Russian nerve agent attack

[Window Cleaner]

I see that the Russians are now putting it about that they told the coalition where attacking wasn't an option. It also transpires that the French Cruise Missile Destroyers firing systems malfunctioned for 2 of the 3 and they only sent 3 missiles instead of the planned 8.

[aintforever]

The government were wrong about WMDs and so for evermore they are lying scumbags in perpetuity. Seems logical.

 

And don't give me this tripe about "intelligent people keep an open mind." Intelligent people look at the balance of probabilities, all the available evidence and then understand who is to blame. But yes let's just pretend it was a British false flag operation because we haven't got a signed Russian confession and because Putin said so and because Blair lied about something 15 years ago.

 

You are just making stuff up now, what happened over Iraq doesn’t mean our government are purpetual lying scumbags but the fact that they lied before means that it is possible that they may lie again. No doubt you were taking the **** our of the mad conspiracy loons who suggested that WMDs didn’t exist in Iraq?

 

You often never know the full truth of what happens in war so I don’t have a problem with the strikes on Assad but that still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do all you can to find as much evidence as possible. The idea that it was a British false flag is nonsense but who knows what is going on in Syria. There are so many different groups in conflict and many in desperate situations - if chemical weapons ended up in the hands of the wrong people who knows what can happen.

[van Hanegem]

Yes, its a black and white choice. You either act on the evidence you can get or you do nothing and risk giving the green light to further atrocities. Is the evidence 100% conclusive? No. Is it stronger than the 50% threshold for balance of probability? Yes absolutely.

 

If you sincerely hold the views you post here you should never go into Government - because you would be utterly ineffectual if you did. The world has rightly drawn a red line over use of chemical weapons. There is no hand wringing option. May had to make a decision based on what she knew. you and I will never know the details of that knowledge - so yes ultimately you have to trust that either Assad / Putin is telling the truth or May / macron / Trump is. Wait for 100% proof which will never come and you become Burke's good man who does nothing and allows evil to triumph.

 

So when it eventually turns out that Assad didn't do it this time, we just say 'he had it coming for all those other times' or something like that...

Well, I guess you're right that we'll never know for sure wether it was Assad or 'the rebels' but even when the researchers can give 100% percent proof it was Assad, what did we gain by sending those missiles? Will they stop Assads's evil ways? Don't think so. What are we going to do next time when Assad uses chemical weapons again? More missiles without UN resolution on more buildings Assad doesn't care about? Or do you prefer to shoot without an advanced warning with the risk of killing Russians?

[OldNick]

So when it eventually turns out that Assad didn't do it this time, we just say 'he had it coming for all those other times' or something like that...

Well, I guess you're right that we'll never know for sure wether it was Assad or 'the rebels' but even when the researchers can give 100% percent proof it was Assad, what did we gain by sending those missiles? Will they stop Assads's evil ways? Don't think so. What are we going to do next time when Assad uses chemical weapons again? More missiles without UN resolution on more buildings Assad doesn't care about? Or do you prefer to shoot without an advanced warning with the risk of killing Russians?

its a bit odd that the chemical inspectors haven't been allowed to inspect the site. Extra time to clean the site up? Surely if you are innocent you would want the inspectors in straightaway

[van Hanegem]

its a bit odd that the chemical inspectors haven't been allowed to inspect the site. Extra time to clean the site up? Surely if you are innocent you would want the inspectors in straightaway

 

Maybe they needed extra time in order to leave some traces from chemical weapons as used by the rebels (if that's possible at all). You're guess is as good as mine. Let's just hope the OPCW doesn't proof it wasn't Assad as this would undermine the postion of the West at the negotiation table.

[OldNick]

Maybe they needed extra time in order to leave some traces from chemical weapons as used by the rebels (if that's possible at all). You're guess is as good as mine. Let's just hope the OPCW doesn't proof it wasn't Assad as this would undermine the postion of the West at the negotiation table.

I would expect the evidence to be either gone or tampered with.The crime scene has had too long in the wrong hands on either side to be sure of the outcome.

[Saint in Paradise]

Well this is a very interesting website which talks about the attack. Anyone else remember "D Notices" ?

 

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/

 

However I doubt that us mere peasants will ever be told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

[Batman]

see there are more UK crisis actors in Wiltshire

[aintforever]

Two more people poisoned by Novichok - no point in police investigating because Novichok was originally made in Russia so we already know Putin did it.

[buctootim]

Two more people poisoned by Novichok - no point in police investigating because Novichok was originally made in Russia so we already know Putin did it.

 

I've no idea how you've concluded that this new development 1. isnt being properly investigated or 2. affects the probability of Russia being involved

[aintforever]

I've no idea how you've concluded that this new development 1. isnt being properly investigated or 2. affects the probability of Russia being involved

 

I was being facetious. The fact that Novichok was originally made in Russia was the level of proof needed in the previous case, anyone who suggests anything other than Putin is a Rusky-lover conspiracy theorist.

[Lighthouse]

I was being facetious. The fact that Novichok was originally made in Russia was the level of proof needed in the previous case, anyone who suggests anything other than Putin is a Rusky-lover conspiracy theorist.

 

No, we probably have much more credible proof which can't be released to the public in order to protect our intelligence sources.

 

Perhaps you'd prefer a 2 page spread in The Sun about Andrei Brehvdiyek, our secret mole in the Kremlin.

[aintforever]

No, we probably have much more credible proof which can't be released to the public in order to protect our intelligence sources.

 

Perhaps you'd prefer a 2 page spread in The Sun about Andrei Brehvdiyek, our secret mole in the Kremlin.

 

Possibly. How is the police investigation getting along? must have a suspect by now.

[Window Cleaner]

Really the media shouldn't publish the statements of idiots. I see that someone claiming to be a long time friend of the bloke thinks that they found the stuff in a bin and injected themselves with it. In that case they would be kinda dead. The police will no doubt find some interesting details at the homeless hostel where the woman was staying.

[OldNick]

The word in Salisbury that I have heard in the last few hours is that she used to go around collecting fag butts and may have just lit up one of those.

Also the police are dredging the river by the bench. I assume just in case there is anything lurking in the undergrowth.

It was strange that all the ducks and swans disappeared, there are not as many there now

[Window Cleaner]

It was strange that all the ducks and swans disappeared, there are not as many there now

 

Russians nicked them all have they ?

[Cabbage_Face]

This is all very odd

[fanimal]

Christ the South Today report made all the locals look real specials! And I have to drive through there every week, I want danger money!

[Saint in Paradise]

I have stolen the below info from another website. This is only part of his whole post but it is

from a person who seems to have a lot more knowledge about such stuff than anyone on here.

 

"The report from 1995 on the state of the former Soviet Union chemical weapons facilities makes it very clear that they were not

at all secure and that with the dissolution of the former Soviet Union governmental security controls there was a significant risk

that materiel could be removed from the facilities and used by non-state actors. Places like Shikhany were effectively wide open

to exploitation at that time, and it seems quite probable that criminals could have obtained whatever materiel they wanted, perhaps

aided and abetted by former workers at those facilities who were now not being paid, and perhaps more open to coercion.

 

If this was the case, then I doubt that the attackers would be particularly competent, or that bothered by the possibility of collateral

damage. One possible scenario is that the attackers had a container with the A234 in, applied it to the door handle of Sergei Skripal's

house, then walked across town and disposed of the container in an area well away from the house. Elizabeth Gardens has been mentioned,

and that would be on a walking route from Sergei Skripal's house, North of the A36, to the least congested road exits from Salisbury, to the

South West. There is a network of paths running across that area, with a route across to a relatively quiet area around Harnham where

someone getting into a car and driving off would be very unlikely to attract attention. Such a route also avoids almost all the CCTV in the city

and avoids the main ANPR cameras set up along the A36 and adjoining roads. This is just complete guesswork, but it does seem to fit reasonably

well with the information that has been released so far."

 

.

[egg]

So there's a professional hit attempt on the Skripals. Subsequently a random couple are seemingly knocked out by the same product. That product seemingly degrades to the point it is not dangerous in the period since the Skripals but apparently was dangerous here. It was also somewhere sufficiently public to contaminate these 2 but the public health risk is low. It's also in a different town. All odd as f-ck.

[Saint in Paradise]

The BBC did have a chemist on the 10pm news last night that confirmed that in his view the agent could remain lethal if left outside for years,

and quoted from personal knowledge that he knew it had not degraded after 4 years exposure outside. He also confirmed that if in a container, say

something like a used syringe, then it could remain viable for much longer.

 

There was a mention in the media (local radio, IIRC) yesterday, by someone who knew the two affected people, that they may have been inclined to

pick up something like a syringe. I found that interesting, as a syringe would also have been a viable way to fairly safely apply the agent the to door

handle of Sergei Skripal's house. This is all just speculation though, as we have no way of knowing what really happened.

 

.

[Saint in Paradise]

Nerve Agents: What are they?

 

Read and learn as I hope that it will help educate people, although I suspect that some on here will think that they know better than the author of this article ( Yeah rite ).

 

https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/articles/2018/03/08/nerve-agents-what-are-they/

 

.

[Guided Missile]

Nerve Agents: What are they?

 

Read and learn as I hope that it will help educate people, although I suspect that some on here will think that they know better than the author of this article ( Yeah rite ).

I have handled "nerve agents" more times than this guy has had hot dinners, in quantities enough to wipe out the entire population of New Zealand. The most toxic compound I worked on was terbufos, an organophosphate used to control corn rootworm in the US. Terbufos has a dermal toxicity of 1 mg/kg, which means a lethal dose of around 80 mg applied to the skin, for an adult male (one drop). Organophosphates are generally oily liquids that are called nerve gases because in military use, they are vapourised in delivering the compound, much the same as nicotine (which has a lethal dose of around 500 mg) is when it is delivered to nicotine addicts. That compound is safely ingested via vapes by millions of people every day. The dose defines the poison, as they say. My research work involved reducing the toxicity of terbufos formulations, so that the product could be safely handled. If you're interested, my invention is detailed here.

In the years I handled these compounds, I obviously wore protective clothing and had my cholinesterase levels checked every month. Only once did I have a low level of cholinesterase, so was placed on the bench for a month, until my levels normalised. As a precaution I had a syringe of atropine ready in case of an accident in the emergency shower room. Apart from one low reading, no one, including me, was ever affected by the chemicals we were working on. The product is still marketed in the US, here.

 

The Russians are amateurs, by the way....

[OldNick]

Russians nicked them all have they ?

ho ho ho, yeah very funny. A duck was found dead early on after the first attack. Perhaps as a precaution they were taken and destroyed.

As I have a business close to Salisbury it is a serious event, and with the Wiltshire Chief Inspector now warning that they could not rule out more people getting infected. Salisbury is/was a beautiful City and to see a park where Constable painted his famous view of the Cathedral shut down for a long period, is pretty sad.

Another nonsense in this saga is that 4 buses that these last 2 victims MAY have travelled on were impounded. They used bus drivers to go and collect them to bring them back, without any protection or special clothing.

[Cabbage_Face]

Sadly one has died from this. Whatever or whomever used this “nerve” agent is a **** tbf. Sadly like all these things the conspiracy nuts go full psycho and sadly we will never get the full story. This just adds to the new world order blew up the twin towers using the missing Malaysian airliner which got confused by the flat earth and chemtrails bull****. [emoji1303][emoji1303]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guided Missile]

A tragedy that an innocent victim was exposed to a lethal dose of this compound. It is quite clear that the point of this attack was not to assassinate an ex-Russian spy, but to spread terror against enemies of the state. If they wanted to kill Sergei Skripal, they would have shot him, FFS.

 

Russia is a terrorist state, and I look forward to politicians from all sides of the political divide condemning them. I'm not holding my breath, though...

[Jonnyboy]

I'm not holding my breath, though...

 

Oh go on, please.

[whelk]

A tragedy that an innocent victim was exposed to a lethal dose of this compound. It is quite clear that the point of this attack was not to assassinate an ex-Russian spy, but to spread terror against enemies of the state. If they wanted to kill Sergei Skripal, they would have shot him, FFS.

 

Russia is a terrorist state, and I look forward to politicians from all sides of the political divide condemning them. I'm not holding my breath, though...

 

I am actually surprised you acknowledge it as a tragedy rather than cite how she deserved from rifling through bins and not working and paying taxes. Some humanity there at least,

[Plastic]

‘Bottle’ of Novichok found in Charlie Rowley’s house. Can’t believe anyone would pick up half a bottle of clear liquid they found and take it home...

[OldNick]

‘Bottle’ of Novichok found in Charlie Rowley’s house. Can’t believe anyone would pick up half a bottle of clear liquid they found and take it home...

It depends if it looked like drugs of some kind. I don't know what heroin looks like but it it looked similar then perhaps they thought they stumbled over a free stash. I doubt they thought it was nail polish remover

[OldNick]

I may also like to point out that at the hostel has obviously had all its guests evicted who yesterday were in the centre of Salisbury, drunk and generally not very nice. My granddaughter was pretty frightened by them and how they were behaving in a drunken/drugged way. This lovely City is being decimated by the attack on our soil. Whether it can recover only time will tell. A tragedy for all of us.

The tourists have dropped to pathetic levels and day trippers will choose Winchester or Bath to visit.

Interestingly, the media say that Amesbury is 6 miles from Salisbury but don't say it is only a mile from Stonehenge

[rooney]

‘Bottle’ of Novichok found in Charlie Rowley’s house. Can’t believe anyone would pick up half a bottle of clear liquid they found and take it home...

 

The Police say today that they do not know where the bottle came from and there may be more. I wonder if his partner who died, picked it up in Salisbury and brought it to his house from the Hostel. I saw an interview with one of the interns there and she looked as high as a kite.

[Window Cleaner]

It depends if it looked like drugs of some kind. I don't know what heroin looks like but it it looked similar then perhaps they thought they stumbled over a free stash. I doubt they thought it was nail polish remover

 

Is not heroin a powder ? I'm sure that this stuff was said to be a fairly viscous liquid. Has it been considered that the Amesbury 2 are not quite so innocent in the affair. I've not read all of the detailed reports so I'm just asking..

Edited 14 July, 2018 by Window Cleaner

[OldNick]

Is not heroin a powder ? I'm sure that this stuff was said to be a fairly viscous liquid. Has it been considered that the Amesbury 2 are not quite so innocent in the affair. I've not read all of the detailed reports so I'm just asking..

yes you could be right but I thought drug addicts (some) used needles.

[shurlock]

yes you could be right but I thought drug addicts (some) used needles.

 

Easy to turn or 'cook' the powder into a liquid. Fentanyl solution is an alternative.

Edited 14 July, 2018 by shurlock

[buctootim]

The police described it as being in small bottle. It wouldn't be surprising if the stuff was disguised as some kind of prescription medicine - and that's what Amesbury two took it be.

[Sheaf Saint]

http://www.itv.com/news/2018-07-24/charlie-rowley-novichok-amesbury/

 

So Charlie Rowley found an unopened bottle of expensive looking perfume and decided to give it to his girlfriend as a gift.

 

He can't remember where he found it, but he was certain it was legitimate.

 

He spilled some of the bottle contents on his hands when trying to put it in the box, and it was an oily substance that didn't smell of perfume, but he still gave it to her as a present anyway.

 

Well I'm convinced

 

And now it turns out that Dawn Sturgess' former partner is a long term employee of a major defence tech company that was formed following the privatisation of DERA, but I'm sure that's just another coincidence.

 

Is anybody still believing this b0llox?

[ALWAYS_SFC]

http://www.itv.com/news/2018-07-24/charlie-rowley-novichok-amesbury/

 

So Charlie Rowley found an unopened bottle of expensive looking perfume and decided to give it to his girlfriend as a gift.

 

He can't remember where he found it, but he was certain it was legitimate.

 

He spilled some of the bottle contents on his hands when trying to put it in the box, and it was an oily substance that didn't smell of perfume, but he still gave it to her as a present anyway.

 

Well I'm convinced

 

And now it turns out that Dawn Sturgess' former partner is a long term employee of a major defence tech company that was formed following the privatisation of DERA, but I'm sure that's just another coincidence.

 

Is anybody still believing this b0llox?

 

I have seen the **** and heard him speak with others and can confirm he is so ruined by substance abuse he has no idea what the hell he is on about

and said he the norovirus by mistake...his brain is pickled

Nothing he says should be believed

[buctootim]

http://www.itv.com/news/2018-07-24/charlie-rowley-novichok-amesbury/

 

So Charlie Rowley found an unopened bottle of expensive looking perfume and decided to give it to his girlfriend as a gift.

 

He can't remember where he found it, but he was certain it was legitimate.

 

He spilled some of the bottle contents on his hands when trying to put it in the box, and it was an oily substance that didn't smell of perfume, but he still gave it to her as a present anyway.

 

Well I'm convinced

 

And now it turns out that Dawn Sturgess' former partner is a long term employee of a major defence tech company that was formed following the privatisation of DERA, but I'm sure that's just another coincidence.

 

Is anybody still believing this b0llox?

 

So your view is that Dawn Sturgess' former partner, current partner and the British government conspired to kill her. Yeah, thats so much more likely.

[OldNick]

http://www.itv.com/news/2018-07-24/charlie-rowley-novichok-amesbury/

 

So Charlie Rowley found an unopened bottle of expensive looking perfume and decided to give it to his girlfriend as a gift.

 

He can't remember where he found it, but he was certain it was legitimate.

 

He spilled some of the bottle contents on his hands when trying to put it in the box, and it was an oily substance that didn't smell of perfume, but he still gave it to her as a present anyway.

 

Well I'm convinced

 

And now it turns out that Dawn Sturgess' former partner is a long term employee of a major defence tech company that was formed following the privatisation of DERA, but I'm sure that's just another coincidence.

 

Is anybody still believing this b0llox?

of course a defence tech company can lay their hands on Novichoc, its lying there on the counter to be picked up, lol

[OldNick]

As I have a business in the Salisbury area that is affected by the scare stories, I'm not too happy when the Police come out and say that there might be more around.

How about saying nothing. I doubt many people are going around picking up stray bottles now.

My friend has the ice cream pitch on Elizabeth Gardens and is devastated that this year of all years he is not allowed on the park.

[Sheaf Saint]

of course a defence tech company can lay their hands on Novichoc, its lying there on the counter to be picked up, lol

 

A defence tech company that has very close ties to the DSTL at Porton Down, which just happens to be the only facility in the country that has samples of or the capability to manufacture novichok.

 

Some were highlighting the close proximity of the original incident to Porton Down as being suspicious. Taken in isolation, yes it is not out of the question to put that down to pure coincidence. But now it turns out that the former partner of one of the victims works for a company that operates there?

 

But no, it must have been those pesky Russians.

[buctootim]

A defence tech company that has very close ties to the DSTL at Porton Down, which just happens to be the only facility in the country that has samples of or the capability to manufacture novichok.

 

Some were highlighting the close proximity of the original incident to Porton Down as being suspicious. Taken in isolation, yes it is not out of the question to put that down to pure coincidence. But now it turns out that the former partner of one of the victims works for a company that operates there?

 

But no, it must have been those pesky Russians.

 

Kin ell you're gullible. Have you seriously not considered that if the British government were behind it and wanted to blame the Russians they might have chosen almost anywhere else in the country to do it. Likely in Knightsbridge which is full of Russians and their embassy. But no, they chose the one location which enabled the credulous conspiracists to make a facile link to Porton Down. The fact that if you were the Russian GRU commander wanting to make an example and stir **** then Salisbury is the perfect location to do it seems to have completely passed you by. Yeah I know, its a triple bluff.

 

One of my friends works on Trident warheads at Aldermaston. I'll ask him to smuggle one out, should be easy enough according to you. Then maybe you could hit it with a hammer in a pub car park.

Edited 25 July, 2018 by buctootim

[Verbal]

Kin ell you're gullible. Have you seriously not considered that if the British government were behind it and wanted to blame the Russians they might have chosen almost anywhere else in the country to do it. Likely in Knightsbridge which is full of Russians and their embassy. But no, they chose the one location which enabled the credulous conspiracists to make a facile link to Porton Down. The fact that if you were the Russian GRU commander wanting to make an example and stir **** then Salisbury is the perfect location to do it seems to have completely passed you by. Yeah I know, its a triple bluff.

 

One of my friends works on Trident warheads at Aldermaston. I'll ask him to smuggle one out, should be easy enough according to you. Then maybe you could hit it with a hammer in a pub car park.

 

You can't really argue with conspiracy theorists of any kind, or in this case a regurgitative acolyte of conspiracy theorists. Trust me, I've tried. They're protected by a hard shell of single-mindedness (dressed up, falsely, as 'open-mindedness'), which at root is an unshakable conviction that major outrages are conducted by a 'deep state' on home soil (9/11 was Americans; 7/7 was Brits; Lee Rigby was - according to the stupidest acolyte - a death faked in collaboration with his own family; the Novichok attack is Porton Down gone rogue, etc). The only exception to the deep state/home soil guff is when the 'Israelis' (code for stinking Jews) are the ultimate culprits.

 

The other key feature is the ranting about the 'MSM', as if it were some sort of coordinated 'establishment'-protecting hivemind - a charge that has led directly to Trump's full-on assault on the news media with his charge of 'fake news'. The attacks on the 'MSM' are invariably made by 'investigators' whose actual investigations take place entirely in their back bedrooms, where incidents and characters are strung together in ways that palely resemble the wall decorations of John Nash's office.

 

But you can't just ignore conspiracy acolytes, sadly. They were once on the marginal fringes of sentience, but now one of them occupies the White House. I see that Trump's most trusted journalist, Alex Jones, is accusing Robert Mueller of being a child rapist, and is making gun-fingers at the screen at the mention of his name. You can bet this accusation will find itself into Trumpworld very soon. 'Pizzagate' - a Trump favourite - led to another 'self-investigating' acolyte loosing off an assault rifle in a falsely accused restaurant in Washington. And journalists now routinely run a gauntlet of vicious abuse at Trump rallies. Here, conspiro-loons also occupy the political left, but the patterns and arguments are exactly the same, down to the relentless scapegoating of what one Corbynista today called 'the Jewish world view'.

[buctootim]

You can't really argue with conspiracy theorists of any kind, or in this case a regurgitative acolyte of conspiracy theorists...... They were once on the marginal fringes of sentience, but now one of them occupies the White House.

 

I know - but the mindset / personality interests me - how you can take something totally implausible and practicably impossible and make it your preferred view of the world. Why does someone who has no knowledge of the Pentagon 9/11 crash other than what they have read on conspiracy sites feel so righteous that he can accuse three charity workers who witnessed it as being deep state agents. Its bizarre and troubling.

Edited 25 July, 2018 by buctootim

[ashnats]

The one place in the U.K. that could manufacture novichok, that specialises in research into chemical weapons, sits in between and close to two poisoning incidents. If we didn’t have the Russian narrative we would all assume an accidental release/contamination.

 

The first poisoning, lower dose, has Russian connections

The second poisoning, high dose, has dera connections.

 

Either way, there are what appear to be surprising coincidence, but surprising coincidences happen all the time.

 

Most likely seems to be Russia involvement, but actually there is no evidence to prove anything, so it is ripe for conspiracy theory.

[Dr. Kucho]

What I don’t understand is that IF Putin wanted this guy dead, why not get a hitman to go over to this blokes place, shoot him and make it look like a robbery/burglary gone wrong? Why poison him with a Russian made nerve agent, knowing that after tests on the body it’s likely to be found on or in the body? Or make it look like suicide what has happened to others in the past.

[aintforever]

I know - but the mindset / personality interests me - how you can take something totally implausible and practicably impossible and make it your preferred view of the world. Why does someone who has no knowledge of the Pentagon 9/11 crash other than what they have read on conspiracy sites feel so righteous that he can accuse three charity workers who witnessed it as being deep state agents. Its bizarre and troubling.

 

To be fair, until we get all the facts the idea the Putin did it is also a conspiracy theory. Obviously it is the most likely theory but everything is so cloak and dagger only a fool would blindly accept what they are told without being sceptical, especially after the lies we have been told by our government before when other agendas have been at play.

[hypochondriac]

What I don’t understand is that IF Putin wanted this guy dead, why not get a hitman to go over to this blokes place, shoot him and make it look like a robbery/burglary gone wrong? Why poison him with a Russian made nerve agent, knowing that after tests on the body it’s likely to be found on or in the body? Or make it look like suicide what has happened to others in the past.

Because the point wasn't to kill him, it was deter others from pulling the double agent stuff.

[egg]

To be fair, until we get all the facts the idea the Putin did it is also a conspiracy theory. Obviously it is the most likely theory but everything is so cloak and dagger only a fool would blindly accept what they are told without being sceptical, especially after the lies we have been told by our government before when other agendas have been at play.

 

This.

 

The first incident has Russian motivation, either from the state or by of the people impacted by Skripal's double dealing. Whilst I'm struggling to understand how a state level hit could fail so badly, the attempt is credible. That said, what we have been told, amounts to nothing more than a credible theory.

 

The second incident makes no sense though. What Rowley said just doesn't stack up. Salisbury has been combed and cleared yet Rowley claims to have picked up a bottle that was just lying around weeks after the first incident, and can't remember where he found it. Assuming he's right, I'd need to understand how the search didn't find it or why it wasn't cleared on routine street cleaning or bin collection in the weeks after the Skripal incident. We then have Rowley inadvertently killing his partner, but the state level guys failing to kill the Skripals.

 

I have no theory to peddle on the second incident but speculation is obvious in such a bizarre case, and the proximity of all this to Porton Down will only bolster theories.

 

We'll never know the real truth I suspect, although the media will doubtless tell us what we're expected to think.