescued” by MI6? Dead, one must suppose.
Pablo was a close colleague of Steele whose infamous dossier was being used in a criminal conspiracy to frame Trump. Scripal was alleged to have wanted to return to Russia. Two Russian agents walked around the streets of Salisbury. After the events, the police were searching everywhere for… something.
Tim Glover – “Where are the Skripals now, after being “rescued” by MI6? Dead, one must suppose.”
I know I read a lengthy discussion on another forum (can’t remember which one now – sadly) featuring an aircraft enthusiast who monitored the radar-derived movements of various flights around the UK and overseas.
He insisted that on the day in May 2019 when the Yulia Skripal video (the one where she was filmed in a garden) was released to the public, the Wilts Air Ambulance made a flight from Porton Down to Manston (which officially is closed). He thought this was a strange flight for a helicopter funded by charitable donations, because even if the medical emergency was at Porton, there are numerous hospitals much closer than east Kent.
He decided to investigate a little further, and discovered that the day before that flight, an Notts air ambulance flew from East Midlands airport to Gloucester, and stayed there for a day or so.
His conclusion was that the Skripals may have been on the Wilts helicopter, and because that would leave the good people of the area without emergency cover, a spare E Midlands helicopter had been sent south just in case.
He did give links to the aircraft tracking site and the callsigns of the relevant flights, but sadly the link was soon rendered inactive and the relevant days were removed from the archive. I wish I had taken screenshots of the various sites now – but like many of these things my self-discipline was lacking.
Your critics seem to focus entirely on the fact you questioned the GRU pair’s identities and sexuality. Not one of these many critics can tell us when the Skripals are actually meant to have touched the door; not even an approximation. You’d think after all this time and being such a key piece of the puzzle, that would be known by now, but no.
As you state, the window of time available, using the official narrative and station timetable & CCTV footage, suggests either the unusually relaxed, alleged attempted-poisoners were incredibly unprofessional and reckless about being seen and identified by all, arriving at near midday. Or alternatively, they were lured here on false pretenses (offer of intel from Sergei perhaps?). They’re alleged to have breezily marched up a street and brazenly painted Skripal’s street facing door handle with a deadly poison that requires extremely careful handling in view of everyone. I don’t know much about spycraft, but I’d imagine this would be filed under “how not to conduct an operation”, it’s so absurdly incompetent.
The fact that earlier that morning the Skripals’ phones were turned off (by full power down), to avoid tracking, suggests it’s more likely a well-organised plan unfolded, and the Skripals didn’t actually return home at all that day. That Colonel Alison McCourt, chief nursing officer of the British Army, reported at the time as “an unknown military nurse”, was just ‘passing by in central Salisbury; precisely at the moment the pair fell unconscious (despite different body weights and metabolisms and despite reports McCourt lives 80 miles away), is also a bit convenient to say the least.
“Documents obtained by The Grayzone show that OPCW executives privately criticized the manipulation of a Syria chemical weapons probe, and supported a dissenting veteran inspector. One official, however, feared helping the “Russian narrative.” These private admissions further expose the public whitewash of the Douma cover-up, and undermine the ongoing attacks on the whistleblowers who challenged it.” Grayzone-December 7, 2020
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/12/07/opcw-executives-whistleblower-syria-leaks/
https://www.mintpressnews.com/media-silence-ongoing-opcw-cover-up-syria-chemical-weapons/272932/.
The media and western political elite are so obsessed with countering supposed Russian ‘misinformation and disinformation’, they’ve lost all sense of objectivity /perspective, accountability and probity.
The fact that multiple OPCW whistleblowers have now bravely come forward, claiming they and their families were threatened by the US/UK, should concern everyone. It’s not new or isolated either. Former director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Brazilian diplomat José Bustani claims John Bolton threatened him “We know where your kids live”.
funny to see this old post back up, maybe I’m missing something…..
….I did notice that the 1st bit of MSM drivel listed below my Google search box today was the BBC citing that one of the “Salisbury poisoning suspects” was linked to a “Czech blast”, so maybe that’s it.
Did make me laugh to see the link (not followed it, obviously) as I imagined the Skripal ‘Fake’ news/conspiracy theory, or whatever the lying toads in Whitehall were trying to push, was so discredited that they would’ve wanted to keep quiet about it.
I ‘spose they did trot out the super-deadly-Blofeld’esque-killer-nerve agent, that doesn’t quite do ‘what it says on the tin’, with all that Navalny horsesh!t, but still… ….guess I expected a better ‘narrative’ from the sick, murderin’ basTurds.
Just goggled “Czech blast” & saw on that other sh!t shoveler, Reuters, that it relates to some 6 year old story that they’ve managed to pin on the dastardly Russkies.
ahhhh, I get it, it’s the same fella from Salisbury (that’s handy!) & the Czech Foreign Minister seems to have made some Skripal comparisons to add a bit of ‘newsworthy’ sauce to the mix. I see why this post is back up.
So, they’ve linked him to a GRU unit 29155 which NYT reported was an “Elite” unit within Russian military intelligence – ooooo! I wonder if that’s ‘elite’ like Saddam’s ‘Elite Republican Guard’ which the MS insisted should have us trembling in our boots back in the 90’s.
Maybe that ‘elite’ soldier’s stoned, whorey, EDM night in Salisbury was actually a ritualistic preparation for his ‘elite’ operation with the NoviCock’n’Bull…..you know, hashish><assassin.
Bit disappointed in Putin & his lot though, "Elite" stoner assassins who don't quite manage it, with their military grade nerve agent that just won't fkn well work.
You'd have thought they would have refined the recipe by the time they got to Navalny??
To be honest, I'm having trouble sh!tting myself over Russia based on this record of incompetence.
Much rather stick to COVID & the endless cycle of mutants, from Kent, to Sth Africa to….is it India now? Could keep that one going for at least 20 years* like the "Muslim Ray Guns are coming!!" WoT.
Plus, you can beat these microbial terrorists by just covering your face with a napkin and telling everyone to fk off.
*think the President of the European Commission is doing a deal for 1.8bln vaccine doses for 2022 (that's 4 each! you lucky people), so that's year '3' covered.
Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent…or perhaps I'm 'blathering'…
I did notice in the Rotteurs piece that the allegations go from "well-grounded suspicion" according to the Czech PM to the US (Prague) embassy's 'certainty' of Russia's "dangerous actions on Czech soil", & culminating in yet another round of Russian diplomatic expulsions.
I wonder if all this hate 'spin' is just window dressing for the 2nd Cold War that's obviously got the neocon profiteers cumming in their pants? or is it setting the scene for finally blowing up all the poor folk in eastern Ukraine?
The endless demonisation & fabrication against Putin, & by extension Russia, must lead somewhere.
RussiaGate, Skripals, Hillary's Steele dossier, yawwwwwwn…
It's almost like doing a Sudoku, trying to work out who's going to get the next hefty dose of deadly democracy courtesy of FUKUS & Friends.
Got Nato's neo nazi proxy puppets endlessly lobbing shells in Donbass; some heavy tonnage floating into the Black Sea; a good few bases, handshakes & troop numbers built up in Eastern Europe over the past few years.
I'm guessing there's not so much money to be made with special ops on the African continent or political subversion in Central & South America, so to make the big bucks, the big boys must be itching to loose a few 'big' bombs.
And I'm also guessing that the Ukraine part of the chessboard looks a bit easier than the 'Oriental' corner. Although there's still the Persian bit to go for, but they keep refusing to offer an opening no matter how many terrorist attacks they suffer, on merchant ships, nuclear facilities or beloved General's.
Admittedly, I wouldn't have thought they'd really be stupid enough to poke the Bear directly, but then I never imagined they'd wipe Iraq off the map after starving, besieging & bombing them into submission for 10 years, but they did.
Didn't think they'd get away with doing over the rest of their list, the one that Wesley Clarke was kind enough to share, but they did, mostly.
But then none of those 'victims' were likely to bite back.
Just glad the FUKUS, Aussie & Jap navies, (nuclear subs 'n' all!) who've been pissing around the coast of China lately aren't the ones making the news (bit close to home for me).
Solarwinds hack attribution (no evidence provided). Czech 2014 depot blast attribution (no clear evidence provided), Nalvalny supposedly ‘near death’ (he is on hunger strike apparently). Russian troop movements (countering those of Ukraine army pushing eastwards).
All the above may or may not be the fault of Russia? But you wouldn’t know that from the way our media reports these things. Their reporting is designed to create a deep antipathy for Russia in the west. Why does our MSM allow themselves to be used as propaganda vehicles like this; manipulated by agencies that are pushing us towards war for some sick reason? Pandemic hit Europe needs a war with Russia like it needs a hole in the head.
The climate is so accusatory and full of baseless suspicion, even pointing out that hard factual evidence is thin on the ground gets you labelled a Kremlin sympathiser or Putin bot.
For the record: I can’t stand Putin, and I think he’s abused democratic constitutional privilege to stay in power for far too long. All I’m interested in is objectivity in reporting events vis a vis Russia. As, I believe are, Mr Murray, Glenn Greenwald; Aaron Maté etc. That means assessing information dispassionately and honestly, not getting swept up by the anti-Putin/Russia hype. The fact MI6-linked mouthpiece Bellingcat, is now quoted as an ‘authoritative source’by our MSM shows how far journalistic standards have slipped in the UK.
Agree with all your comments and everything you say, but for the record, I think you are unfair to Putin. He picked up a weak hand, and played it brilliantly; he took over a basket case and has turned Russia into a world power, and he has done this by brilliant diplomacy, pursuing a line of peaceful negotiation in line with the UN and the rule of law, in good faith, with transparency, and with completely awesome and astounding refusal to be baited with insults and provocations. And for two decades he has had one of the highest approval ratings of any leader in the world. He deserves to have won the Peace Prize several times over. I am a huge fan – I think he is awesome! 🙂
The US and UK two-party systems are no less rigged than Russia’s United Russia dominated politics is. But Putin has been leading for far too long. Were I a Russian citizen, I’d want change, albeit, not CIA led change to suit the US.
What control do US or UK citizens really have over our foreign policy?
The two parties agree, and in the US the CIA , State Department ; here in the UK the Foreign Office and MI6 permanent officialdom see little change between administrations. Maybe slight changes in emphasis. In both countries officials have an interest in maintaining the status quo and stifling democratic change, reform.
We are little better.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in 2015 that any attempts to overthrow the government in Syria could lead to a failed state like Iraq or Libya. He also said, “There’s no other solution to the Syrian crisis other than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism, but at the same time urging them to engage in positive dialogue with the rational opposition and conduct reform.”
President Putin made it clear that Russia sent troops(special forces and spotters) to Syria because they were invited by the Syrian government and he made the point that the [US-led] coalition did not have that permission and so was/is illegal.
I wrote to Vladimir Putin in 2014 via the Russian embassy begging him to intervene in what I knew would be a proxy war against the Syria forces contrived by Israel.
It’s too bad Putin’s dedication to Syria doesn’t extend to stopping the Israelis from constantly bombing “Iranian positions” within Syria.
Goose,
Federations cause wars, because they must; it is in their DNA (Empires, Commonweaths, Confederations; not so much). Check the record.
The most likely flashpoint is obviously Ukraine. Again, western media and journalists are misleading us.
Anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows Russia’s interests in Ukraine are limited to ethnic Russian (speakers) in the east. The idea of an advance to Kiev and hostile occupation of that country is pure Neocon fantasy, cooked up in the west. The already wary Russian population wouldn’t support that. The diplomatic and military costs of occupying and pacifying a hostile population in Ukraine would be wholly unsustainable. The Cold war lessons were learnt.
For me amount of space dedicated to Navalny compared to Assange is the smoking gun. Navalny is in the News every couple of days while Assange is rotting without assistance or coverage.
Assange disclosed real war crimes while Navalny fabricated most of the stuff. Apparently Putin’s “Castle” was computer generated, but never denied by MSM. We had Architects commenting on lack of taste on BBC world.
The BBC’s ‘news coverage’ is little better than KCNA live from Pyongyang. It’s news wing been captured by people who think it’s the perfect vehicle to push their agenda(s). What they’ve failed to acknowledge, it’s not the 1970s and people have other options.
If the licence fee wasn’t compulsory the BBC would already be history.
“Why does our MSM allow themselves to be used as propaganda vehicles like this”
Media owners are in sympathy with said agencies and they only hire people who are in sympathy.
yes. or hell the media owners are in bed with them, like bezos.
Russophobia has clearly become a major mental health problem for USA and its allies, and it is difficult to know on the information we have been given what the cause is and what the treatment should be. It might be something to do with Biden not wanting to appear soft after Trump’s bellicosity or that he has n’t a clue and is allowing his hawkish aides to control the agenda. Blinken certainly comes across as a nasty piece of stuff. Getting the Czechs to dredge up the Skripal two is sheer demonic phantasy yet no doubt is it is expected that the story will gain some traction across the EU with its vested interest in propping up the corrupt Ukraine in its civil war in Donetsk. Perhaps they are losing the war there and piling NATO troops on the border and UK sending ships to the Black Sea shows it. Nord Stream might have something to do with it as well. I guess we will have to watch and listen to see where it is all going. But something is going on.
Reported :
Russia establishes armored escorts for ships bringing vital humanitarian supplies of wheat & oil to Syria.
They prevent the US & Israeli from impounding or sabotaging supplies so important to the survival of the Syrian people.
————————
Starvation is just the latest continuation of war by other means. It’s being ignored or tacitly supported by the US/UK Yemen and Syria. But we’re the ‘good guys’ right?
I have not heard this Ships into the Black Sea news and or seen a link to verifiable info.
Where does this originate from, please?
@nevermind
Nor I.
It was announced last week that the US had cancelled a planned deployment of two warships to the Black Sea
Royal Navy warships will sail for the Black Sea next month as tensions continue to rise between Ukrainian and Russian forces. The Sunday Times, April 18 2021
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-warships-head-for-black-sea-as-russian-troops-mass-on-ukrainian-border-vnrjjczgd
The ‘Big red button’ men, who they place in Question Time audiences during election campaigns, must be salivating at the prospect of thermonuclear war.
thanks Dario, next month? They best stay at home and see whats happening here when lock down fully ends.
So we will sail whilst the US is pressuring allies to accept Ukraine into the globally expanding and intrrfering NATO, but is not sailing into the black sea.
Sounds already like crossed wires. Will be a mad summer.
dario: that’s if the Turkish authorities don’t persuade the British that sending warships through the Bosporus just now might be a bad idea. .
When you sail a warship into the Black Sea you have to notify the turks in advance when you’re arriving and when you’re leaving.
nevermind,
I was thinking of US ships, hadn’t seen the reports of UK ships that other comments have referenced.
“Turkey has confirmed an earlier CNN report that the U.S. will send warships to the Black Sea in what a Pentagon official cited by CNN said was a demonstration of support to the government of Ukraine in response to claims of increased Russian military presence on Ukraine’s eastern border.”
https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-warships-enter-black-sea-significant-signal-russia-over-ukraine/5742485
Report is about 10 days old & another comment suggested the decision had been reversed, so that may be the case.
Plus the CNN report that is referenced seems to attribute the comment to the ubiquitous “unnamed” DoD source, so take that as you will.
I always assumed that Porton Down had had yet another of their little accidents and were panicking about lots of people dropping dead so used their tame Russian to show the dastardly Russians were spraying nerve agents everywhere so it was all their fault. It would be interesting to see what way the wind was blowing that day. From Porton Down itself or from the direction of the military exercises. Either way I think they were trying to blame the Russians for something that in fact never happened but they thought it would. Also as regards the ducks the British government agencies also lied about the ducks being killed in the report they sent to the Americans apparently because they felt Trump thought more of ducks than people so he would then go along with any crap the UK government’s puppeteers would come up with because of the poor murdered ducks. As for why they removed the roof of the house, probably just to give you something else to think about. It was one of NATO’s own labs as I understood it that said the sample was so pure it had clearly just been manufactured for their tests so they were quite happily saying the British government were a bunch of liars, as we know they are.
John – “It would be interesting to see what way the wind was blowing that day. From Porton Down itself or from the direction of the military exercises.”
Looking at the archive weather charts from that day (4 Mar 2018), I would estimate the surface wind direction to be between East and Southeast; if that is of any help.
Also there was a typo on my earlier post concerning air ambulances. The year of the Manston flight would be 2018, not 2019.
«I always assumed that Porton Down had had yet another of their little accidents and were panicking about lots of people dropping dead so used their tame Russian to show the dastardly Russians were spraying nerve agents everywhere so it was all their fault.»
My best guess is that:
This guess is compatible with these points:
Thanks for the revamp of the Skripal story. It’s as if we are looking at 2 sides of a triangle.
Was there a plan to use this story as another build up to a Syria’s-done-it poisioning?
If Miller met Skripal regularly, who is to say that Sergey was not watched with a fixed camera?
Was his double-agent act of the past believed? or would he have been observed by more than just a handler at very little expense?
Did Mark Urban ever ask Sergey or his daughter whether he had any knowledge of Msr. de Messurier?
There are clearly questions to be asked from the Royal Tank Regiment officer as well as Mr. Kaszeta.
There is also the question of the whereabouts of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
Official story: they are both alive and in some sort of witness protection to keep them safe from the evil Russians.
Sergei was a devoted son who phoned his aged mother (over 90 and not very well) every week, if not every day.
Since his ‘recovery’ he has apparently not contacted her once, not even indirectly and untraceably over the British authorities:
One would expect at least something of the sort: “Dear mum, hope you are well, things are a bit difficult, love Sergei”.
Yulia was just on a visit, was engaged to be married (to an FSB man), her life was in Russia and she has no apparent reason to fear the Russian authorities. She is also strangely silent.
It is hard to believe they are still alive, and only one party could have killed them: and that wasn’t the ‘evil’ Russians.
Someone claimed they were in New Zealand, there was some sort of diplomatic row over it apparently?
It’ll almost certainly be a FVEY country so they can keep tabs on them. Compare and contrast extent to which even vetted establishment journos can’t get interview access at a safe location, to Russia bringing Douma citizens, who featured in that infamous post-attack video , to the Netherlands, where they spoke freely to gathered Western media. That was described as a ‘stunt’, but it looks a lot more genuine than the vanishing Skripal act.
The reason given for removing the roof was that those investigating had accessed the roof space to check for… well, I don’t know what. In any case, it does seem to me to be plausible that they would check the roof space. The corollary of that is that the roof space could, inadvertently, have been contaminated by those doing the investigating.
In the days after, female police officers were stood outside the property tight next to the door in question, wearing no protective gear whatsoever (see picture link below). You’d think after Det Sgt Nick Bailey was contaminated with the nerve agent at the home, it would’ve been properly cordoned off and sealed, right from the get-go?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/17/nerve-agent-used-to-attack-sergei-skripal-was-liquid-says-defra
There doesn’t appear to be any sign of ‘forced entry’ either. Those doors overlap and can’t be kicked inwards.
The letter below was submitted as a Foi request by Peter Beswick.
Dear Metropolitan Police Service (MPS),
Actions of DS Nick Bailey on the 4th March 2018 (Salisbury Incident)
[I realise that Wiltshire Constabulary were involved in the management of this in the very early stages but it appears the Met have taken complete ownership of the matter, I therefore address the enquiry to you]
The public have been given a good deal of information by the police through official statements and media briefings about the involvement of DS Bailey on the 4th March, it is clear the police want the public to know what he did, when and why.
I certainly am interested to know. Sadly however many of the police statements released regarding DS Bailey are contradictory, conflicting and irreconcilable.
The statements set up confusion in the public’s understanding of events and I can find no corrections or clarifications of the facts. This FoIR is intended to give me (and hopefully others) a clearer understanding of what actually happened that day regarding events which involved Bailey.
On top of the confusing police accounts there have been many other “informed descriptions” of what transpired some from those who claimed access to police “sources” (eg BBC’s Panorama program and Mark Urban’s book – The Skripal Files), there are other media inputs and even Nick Bailey’s own account.
I shall not list all the conflicting versions of events here, there are too many but I do ask for confirmation of specific information regarding DS Baileys activities. The information I understand is available from various sources including CCTV, body worn cameras, reports, statements and witness evidence.
1. i) What time did Bailey go on duty that day? ii) What time was his shift due to end, iii) What time did he go off duty?
2. i) When did become aware of the incident in the Maltings, ii) Why did he attend? (Was he detailed or was it an act of initiative?)
3. Did anyone accompany him, if so how many and rank(s)?
4. At the bench scene, what did Bailey and / or his colleague(s) do?
5. Witness accounts say before the 4:15pm call was made to the emergency services (by a concerned member of the public) there were already police officers at the scene. Is this true and if so how many and rank(s)?
6. In a publicly aired CCTV recording taken within Market Walk (from Jenny’s Restaurant) we see a police car moving towards the scene. i) Was this PC’s Holloway and Collins arriving? ii) Was Bailey already present at the scene when these two arrived? iii) Was the police car in Market Walk caught on CCTV at 4:15pm? (it was reported as such).
7. It was also reported that police were present at the Skripal home at 5pm i) Is this true, if so how many police officers were present (during that afternoon/evening /night) and rank(s)? ii) Was Bailey one of these officers? iii) If there was a police presence at the Skripal home at 5pm why were they there and iv) What did they do?
8. i) At what time did Bailey attend the Skripal home, ii) What was his purpose for being there, iii) Did he (or anyone) have a warrant to enter the property?
9) i) Who else attended the Christie Miller Rd. scene with Bailey numbers and rank(s)? ii) Was the time he attended after his normal shift time? iii) If on overtime why did Bailey attend?
10. i) What activities took place in the Skripal home, ii) By what route was entry gained? iii) Were Mr Skripal’s house keys used to gain access? (how, where, when and why were these keys obtained) iv) How many officers entered the property? v) At what time did Bailey leave the Skripal home
11. Please give a detailed timeline of what Bailey did next, from leaving the Skripal residence, going to the police station, going to Salisbury and District Hospital for the Decontamination Process, returning home, becoming ill, returning to the hospital. Everything he did, everywhere he went and times and mode(s) of transport.
12. i) Did PC’s Holloway and Collins go to the hospital for the decontamination process, ii) What did the decontamination process entail? iii) How long did it last? iv) What tests were done to give the all clear? v) Did all police officers from the bench and house scenes go for decontamination? vi) Had any of those officers been to their homes first? And if so vii) What decontamination precautions were put into effect?
The police have recognised that this matter is of immense public interest and concern, it is therefore vital that any misconceptions, ambiguities and inaccuracies that are in the public perceptions are dealt with transparently and with utmost honestly.
I look forward to your response
Yours faithfully,
Peter Beswick
We’ve since had revelation from Ian Cobain, who tweeted :
You’ll find this one interesting. The head of Scotland Yard, Cressida Dick, left policing for a couple of years from 2015. She joined MI6. This was at a time when Scotland Yard detectives were investigating MI6 involvement in rendition, including the kidnap of entire families
The fact politicians weren’t concerned by this news and conflict of interest is shocking tbh.
As Ian Cobain pointed out in a subsequent tweet:
So the head of Scotland Yard joined an organisation that she knew to be under investigation by her own officers, as a potentially criminal organisation. But didn’t tell anyone? And we think of corruption as some sort of un-British problem?
—-
If those with oversight roles become corrupted or in some way complicit themselves, that’s the final protections gone. How can someone serve two masters?
Actually, Goose, corruption is so severe and endemic in Britain that the establishment has managed – quite successfully – to disguise its existence altogether.
The countries in which corruption is less severe are precisely those where it gets a lot of publicity.
In Britain and the USA, many of the worst forms of corruption have been legalised.
Former DS Bailey provides answers to some of these questions on this recent, if fairly obscure, podcast with another former bizzie. How much of his testimony constitutes anything approaching the truth, the listener can decide.
https://www.tjfbook.com/podcast/episode/6fe6b258/episode-4
My favourite bit was when, despite suffering all manner of toxic symptoms, Nick dismissed the possibility that he might have been poisoned at the Skripal house as “too ridiculous”, having earlier hit panic stations that Skripal’s neighbour and another bizzie could be in mortal danger if they so much as entered the house without donning full protective get-up, immediately after he and his tec colleague discovered that Skripal was a Russian spy – whilst not apparently being concerned that he and/or other po-po had recently handled Skripal’s coat and wallet, probably without even wearing gloves.
(Interview 23:40 – 1:24:50; relevant part 43:30 – 1:02:50)
not too sure whether you have read this
but apparently those 2 agents Petrov and Bashirov were at it again in 2014
“Czech politicians have announced that back in 2014, an explosion of a Czech ammo depot near the Slovak border (the village of Vrbětice) was caused by Russian agents. They also wanted to do something with the explosives in Bulgaria. We may get the full intelligence report in days.
In fact, they were the very two same agents Petrov and Bashirov who have allegedly poisoned Skripal using Novičok and yesterday, the Czech Police promoted its photographs of the two men who are “wanted”! Well, it is possible that these “molodtsy” do this much work. After all, the tensions were high in 2014 and the Russian agents’ working days should be similarly full as those of James Bond 007. But even if it is true that they contributed to the explosion, I find it obvious that the timing of the revival of this scandal (or a conspiracy theory?) is explained by the takeover of the power over the U.S. by the New Loony Left, their being mental cripples, and their fanatical desire to cripple the relationships with Russia (and others).”
source : https://motls.blogspot.com/2021/04/decline-of-education-specialized.html
follow up to previous comment
it seems that this guy, Lubos Motl
isn’t too keen on Glasgow Rangers (or Scots in general)
UEFA declared a total war on the Western civilization
“Like your humhle correspondent, a large majority of the Czech and Slovak nation is absolutely infuriated by a shocking decision of the UEFA, the European bureaucratic soccer body, concerning the Rangers-Slavia Europa League match last month. Slavia won 2-to-0 and this (surprising for bookmakers) Czech dominance was surely one of the reasons why the Scottish men started to behave insanely.”
https://motls.blogspot.com/2021/04/uefa-declared-total-war-on-western.html
The Czech government is expelling 18 Russian diplomats and says it’s hunting for two men who used passports in the names of Alexander Boshirov and Ruslan Petrov, aka Alex and Rus the church clock enthusiasts. The issue according to the Czech authorities is the alleged role of the GRU in explosions at the Vrbetice ammunition depot in 2014. As a result of the explosions two Czech citizens who were working for a private company guarding the site were killed.
It seems unlikely that GRU men carrying out murders in NATO countries (or attempting to) would use passports in the same names on two missions widely separated in both space and time, whether the attacks were with explosives or poison.
What was the name of the private company? Was Czechia arming the fascists in the Ukraine? Or maybe helping with the transportation of military materiel to the Ukraine from a third country? Given that the explosions were in October 2014, the Ukraine would be one of the first countries one would hypothesise a connection with.
From Sputnik:
“The two men whom the police associate with the explosions at the ammunition depot in Vrbetice in late 2014 were known from the very beginning, since a video camera caught them. It became clear they are GRU [Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate] officers in 2018, when their identities were determined in connection with an attempt to poison [former Russian military intelligence officer] Sergei Skripal and his daughter with the Novichok nerve agent”, Hamacek said in a televised statement.“
I smell NATO!
“The very beginning” means 2014. Why didn’t the Czech government publish stills or video of the men at that time? You don’t have to know a criminal’s name before you try to catch him. Publish his photo “at the very beginning” if you can, and ask for witnesses to come forward.
Unless…
What does Russia gain from an explosion at a Czech arms depot?
I was going to put cui bono? But remembered how Botfinder General, Ben Nimmo, says using ‘cui bono’ is unequivocal proof you live at the Kremlin.
The timing of this revelation suggests more information is likely to drop. 2014 to 2021, when these names came to worldwide attention in 2018.
Oh, you answer that by speculating in your third paragraph.
Apologies.. I shouldn’t skip read.
Be interesting to see how this develops.
Yes; everyone knows that all Russians speak Latin as a second language.
Whereas some Americans appear to speak English as a second (or possibly third) language.
The media’s lack of inquiry over the Skripal incident, is only matched by their neediness in demanding everyone simply accepts the quarter of the picture presented, as the whole picture, as they have.
“The [MSM] told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
— George Orwell
Point 9 and the bonus point are the bullet and the smoking gun.
Salisbury council had just started operating an upgraded cctv system a few months before.
The fact that it’s viewed as controversial to ask for and discuss factual evidence as Craig does, shows the dark path down which the UK is headed.
The chance of a 1970s US style Church Committee for the UK, clearing of the Augean stable, is zero, with this establishment being more interested in collecting titles and baubles & closing ranks, despite the stench.
As suggested by Mr. Ben Nimmo, I use the ‘qui bono’ criterion. From my region and my situation, I see only Israel winning, i.e. accusing Russia of chemical weapons misuse, thus accusing it of Douma fake chemical attack.
Israel can use it to keep Syrian Golan heights, and to undermine Iran.
USA can use it to keep control of oil fields.
Turkey – to keep selling this oil.
Britain – to sell missiles to keep the things as they are today.
Etc etc… Many many profits for many western countries.
Skripal and his daughter are hardly of any interest or any meaning, as well as Boshirov&Petrov.
The US/UK elites see it all as big game of geopolitical advantage.
Russia and China are seen as threats to US hegemony. US wealth from tangible production, as you’ll know, is dwarfed by intangibles like status (incl. military) and reputation: remaining the world’s reserve currency. No coincidence that every country that ceased trading in oil dollars was attacked. The US needs a unipolar world, and that sadly means lots more violence to come, unless the US/UK populations get sick of the overseas aggression and revolt.
It may have been a plot to kill Putin at the then World Cup hospitality, with the deadly Porton Down concoction carried back by Julia to Moscow. But Russki has (had?) a mole within our establishment and easily nipped the plot in the bud, expecting our side to keep mum in shame, and even deliberately peering into CCTV expecting the hush hush. But our devils have instead gone all out denying the plot in a ludicrous cover up saga that CM lays bare eg the Chief Nurse turning up with a bench side manner wtf. Teresa May was the PM then, but Russki plays a long game, this skripal business ain’t over yet.
A few comments on points made above.
The announcement of the British support to the Ukrainian Government in the form of RN destroyer and frigate going into the Black Sea early May followed a similar announcement the six RAF Typhoons plus support that are going to Romania. Both well puffed and publicised. In the case of the latter, in the Daily Mail it was only in the 17th and final paragraph that we learnt that this was a standard NATO exercise planned months in advance. It also turns out that the RN trip was similarly planned.
Regarding the Czech ammo dump explosion, it was concluded that it was caused by negligence, not uncommon in ex Red Army locations. That it has suddenly surfaced out of the blue clearly has nothing to do with this upcoming and large tender “Participation of the Russian state corporation “Rosatom” in the tender for the construction of a new power unit at the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant in the south-east of the Czech Republic seems unlikely” – Deputy Prime Minister of the country Karel Gavlicek, Also nothing to do with burying the capture of claimed organizers of a potential coup in Belarus on the 9th May.
Craig, excellent article. Back in shape when you move your focus from Alex Salmond and little politics.
An Idiot’s Guide To The Skripal Affair:
https://syrianobservatoryforhumanwrongs.wordpress.com/2018/07/09/an-idiots-guide-to-the-skripal-affair/
Superb
As a person who learned to read early, and since then has been reading everything that came into my hands;
and as a person who studied linguistics and literature;
and as a Russian person who studied classical literature, world literature and English literature – here’s my opinion.
The Skripal poisoning tale is a fiction. Its author is neither Russian nor European.
When you read a lot of fairy tales, you can determine this by the style and especially by the set of axioms included by the author in the basis of the narrative.
The tale of the Skripals comes from the East.
The marketing of this novel to the general public was done by a Western man. The set of axioms in the marketing of this fairy tale portrays the organizer as an old man, appealing to very ancient horror stories about Russia somewhere in the Soviet era.
A marketer like Brzezinski, an old Russophobic dinosaur.
The implementation of marketing was entrusted to modern information systems, coordinated action is very noticeable, the use of the same type of templates – as if the whole pack acted according to one textbook.
They especially liked to say “quacks like a duck …” – and I already said that in this case it does not work. You cannot distinguish a Russian from a Belarusian, Ukrainian or Israeli.
The latter just fits perfectly into the author’s eastern mentality and the Mossad’s methods of action.
Add to this Israeli interests in Syria, Trump’s son-in-law, Israel’s many friends in the British Parliament, and Macron aka Rothschild’s President – and the whole picture will come together clearly in your head.
Skripal is not the goal, the goal is to remove Russia from Syria so that Israel can keep a piece of Syrian land for itself and their main threat Iran doesn’t have close Russian support.
Tatyana, as a resident in England I am aware that a surprising number of young British people have attitudes and beliefs astonishingly similar to those you would expect to find in very old men.
Tom Welsh
I have no doubt that they inherit the beliefs of their fathers, since the young themselves do not visit Russia to see it with their own eyes. I myself observe how many illusions Western people have about modern Russia.
I’m not talking about beliefs, but about those pieces of facts that were in the tale. For example, Shikhany and the A-232 program. Places, actions and people from the distant past are mentioned, without highlighting their current situation – as if the source of this knowledge was there then, but left the country long ago. Most likely, someone turned to him for scraps of this information, perhaps someone from the entourage of Mudalal Khouri, who is closely acquainted with Leonid Rink, the inventor of Novichok.
I consider it quite likely that Israeli territorial interests in Syria coincide to some extent with the territorial interests of the Islamic State, and both of these forces would like to get rid of the Russian presence there.
So I find it quite possible that some of Mr. Khoury’s moderate Syrian contact serves such a joint project.
Syria probably is key. How far were our leaders were willing to go to get ‘regime change’?
In 2013, months before the horrific Ghouta attack ( August 21st ) that killed an est. 1600 men , women and children, William Hague, the then UK Foreign Secretary kept repeating to parliament ‘ If the red-line’ is crossed we will have to act – the ‘red-line referred to Obama’s warning to Assad on the potential to use chemical weapons. Earlier that year (January) the Daily Mail had carried a report with hacked documents from a ME based contractor (Britam) staffed by ex-SAS. Emails from the hack revealed they were seemingly being asked to carry out a CW attack at the behest of Washington. Britam took the case to court and because the documents were obtained illegally(via a hacked server) the Mail had to withdraw the story and pay costs.
Back to William Hague, his series of statements seemed bizarre at the time, as Assad’s govt had zero reason to use chemical weapons , certainly not in eastern Damascus , when they already had Russian support. US/UK Warships had set sail earlier and were due to rendezvous in the Med off Syria early August, supposedly on an ‘exercise’. Then Ghouta happens: the type of rocket used doesn’t explode, it sticks nose first in the ground and belches out its noxious contents. OPCW inspectors who arrived on the scene found the rockets casings were largely in tact; the code numbers are clearly visible and identifiable in the OPCW’s own photographs. According the late Robert Fisk’s reports, Russia referenced its Soviet era archives and fond they are a type of rocket that was never sold to Assad. However, they were sold to Libya, whose weapons were decommissioned, by guess who?
I don’t know the full truth or validity. I’m just the messenger, repeating reports that are out there. I’m not an investigative journalist.
But if the above is remotely true, it would explain why there is an obsessive, intense effort to discredit Putin and Russia. What t I don’t understand though, is why, If the Soviet weapons’ sales archives clear Assad, Russia is sitting on that information?
Not Russia, but someone else is sitting on this information.
If you watched how compromising information about Biden was stopped from spreading before the elections; or, Trump was banned; then you’ll see a very strange picture – of all the many nationalities of our planet, for some reason, only one is disproportionately redundantly represented at the very top that controls information flows.
@Tatyana
Fisk claimed it was part of the ‘conclusive evidence’ package Russia had put together was going to present to the UN , in the end the UK parliament voted against action and in turn Obama backed down on launching an attack.
Bellingcat has spun lots of stories on this event – the worst single outrage of the Syrian conflict. But… if those Soviet record archives exist (?), alongside the OPCW’s photographs (google them) that’s pretty conclusive proof Assad wasn’t responsible.
There’s an entry on this in russian wiki
https://is.gd/Ubzxbe
* I shortened the russian Wiki cyrillic link via Is.gd service *
the first report on the Gouta attack came from the Al-Arabiya channel, whose owner – probably just a coincidence – Saad Hariri. The head of a coalition of anti-Syrian parties, a Sunni, and a friend of Barack Obama.
French intelligence is the main source of the data.
UN and OPCW find USSR missile manufactured back in 1967 ??? I dare say Russia has smth better today than that crap 🙂 Rather looks like rebels have stolen it somewhere in the post-USSR area.
Also, here is a quotation “The destruction of Syrian chemical weapons is carried out in international waters on the American vessel Cape Ray equipped with special hydrolysis equipment.”
So, perhaps some question should be asked to the USA, what do you think?
Do you know who was the head of French intelligence then?
Bernard Bazholet, French Ambassador to Amman, Sarajevo, Baghdad, Algiers and Kabul – pretty selection, isn’t it? Speaks fluent Arabic and was noted for an attempt in Paris to persuade Egyptian diplomats to negotiate unofficially with people in the Arab intelligence services regarding South Yemen.
UK-Qatari plot against Syria revealed: https://www.business-humanrights.org/fr/dernières-actualités/uk-qatari-plot-against-syria-revealed/
The Britam Defence server hack was certainly genuine. The sabotage operations they were conducting on behalf of ME despots were extensive. They were employing Ukrainians too, ex-forces, who were familiar with handling Soviet era weaponry and systems. The Ukrainians’ passport photos + everything were leaked in the hack carried by a lone German guy iirc. Britam took the Daily Mail to court and the story quickly disappeared.
The world of ex-special forces setting up as private defence contractors in the ME, is a deeply murky business. The Middle East more generally, and the financial rewards has corrupted western countries completely.
Then Foreign Secretary William Hague met senior Qatari representatives at the Foreign Office for a pre-arranged meeting on August 22nd 2013 – the morning after the Ghouta attack.
The Britam leak makes you wonder how much of the strife in Iraq; all those devastating car bombings, and general destabilisation, was the work of contractors in the employ of other states with an interest in sowing sectarian carnage there?
Considering the Saudis hated the fact the Iraq war had empowered the majority Shia community over the minority Baathist Sunnis, they especially hated the fact the new Shiite dominated Iraqi govt was strengthening links with Shia Iran.
Goose,
“makes you wonder how much of the strife in Iraq…..was the work of contractors”
I seem to remember there was an incident where Basra police caught a couple of British special services blokes dressed as locals, with bomb making equipment in the back of their car. British army steamed in and busted them out of jail….
Surprisingly, wikipedia still carries the story:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basra_prison_incident
Goose,
Also brings to mind the “suicide car bomb” in a market, where an Iraqi newspaper reported witnesses saying it was actually a missile strike. Iraqi newspaper was subsequently & promptly shut down by occupier’s government.
Haven’t got sources to hand so wouldn’t swear to it, but it does suggest how easy it is to fudge a narrative amidst the bloody fog of a murdered nation, as long as you’ve got a bought & paid for media in your pocket.
From a reliable source British SAS are raiding Syrian army positions from a US base and demilitarised zone around al-Tanf (ATG). The brief is to mainly deter some of the Iranian forces, or Iranian-backed forces that may have used that part of the country to transit into Syria from Iraq. The garrison is there against international law and over the objections of the Syrian government. Moscow and Damascus have repeatedly pointed out that the area serves as a de facto safe haven for militants carrying out terrorist attacks in Syria.
From intelligence from ATG Russian jets have struck a camouflaged terrorist training camp northeast of Palmyra, destroying 24 vehicles and half a ton of explosive materials while killing up to 200 militants,
The same sources I am led to believe are gathering evidence of British war crimes to be presented to the world and UNSC.
“The destruction of Syrian chemical weapons is carried out in international waters on the American vessel Cape Ray equipped with special hydrolysis equipment.”
I think another alumni of the Tank Corps was on that ship, who later worked for the company making the colourful protection suits prominently displayed around Salisbury.
One Hamish De Breton Gordon.
Who than spent a lot of time in the media as the expert on Chemical weapons that n Syria and Novichok.
Add in the presence of the mysteriously dead Le Mesurier and we have a cast of Usual Suspects going about their tasks on the front line as they follow their orders. With a fully controlled MSM to cover the tracks.
My best theory for the removal of Skripal’s roof is that there might have been some spy things hidden in it (papers? communications equipment?). I reckon the Skripals, MI6 and the Russians were all playing silly spy games, centred on the perfume bottle that Yulia was supposed to take back to Russia for a false flag operation (Navalny?). All the ridiculous lies stem from trying to cover up the MI6 involvement and that one of their handlers was also poisoned.
The only ‘meat’ in the whole Skripal farce seems to be the personal & professional links between Skripal’s MI6 handler, Pablo Miller, & the discredited author of the equally discredited RussiaGate ‘smoking gun’, Christopher Steele*.
The fact that Steele’s ‘dodgy dossier’ was starting to fall apart, particularly in the second half of 2017 when it was revealed that Hillary’s DNC had financed the report through Fusion GPS & Steele’s Orbis Business Intelligence (with which Miller had ties), and that the whole sorry Skripal saga took place towards the beginning of 2018, seems much more noteworthy than the Benny Hill antics of 2 stoner assassins in Salisbury, as portrayed by the MS establishment.
The ridiculous number of holes in the MS narrative would be farcical if it weren’t completely typical a la RussiaGate, Assange, Douma’s OPCW report, WMD’s & the subsequent bloody crusade, etc, etc.
But as Goebbels was kind enough to mention, just keep repeating that sh!t long & often enough & folk will believe anything. Or more accurately, it will become the only ‘truth’ that most people ‘know’.
As with any of these subterfuges, it’s impossible for me to say anything above barely informed speculation, but knowing the absolute barefaced lying nature of the MS mouthpieces involved, it’s hard not be swayed by a bit of ‘dot to dot’ plausibility, or ‘jigsaw’ determination.
*That the poisonous tw@t Luke Harding was one of the loudest voices singing Steele’s praises, should have been more than enough indication to know that he was a complete establishment fraud.
That is my interpretation also.
Precisely Josh – Kibbutz Sarid (שָׂרִיד) volunteer Dominic Raab [see Sursock Purchase and Palestinian genocide] insists Alexei Navalny was murdered with nerve agent Novichok. Fuckwit Raab backed the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani by the US terrorists even though this was carried out in Iraq, an allied, unified country while murdering allied, cooperative, one accord Iraq army personnel to boot. Bastards!
Thanks for continuing to rebut this garbage, Craig. The independent trotted out the Novichok story again two days ago. I questioned it in the comments, was challenged, and when I responded, found my response quarantined. Not long afterwards, the comments section was deleted altogether from the article. So much for the free press. The Guardian’s approach is simply to exclude comments from almost all potentially contentious stories.
«The Guardian’s approach is simply to exclude comments from almost all potentially contentious stories.»
The lack of comments on an opinion piece at “The Guardian” is an almost sure “this is smears and propaganda” indicator (except of course for trivial ones).
“The Guardian” is very useful as an indicator of what “the establishment” wants, and as to this there has been an under-remarked big change for a while: there have been numerous pieces attacking Likud and its policies and even Bibi personally. Perhaps “the establishment” got fed up with him, and hope that Atid or Gantz or Sa’ar can replace him.
Just the fact that B&P turned up in the airport six hours later to catch their plane to Moscow is enough to discredit the official theory. It would be entirely likely for one of the Scripals, but not the other, to come in contact with the poison and fall ill soon after they left. Considering who Skripals were, GRU poisoning would be the prime line of inquiry. The authorities would have 3-5 hours to check nearby cameras and pass their photos to airport police. It is beyond belief that anyone doing this would risk being caught rather than hide their apperance and travel through a third country
I imagine Brexit and the Skiprals were some kind of test for covid – see how far politicians and the media would go in lying to the public. Most likely all American-led operations.
3 million dead from covid. 0 from novichok. maybe the 2 stories aren’t related.
See also John Helmer’s Skripal in Prison, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skripal-Prison-John-Helmer/dp/B084PY9W4R and
Eric Suesse, https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/04/17/where-skripals-today/
Useful post, thanks
Thanks!
Boris Johnson should face consequences for his constant failure to be honest with parliament.
—
MPs claim they’re are upset by Johnson’s persistent dishonesty.
When did we last have an honest PM? Johnson’s porkies may be more brazen and blatant than those who went before him, but the UK’s not had an genuinely honest PM since Harold Wilson stood down.
If the SNP can’t win independence with Johnson at the helm, then they never will.
*they’re upset.