Britain says likely that Russia's Putin made decision for nerve agent attack

[rooster59]

Britain says likely that Russia's Putin made decision for nerve agent attack

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with medical specialists at the Almazov National Medical Research Centre in St. Petersburg, Russia March 16, 2018. Anatoly Maltsev/Pool via REUTERS

 

LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Friday that it was overwhelmingly likely that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself made the decision to use a military-grade nerve toxin to strike down a former Russian agent on English soil.

 

"We have nothing against the Russians themselves. There is to be no Russophobia as a result of what is happening," Johnson told reporters at the Battle of Britain bunker from which World War Two fighter operations were controlled.

 

"Our quarrel is with Putin's Kremlin, and with his decision – and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision – to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe for the first time since the Second World War," Johnson said.

 

Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, a former double agent who betrayed dozens of spies of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service, and his daughter.

 

May said that it was tragic that Putin, who is likely to coast to a fourth term in a Sunday presidential election, had chosen to act in such a way.

 

Soon after Johnson's comments were reported, the Kremlin said accusations that President Putin was involved in the nerve agent attack were shocking, TASS news agency reported.

 

"Any reference or mention of our president in this regard is a shocking and unforgivable breach of diplomatic rules of decent behavior," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the agency.

 

Russia has denied any involvement, cast Britain as a post-colonial power unsettled by Brexit, and even suggested London fabricated the attack in an attempt to whip up anti-Russian hysteria.

 

Relations between Britain and Russia have been strained since the murder of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in London in 2006, a killing which a British inquiry said was probably approved by Putin.

 

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement in the killing.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-17

[YetAnother]

31 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Russia has denied any involvement, cast Britain as a post-colonial power unsettled by Brexit, and even suggested London fabricated the attack in an attempt to whip up anti-Russian hysteria.

gotta love diplomats; takes a special blend of ultra-nationalism and paranoia

[FritsSikkink]

"overwhelmingly likely"   they even found new terminology for it

[Topdoc]

Meanwhile the Skripal family in Russia believe the real target wasn’t their double agent uncle Sergei, but his daughter Yulia who was engaged to be married to a Russian man. The prospective mother-in-law, a highly ranked Russian security agent, didn’t accept Yulia because she was the daughter of a traitor.

 

UK police are also convinced the Novichok nerve agent was hidden in the luggage of Yulia Skripal...

[StraightTalk]

"All tracks point to Putin!"
And
"The Russians did it!"
Have become a common mantra around the world and the Kremlin always is the Default Culprit.
Naturally, it'd be (overwhelmingly) improbable the western mass communication industry would want to manipulate and brainwash the common person; Not ever would UK or USA do something as despicable as killing intentionally and with premeditation... unimaginable!

 

[Credo]

3 minutes ago, SouthernDelight said:

"All tracks point to Putin!"
And
"The Russians did it!"
Have become a common mantra around the world and the Kremlin always is the Default Culprit.
Naturally, it'd be (overwhelmingly) improbable the western mass communication industry would want to manipulate and brainwash the common person; Not ever would UK or USA do something as despicable as killing intentionally and with premeditation... unimaginable!

 

Typical deflection.   Please give us a credible alternative to Russia.   

[StraightTalk]

53 minutes ago, Credo said:

Typical deflection.   Please give us a credible alternative to Russia.   

You surely misconstrued my post, oh well.

[PJPom]

Treason always attracted the death penalty, seems this still applies with certain societies that have long memories. 

[evadgib]

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-us-military-links-strengthened-after-ministerial-visit-to-washington-dc

[spidermike007]

What strikes me as most incredible here, is the number of Russian defenders. The former head of the KGB, who is now president of the nation, spent the first term in office, virtually erasing the free media from the face of his country, and he succeeded. He has now turned his nation into a dictatorship. He has stolen tens of billions of dollars from his people. It appears he has had alot of his rivals, and his critics silenced or eliminated, systematically over the years. Yet, there are so many who come to his defense when he appears to commit another one of his crimes.

 

The term naive comes to mind here.

Edited March 17, 2018 by spidermike007

[maxcorrigan]

27 minutes ago, PJPom said:

Treason always attracted the death penalty, seems this still applies with certain societies that have long memories. 

Blair did away with that law in the UK years ago, otherwise he would have been the first victim, which is a great pity!

[StraightTalk]

23 minutes ago, evadgib said:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-us-military-links-strengthened-after-ministerial-visit-to-washington-dc

"Russia, cyber warfare and the ongoing fight against Daesh were also on the agenda during discussions in Washington this week."

 

Well, I can't find any reference in relation to fight against NSA monitoring on its allies. The UK Ministry of Defence and The Rt Hon Mark Lancaster TD MP seem to suffer a bout of permanent amnesia!

Edited March 17, 2018 by SouthernDelight

[Franko666]

2 hours ago, SouthernDelight said:

You surely misconstrued my post, oh well.

 

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

What strikes me as most incredible here, is the number of Russian defenders. The former head of the KGB, who is now president of the nation, spent the first term in office, virtually erasing the free media from the face of his country, and he succeeded. He has now turned his nation into a dictatorship. He has stolen tens of billions of dollars from his people. It appears he has had alot of his rivals, and his critics silenced or eliminated, systematically over the years. Yet, there are so many who come to his defense when he appears to commit another one of his crimes.

 

The term naive comes to mind here.

See the thing is, virtually no one their right mind will support or believe the current UK government, the CIA, the FBI, the EU and the MSM or any other globalist organisation. What people see in Putin is a strong leader putting Russia first. Who cares about the spook stuff, it doesn't mean anything to most people, I mean knocking off enermy spies is not unique to Russia is it.

Edited March 17, 2018 by Franko666

[spidermike007]

3 minutes ago, Franko666 said:

What strikes me as most incredible here, is the number of Russian defenders. The former head of the KGB, who is now president of the nation, spent the first term in office, virtually erasing the free media from the face of his country, and he succeeded. He has now turned his nation into a dictatorship. He has stolen tens of billions of dollars from his people. It appears he has had alot of his rivals, and his critics silenced or eliminated, systematically over the years. Yet, there are so many who come to his defense when he appears to commit another one of his crimes.

 

The term naive comes to mind here.

 

See the thing is, virtually no one their right mind will support or believe the current UK government, the CIA, the FBI, the EU and the MSM or any other globalist organisation. What people see in Putin is a strong leader putting Russia first. Who cares about the spook stuff, it doesn't mean anything to most people, I mean knocking off enermy spies is not unique to Russia is it.

 

There are some things in life, that are not even worth commenting on, as there is just no place to go, in response to the deflective horse crap, that has just been spouted. Making excuses for serial killing dictators is not something I can or want to respond to. Sure, I distrust government. I will not even comment on the MSM statement. That is just devotee nonsense, and following in lock step, with the master. All you have to do is spend 15 minutes researching King Vlad, and I virtually guarantee you will lose your appetite, to defend this fool. 

 

Yes, he is a strong leader. Presently defined as a strongman. In the footsteps of Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Kim, Mugabe, Marcos, Duterte, Ida Amin, and a few of his other idols.

[StraightTalk]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

All you have to do is spend 15 minutes researching

It took me less than 5 minutes finding out about the atrocities carried out by the British Empire and USA will make you wonder why we're apparently proud of it.
BE:
. Boer concentration camps
. Amritsar massacre
. Partitioning of India
. Mau Mau Uprising
. Famines in India
. The Opium Wars
. Thatcher's shameful support for apartheid
USA
. My Lai Massacre
. Wounded Knee Massacre

.  Balinga Massacre
. Abu Ghraib, the Iraq War
. Kandahar Massacre
. Azizabad Airstrike
. No Gun Ri Massacre
Imagine what  one could find in 15 minutes...

It is sad you're finding all this 'things' unworthy.

[MaxYakov]

Innocent until proven likely.

[PJPom]

A hypothetical, 

One; There is a man who has committed treason against his country, still a danger due to his knowledge, escaped to another country, killed in a precise attack on presumed orders from the leader of his country.

This action brings immediate condemnation from others who react as though national security has been harmed though it is only a foreign national who has probably been sentenced in absentia and the sentence has now been delivered.

Two;  There is a man who joined forces engaged in terrorist attacks against other countries including his own, tracked by sometimes imprecise intelligence, targeted by a drone operated from afar, destroyed by a missile with unfortunate collateral damage.

 Ordered  by whom, do we care? , a threat to ourselves has been removed.

 I suppose we consider ourselves to be superior to those who carry out these acts but my support will always be for those that protect me and mine.

Edited March 17, 2018 by PJPom
A few further thoughts

[Krataiboy]

". . . we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his (Putin's) decision. . . " - Boris Johnson.

 

Evidence?  Who needs it, in this increasingly crazy world where the "progressives" have convinced us that you only have to think something for it  to be true. 

 

No wonder there's a resurgence in people who think the earth is flat (they have some bizarre YouTube videos to "prove" it); think global warming is a myth (ditto); think biological sex is baloney and we should be free to choose from a mouthwatering menu of 70 alternative genders listed on Facebook.

 

It is hard not to feel some sympathy for such nut-jobs, though not for the politicians, academics and  mass media camp followers blatantly seeking to cash in on their delusions.

 

Thank goodness most of us ordinary mortals can tell Stork from butter and recognise the relative philosophical merits of "I think, therefore I am" and "I'm pink, therefore I'm Spam'.

 

Or maybe we just think we do?

 

I suppose we could always ask Boris.

Edited March 17, 2018 by Krataiboy

[Thongkorn]

7 hours ago, PJPom said:

Treason always attracted the death penalty, seems this still applies with certain societies that have long memories. 

 Yes but don’t involve other countries.Do your dirty work in your own back yard. And don’t involve innocent people.