Reuters: Britain sends specialist troops to city where Russian double agent poisoned
Selected Excerpts:
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Britain deployed specialist troops on Friday to remove potentially contaminated objects from the English city where a Russian former double agent and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent. About 180 troops including some with chemical expertise have been sent to the city to remove ambulances and other vehicles involved in the incident and other objects, Britain’s ministry of defense and police said...
Health chiefs have said there is a low risk to the wider public from the nerve agent used against the Skripals, who police said were deliberately targeted with the rare toxin. They said experts had identified the substance, which will help determine the source, but did not name it publicly...
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed Britain’s warnings of retaliation were propaganda and not serious.
Update: May calls attack "unlawful use of force"
Breaking
Prime Minister May:
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If Russia doesn't respond satisfactorily, then the government will consider attack "unlawful use of force" against UK.
For context
Defence Secretary Williamson:
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Russia's being assertive, Russia's being more aggressive, and we have to change the way that we deal with it because we can't be in a situation in these areas of conflict where we are being pushed around by another nation.
Foreign Secretary Johnson:
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But if, and it's still a big if, it turns out this is the agency of another state attempting to kill people on UK soil then of course the UK will respond robustly.
Home Secretary Rudd:
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There will come a time for attribution and there will be, then, consequences and there will be further information that follows...The use of a nerve agent on UK soil is a brazen and reckless act. This was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way. People are right to want to know who to hold to account. We are committed to doing all we can to bring the perpetrators to justice - whoever they are and wherever they may be.
Member of Parliament Chris Tugendhat:
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The first duty of government is to protect the British people - I think using nerve agents on British streets really does demand a response.
Prime Minister May's Remarks
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It is now clear that Mr. Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia...The government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal...Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom, and I will come back to this House and set out the full range of measures we will take in response...We shall not tolerate such a brazen act to murder innocent civilians on our soil.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/w...poisoning.html
Novichok: the deadly story behind the nerve agent in Sergei Skripal spy attack
I am familiar with the views of Alastair Hay, Professor (Emeritus) of Environmental Toxicology, University of Leeds; whose slim bio states:
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He is a member of the Advisory Board on Education and Outreach of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Chairman of the UK Chemical Weapons Convention Advisory Committee.
His commentary ends with:
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Nerve agents are grotesque weapons and their use against civilians is a deeply disturbing trend. But in the weeks to come, there will have to be a dispassionate review of the evidence. And as the spat between Russia, and the UK and its allies worsens, cool heads will be needed. Amid all this frenetic activity, however, we must not forget the three victims – and wish them a swift recovery. After all, they are the ones paying the heaviest price.
Link:https://theconversation.com/novichok-the-deadly-story-behind-the-nerve-agent-in-sergei-skripal-spy-attack-93562?
Meantime the incident has retreated from the media foreground here, I leave aside the political fracas over whether Jeremy Corbyn is 'fit and proper' person to possibly become Prime Minister. We have the OPCW involved, some odd political statements that there is evidence aplenty it is the Russian state's responsibility and a criminal investigation.
The UK and Russia: What is to be Done?
An unusual commentary via RUSI, by:
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The author is a senior former British intelligence official who has chosen to write this article anonymously to articulate unhindered views.
Link:https://rusi.org/commentary/uk-and-russia-what-be-done
It opens with:
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As Lenin once quipped at a key turning moment in his revolution, chto delat? (What is to be done?). That is precisely the question facing the UK after the attempted assassination in Salisbury of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia
The last paragraph:
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The actions proposed here against the Russian intelligence presence may not be the most dramatic suggestions. But the UK’s response must acknowledge that British–Russian relations are not just some degrees worse than hitherto. For Russia under Putin has become not just a disappointing partner or a part-nuisance; it is now hostile, and Whitehall needs to adopt a policy to accept that.
Doubts about the Salisbury nerve agent attack
Today there has been a flurry of reports, all of which appear to cast doubt on the official version. In part as ministers and others referred to 'evidence' when it would have been wiser to say 'assessment' or 'intelligence'.
This via the NYT on March 29th via Twitter and not in the UK media:
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Sergei Skripal's door is being removed from his Salisbury home, hours after police say he was exposed to nerve agent there....(From Shashank Joshi, of RUSI) 25 days after the poisoning.
Here is a headline today from the conservative Daily Telegraph:
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Salisbury nerve agent 'probably state made' but Porton Down scientists unable to say it came from Russia
Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, said that:
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We were able to identify it as novichok, to identify that it was a military-grade nerve agent. We have not verified the precise source, but we provided the scientific information to the government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions that they have come to. It is our job to provide the scientific evidence that identifies what the particular nerve agent is, we identified that it was from this family and that it is a military grade nerve agent, but it is not our job to then say where that actually was manufactured.
Link:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics...e-nerve-agent/
A dissident voice on Open Democracy (which leans to the left IMHO):
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It is difficult to obtain 100% proof in cases such as the Sergey Skripal poisoning. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't demand as much evidence — from our politicians and law enforcement — as possible.
Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-rus...se-is-lacking?
A more detailed analysis comes from a group of academics who watch propaganda and the media; one - not one of the three authors - of whom I have heard in person who would never be sympathetic to a Conservative government here. A key point made:
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The UK government’s declared case therefore rests only on subjective judgements of “intent and motive”, which are open to question.
Link:http://syriapropagandamedia.org/working-papers/update-to-briefing-note-doubts-about-novichoks
Skripal Case Descends into a Propaganda War: a German article
A good overview and some hints at what the UK has told its allies. A "taster" passage:
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For weeks, the Russians have been hammering away at weaknesses in the British argumentation and now, that strategy has begun to show at least some results. If the British don't release additional details or evidence, there is a danger that the Skripal case will become a matter of faith rather than of fact.
Link:http://www.spiegel.de/international/...a-1201573.html
Novichok returns: one dead, one critical
In so far unexplained circumstances two adults had contact with Novichok, either in Salisbury or a nearby village; after four days the media broadcast the story. One of them, a woman has now died.
An acknowledged SME, Alistair Hay, has a short article; he tries to answer this:
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So what do we know about Novichok and how long it remains in the environment? Regrettably, very little. There is insufficient scientific data to be certain about the time it takes for this chemical to degrade and for the threat it poses to end.
Link:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-44778697
The second article is partly from a public meeting held to reassure the local population. One must wonder if this was successful:
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The nerve agent that killed a Wiltshire woman could last for 50 years if it remains in a container, Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer has said.
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/10/nerve-agent-poisoning-inquiry-spreads-to-swindon-car-seized-dawn-sturgess?
Sergei Skripal and the Russian disinformation game
Added as an update as the police investigation moves along; with huge dependence on trawling through CCTV and the identification of to Russian GRU named suspects:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45421445
The disinformation aspect:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45454142
Skripal Suspects Confirmed as GRU Operatives: Prior European Operations Disclosed
Bellingcat adds to the evidence that the two recently named suspects are GRU operatives. Fascinating that such open source information can be assembled in these circumstances.
Link to Part One:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-a...rity-services/
Link to Part Two:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-a...ons-disclosed/
Skripal 'hitman' unmasked as GRU colonel : Bellingcat strike again!
Odd that Sky News do not credit Bellingcat:
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Bellingcat and its investigative partner The Insider – Russia have established conclusively the identity of one of the suspects in the poisoning of Sergey and Yulia Skripal, and in the homicide of British citizen Dawn Sturgess.
Curiously bellingcat use sources familiar with the GRU and so I'd take this with a "pinch of salt":
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The source further surmised that to send a highly decorated colonel back to a field job would be highly extraordinary, and would imply that “the job was ordered at the highest level.”
Link:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-a...toliy-chepiga/
There's also this - which credits Bellingcat:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...sias-highest/?
