Probable Western Responsibility for Skripal Poisoning 635


UPDATE: Stupidly I had forgotten this vital confirmation from Channel 4 News (serial rebel Alex Thomson) of the D Notice in place on mention of Pablo Miller.

Back then I did not realise what I now know, that the person being protected was Pablo Miller, colleague in both MI6 then Orbis Intelligence of Christopher Steele, author of the fabrications of the Trump/Russia golden shower dossier. That the government’s very first act on the poisoning was to ban all media mention of Pablo Miller makes it extremely probable that this whole incident is related to the Trump dossier and that Skripal had worked on it, as I immediately suspected. The most probable cause is that Skripal – who you should remember had traded the names of Russian agents to Britain for cash – had worked on the dossier with Miller but was threatening to expose its lies for cash.

ORIGINAL POST: This comment from Clive Ponting, doyen of British whistleblowers, appeared on my website and he has now given me permission to republish it under his full name:

I have been reading the blogs for some time but this is my first post. Like Craig I was a senior civil servant but in the ministry of defence not the fco. I had plenty of dealings with all three intelligence agencies. It seems to me that the reason none of the MSM are doing any investigating/reporting of the Salisbury affair, apart from official handouts, is that the government have slapped a D-Notice over the whole incident and it is not possible to report that a notice has been issued.
Here is another theory as to what happened. The Russians pardoned Skripal and allowed him to leave (spy agencies have an understanding that agents will always be swapped after an interval – it’s the only protection they have and helps recruitment). In the UK Skripal would have been thoroughly debriefed by MI6 and MI5 (his ex-handler lives near Salisbury). If at some point they discovered that Skripal was giving them false information, perhaps he was told to do so by the FSB as a condition of his release, lives may have been endangered/lost. If he also was also involved in the ‘golden showers’ dossier then elements in the US would have a reason to act as well. The whole incident was an inside job not to kill him, hence the use of BZ, but to give him a warning and a punishment. The whole thing is being treated as though the authorities know exactly what went on but have to cover it up.

Addendum

I meant to add that the policeman who ‘just happened’ to be around was almost certainly the special branch ‘minder’ who was keeping Yulia under surveillance. The media are not allowed to mention the existence of a D notice.

Those of us who have been in the belly of the beast and have worked closely with the intelligence services, really do know what they and the British government are capable of. They are not “white knights”.

I would add it has been very plain from day one that there is a D notice on Pablo Miller.


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635 thoughts on “Probable Western Responsibility for Skripal Poisoning

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  • Roger Alexander

    It would be useful if you could publish the actual statute that empowers those who use the D notice and explain that this effects the lives of EVERYBODY whether they like it or even know it or not. Social media etc can spread information like this virally and because this is in the public domain through the parliamentary process does not infringe any laws. If people knew the limitations of this statute there would be an interest in testing this law to destruction

  • Radar O'Reilly

    [Mod: Temporarily eaten by spam filter – it misfires occasionally]

    trying a repeat post, after first disappeared

    The Boston Globe seems to not be convinced by the Skripal and Syrian Douma False Flags, or the absurdly unlikely coherent media, and the expanding plethora of D, DA, or DASM-notices. (The respected Globe’s owner is John W. Henry II, an American Billionaire who also owns Liverpool FC)

    they have a cogent article called “Hoisting the false flag”, published recently by Stephen Kinzer.
    (The author Twitter @stephenkinzer is affiliated with the Watson Institute For International And Public Affairs, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island)

    I’d give a link except they have a pseudo-random component of the URL as part of a one-free article PayWall
    URL starts with …ttps://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/04/27/hoisting-false-flag/ and ends in /story.html, but you’ll find it in Slurp/Gooooogle, somewhere.

    A key segment that the very sensible author uses is here
    Some critics of American involvement in Syria’s civil war doubt that the recent poison gas attacks near Damascus were launched on orders from President Bashar al-Assad, as the United States and its allies have asserted. The last such attack came just days after President Trump vowed to pull American troops out of Syria. It led Trump to reverse course, denounce “animal Assad,” and order bombing instead. That brought cheers from those who wish for an open-ended American presence in Syria, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, and leading Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Syria’s government again appeared demonic.

    These events — along with the fact that intelligence agencies operating in the Middle East are highly sophisticated — raise the question of whether some other force could have staged gas attacks in order to cast blame on Assad. The French government produced an intelligence report concluding that “there is no plausible scenario other than that of an attack by Syrian armed forces.” One day more information may emerge. More than a few false flag operations have become public after they were botched, or after researchers discovered evidence that perpetrators tried to hide . . .

    the article ends with “In the cyber age, intelligence services have become adept at staging attacks on computer systems that can be attributed to others. This is a modern permutation of an age-old technique. False flag operations succeed because many people reflexively jump to accept official narratives. Conveniently timed attacks that give pretexts for war, however, are not always what they seem. History suggests that we should await clear evidence before falling into well-laid traps

    Amber, Treeza, BoJo awaiting clear evidence before ANYthing – don’t make me laugh

    • james

      good post.. thanks…….good to know the boston globe has a policy of letting some truth slip out every so often..

    • Paul Barbara

      @ Radar O’Reilly
      April 28, 2018 at 17:15
      Here’s the article and link (you can normally find original article by puttin headline in search engine: ‘Hoisting the false flag’:
      https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/04/27/hoisting-false-flag/hRC63gFcq1zMUmd8UObqLM/story.html

      Whilst the Syria cover is admirable, I don’t think much about the beginning of the article:
      ‘BRAVE GUATEMALAN air force pilots rebelled against a leftist regime in 1954 and used their planes to bomb the regime’s bases. Army commanders also rebelled; Guatemalans could hear them directing troop movements over the radio. Finally these patriots won their revolution. The United States trumpeted their victory around the world.
      This was a “false flag” operation — staged by one force but made to look as if someone else did it. Planes that bombed targets in Guatemala were painted with Guatemalan air force insignia, but the pilots were CIA contractors. Radio messages about troop movements had been pre-recorded at a CIA base in Florida. A revolution that seemed to be emerging from one country, Guatemala, was actually the project of another, the United States…..’
      ‘BRAVE GUATEMALAN air force pilots rebelled against a leftist regime in 1954 and used their planes to bomb the regime’s bases….’
      Mercenary traitors would be a better description – the overthrow of the elected people-friendly President Jacobo Árbenz led to decades of murderous military rule.

      • Kerch'ee Kerch'ee Coup

        @PaulBarbara
        I think the article started off with this staging of the Guatemalan ‘false flag’ operation perhaps because it was almost a textbook example of ‘how to do it’ and most US readers would be more familiar with it than other examples. Editorially, the first paragraph should have been in quotation marks to highlight that this was the ‘accepted story’. The long-term effects of the putsch and the brutal war against the Maya and Mestizo population of Guatemala still plague the country and Central America as a whole today.
        If the author had launched straight into accusations of conspiracy and disinformation against the British and US government, he might well have lost a large group of potential readers right away
        . There was for long a residual ‘lace curtain Irish element in the Boston area which prompted the running of the racist Louise May Hicks. The disillusion with the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland following the paedophile scandals of the last 20 years or so has been largely repeated in the Boston area and, having lost their trust in the one institution many respected above all others, people are, I venture to say, much more open to alternative explanations of, say, the Skirpal poisoning and Syrian bombing than is the case with many people in the United Kingdoms or Germany.Rather he chose to ease them in gently to envisaging the possibility of the Skirpal and Syrian poisonings having been a complete set up.

  • Trowbridge H. Ford

    Nothing about Skripal exchange, Manhattan 11, Anna Chapman, Pimliico safe house, Gareth Williams, murders made to look like suicides, etc. ad nauseam!

  • Jacob Ecclestone

    I am puzzled and depressed that your item on the poisoning of Mr Skripal and his daughter makes several references to “D-Notices” – all of which demonstrate the common misconception that they can be enforced. That is not the case: the system is entirely voluntary. D-Notices are purely advisory and have no force in law. If you don’t believe me, look them up under “Defence and Security Media Advisory Notice”. The government’s own website proudly – and accurately – declares that D-Notices are not a form of censorship because the media organisations in the UK (BBC/ITV/Sky and all the various newspaper and publishing companies) are all happy to become members of the committee and accept just a few, slight controls on what they tell their readers and listeners. The government and the civil service merely have to murmur a few well chosen words about the national interest, and our media rolls over. All the guff published by newspapers like the Guardian, Times, FT etc about freedom of the press and the crucial role it plays in underpinning democracy is just that….. guff. When the Ministry of Defence and the security services say “jump”, the British media organisations jump in unison. It’s a circus act and has been since 1912 when D-Notices were introduced in support of the Official Secrets Act. I vey much admire Alex Thomson as a journalist, but he was wrong to say that the government “censored” the mainstream media by means of a D-Notice. The MSM censored themselves. Equally, Clive Ponting (whom I also admire) was factually wrong to assert that “it is not possible to report that a D-Notice has been issued.” I don’t know who tried to poison Mr Skripal. What I do know is that British media organisations lack the moral courage to investigate and publish anything which they think might possibly incur the displeasure of the MoD etc. The present bunch at The Times are so discredited that I hesitate even to mention the paper, but one of their more honourable editors, Henry Wickham Steed, put his finger on the matter when, in 1938, he wrote that “the first duty of the press is to the public, not to any minister or government who may at a given moment be in office, To think or to act otherwise is to enter a half-way house on the downward way from freedom to a totalitarian enslavement of the press.” I think Wickham Steed would be appalled by the sheer cowardice of Britain’s media today.

    So, when Alex Thomson (whom I very much admire as a journalist)

    So, when Alex Thompson

    • james

      ….”British media organisations lack the moral courage to investigate and publish anything which they think might possibly incur the displeasure of the MoD etc.”…. and just why would that be? is it due the fact that any media org will immediately be ostracized by the MoD and etc? it appears so… nice game of power going on their, i’d say… someone needs to challenge it..

    • Tony_0pmoc

      Jacob Ecclestone,

      I found what you wrote very interesting. I wonder can you elucidate, and expand a little about what is the basis, of this controlling power, that results in

      1. The British Government producing a story, which is quite obviously seriously flawed, to the extent, that it bears very little if anything, to the truth.

      2. The media’s unquestioned, adoration and/or subservience to these Government lies, to the extent, that highly intelligent people repeat this nonsense ad-nauseum whilst embarrassing themselves in the process, and if you check their body language whist presenting it, it is quite obvious, that they know they are repeating a complete load of lies, that makes no sense.

      Is it money, fear or blackmail?

      Or have they simply been brainwashed, but there is still a part of their brain, that is highly uncomfortable, in reproducing this nonsense?

      With regards to religion, it is my experience, that most people so controlled, actually believe the fairy stories. Nativity scene to quote just one example or even Adam & Eve. Even I questioned that, when I was 5. It did not go down well with my teacher at school, and I was subjected to physical punishment in front of the class. I was only a little boy, and it hurt.

      Tony

  • Sean Lamb

    I found this touchingly naive:

    “If at some point they discovered that Skripal was giving them false information”

    All these defectors do is give false information – it is why MI6 adores them so much – do you seriously think anyone on the inside of the intelligence community finds anything Boris Karpichkov says anything other than gloriously hilarious?

    Even if Sergei Skripal was involved with the Golden Showers dossier – unlikely in my view, Source E was almost certainly Rinat Akhmetshin and to the extent the other sources existed or were accurately quoted Akhmetshin would have supplied them – the idea Sergei Skripal would do anything against the wishes of his MI6 handlers is very unlikely.

  • Leon

    OK so you believe you have inside info. Fact remains that they were both poisoned. Don’t understand why Skripal’s house wasn’t protected by security cameras (or was it?) Seems ridiculous that this double agent wouldn’t have installed them???!!! What’s your opinion?

    • MJ

      “Fact remains that they were both poisoned”

      There is no evidence in the public domain to justify calling that a fact.

    • Tormod Caol

      Were they poisoned? We only have the say-so of folk with their own agenda.
      I would be surprised if there were no security cameras on the Skripal residence, but then we have seen no footage from the numerous CCTV cameras that proliferate our towns nowadays. Is Salisbury different?

    • Jones

      reply to Leon above ^^, in one interview Viktoria Skripal said ”first of all it is not possible to go close to the house” in reply to the suggestion they were poisoned at home, only she knows what she meant but it suggests she may possibly be referring to security cameras or some sort of surveillance.

  • Mark Russell

    A DSMA Notice would explain the news silence on the Skripals, but it’s unclear whether this advisory scheme applies to social media websites, even when based in the UK. According to they website:

    “Does the DSMA-Notice system apply to the Internet?

    It can do, but, because of the international nature of the net, matters published on foreign websites, as with foreign newspapers, are beyond the influence of the DSMA-Notice system. The status of UK internet service providers as ‘publishers’ is also still unclear. The Defence and Security Media Advisory Committee has several experts in digital media, and its secretariat has established direct contact with a number of online news outlets. Google provided a dedicated digital member on the DSMA Committee, but withdrew after the disclosures made by the NSA fugitive Edward Snowden. The DSMA Committee is nevertheless keen to strengthen its outreach to digital and social media.”

    If a notice concerning the Skripals has been issued, it would be interesting to know on what grounds.

    “Might ‘damage’ to national security be claimed to mask wider instances of official embarrassment?

    Political or official embarrassment are not valid grounds under the five standing DSMA-Notices for advising against public disclosure of information. These are:

    DSMA-Notice 01: Military Operations, Plans & Capabilities
    DSMA-Notice 02: Nuclear & Non-Nuclear Weapon Systems & Equipment
    DSMA-Notice 03: Military Counter-Terrorist Forces, Special Forces and Intelligence Agency Operations, Activities and Communication Methods and Techniques
    DSMA-Notice 04: Physical Property and Assets
    DSMA-Notice 05: Personnel and their Families who work in Sensitive Positions”

    The plot thickens as eyes, ears and mouths remain tightly closed.

  • Rob

    Excuse my American ignorance of British secrecy laws, but if someone in Britain knows that a D notice has been issued, could that fact not be leaked to news outlets beyond the UK’s reach? And wouldn’t it have been helpful if someone had done just that?

  • Velofello

    Seems so much more plausible than ” the Russians are responsible”. How, when, do we rid ourselves of this incompetent, mendacious Tory government?

    • Paul Barbara

      @ Velofello April 28, 2018 at 18:13
      Whilst it won’t get rid of the government, local elections next week (May 3rd.) could give their local Tory Councillors a kicking.
      The next General Election is in 2022; the Tories can (and doubtless will) do an enormous amount of damage in that time, unless the DUP can be persuaded to defect from the alliance with the Tories, a highly unlikely scenario.

  • Charles

    I assume the tweed man was Miller.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5484855/Sergei-Skripal-met-MI6-handler-month-Salisbury-restaurant.html

    Incidentally Cote Brasserie is only 100 yds or so from the bench.

    Council CCTV of bench held by police still not released to the public. The grainy footage used by police to ask the public to help identify a couple came from the gym camera in Market Walk. That couple would have been picked up on the High Definition council camera placed above Market Walk and pointed at the bench, as would everyone else that passed the bench when the Skripals were there.

    I accept that the persons of interest that the police needed help identifying may only have had shots of the back of the back of their heads but the Council CCTV would show when the Skripals sat on the bench, when the passing doctor intervened, when DS Bailey arrived and what his involvement was.

    The Skripals left Zizzi’s around 3:35 and a member of the public alerted the emergency services by telephone at 4:15 ——- A first responder vehicle arrived on the scene within 60 seconds (4:16) and a Paramedic accompanied his colleague by jogging to the scene arriving 60 seconds later at 4:17 !!!

    It wasn’t BZ that was involved it was BS

    What else aren’t we allowed to see?

    • Charles

      It remind me of the police response time when Mrs Kelly rang the police with concerns that her husband was missing. 3 police officers arrived withing 15 minutes clutching missing persons forms.

      With blue lights and sirens the journey would normally take 15 minutes from police station to the Kelly home.

      Advice to future governments: Don’t involve the police in managing a cover up unless you want it to turn into a pantomime.

      • Basil Fawlty

        If you actually think that the UK Intelligence Community (5/6/GCHQ) would copy in Wiltshire Constabulary to any of its nefarious plans you are clearly clueless.

    • copydude

      @Charles

      You wrote: “The Skripals left Zizzi’s around 3:35 and a member of the public alerted the emergency services by telephone at 4:15 ——- A first responder vehicle arrived on the scene within 60 seconds (4:16) and a Paramedic accompanied his colleague by jogging to the scene arriving 60 seconds later at 4:17 !!!”

      Don’t forget the ‘passing Doctor who didn;t want to give her name to the BBC’ . . .

  • copydude

    It’s fairly obvious that Sergei was expecting a difficult meeting that Sunday.

    Eye-witnesses report him has being stressed out at Zizzi because the main course is delayed. He is noting the time, being very loud and rude. Which is unusual, since he is a regular and known normally as a very jovial man. Yulia sits quietly, appearing slightly embarrassed by his behaviour.

    One eye-witnesses tells that they bring the bill at the same time as the main course – he is so pressed for time. Was he expecting to be read the riot act?

    Many of us here suspect the whole thing – and the medical response, the propaganda campaign – as being pre-planned. The timeline is simply too pat. What for me is also interesting is the great ‘decontami scam’. This series of pictures was taken by a witness just after the incident and published the same night.

    http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/16064166.Russian_spy_is_one_of_two_in_hospital_after_medical_emergency_at_Maltings/

    Two guys arrive at the scene instantly prepared with hazmat suits. They appear to collect a bag (the witness notes a red handbag earlier) and place it in a bucket. He then signals an ok to his colleague, who hoses down his rubber boots. This is the *only time* you see anyone observing safety procedures.

    For the next few days, no hazmat suits are to be seen anywhere. Photos show police standing outside the Skripals house in plain sight of the toxic doorknob. It’s over a week before the military start putting vehicles on a low loader. 14 days before DS Bailey’s car is taken away. So the collection of the ambulance naturally arouses public concern about the long delay . . . has it been in operation since?

    It’s at this time the story about Yulia being flown to Salisbury Hospital is changed and the log pulled from the net – despite having been widely reported as fact by newspapers and witnesses. Perhaps it was thought putting the chopper on a low loader and taken to the crusher might be rather too wasteful?

    Oh, and it’s 25 days before the Skripal’s front door and it’s deadly doorknob is removed. And more than 6 weeks before the clean up with ‘intensive caustic scrubbing’ begins . . .

    However, as they say, the “risk to the public is low. But anyone feeling unwell should call emergency services.” Except you would never get to make that call because Novichock – as pure and weapons grade as the sample – is designed to kill you in around 2 minutes . . .

    • Doodlebug

      That just about tells the story. Interesting though are the details you share regarding Skripal senior’s behaviour inside the restaurant, the signs of irritability reflecting a sense of urgency on his part, not some chemically induced bowel irritation necessarily.

      If, as you suggest, he was expecting to meet someone, it must have been outside or he would not have been in a hurry to pay the bill (and leave). Might that anticipated encounter have been scheduled for the park bench area perhaps and inevitably captured on CCTV?

      And supposing the Skripals to have genuinely been attacked with a chemical of some complexion, might that not have occurred on the bench also?

    • John Goss

      Thanks for the Salisbury Journal article and photos from day one. Odd how MSM failed to use these. And what about the hospital treating them for Fentanyl-type poisoning. I saw no later reports about that. I praise the doctor, Stephen Davies, who despite probably having had to sign a non-disclosure form, wrote to The Times

      “Sir, Further to your report (“Poison Exposure Leaves Almost 40 Needing Treatment”, Mar 14), may I clarify that no patients have experienced symptoms of nerve-agent poisoning in Salisbury and there have only ever been three patients with significant poisoning. Several people have attended the emergency department with concerns that they may have been exposed. None had symptoms of poisoning and none has needed treatment. Any blood tests performed have shown no abnormality. No member of the public has been contaminated by the agent involved. STEPHEN DAVIES, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust”

      He put his professionalism as a doctor before the bollocks government agencies have imposed on our NHS. Already people were seen to be panicking and he was having none of the circus of potential hypochondriac patients clogging up A&E with the odd headache and other aches and pains. He also made it clear that the other three patients were not being treated for nerve-agent poisoning. Good for him.

      I know I am not alone in suspecting that the Skripal poisoning was connected to the alleged chemical attack in Douma. My suspicion is that if those in charge of the false-flag could have got a real nerve-agent attack in Douma our media would have said it was “Novichok” poisoning and the finger would have been pointed at guess who? Novichok (although Russian for Newcomer) was patented in the US in 2015. But because the hostages of ISIS and the White Helmets were being swiftly liberated at the time they were not able to perform this and chemicals (including some from Salisbury) were left behind in one of the underground tunnels used by the anti-Syrian forces. They had to settle for the ridiculous hospital farce which has been exposed by many.

        • John Goss

          Still waiting. I have taken a good look at other petitions that have been rejected and I am scratching my head to work out on what grounds they might reject it. There are no similar petitions. It is calling for action. It is not flippant or ridiculous. Perhaps they are scratching their heads too. It can take a week (or less) but FOI requests can take twenty days for a response (and from personal experience a whole lot longer).

          I’ll let you know Copydude.

    • Paul Barbara

      @ Reply ↓ copydude
      April 28, 2018 at 18:29
      ‘..He then signals an ok to his colleague, who hoses down his rubber boots. This is the *only time* you see anyone observing safety procedures…’ I don’t suppose it is possible to tell if they were ‘White Helmets’, because of the Hazmat suits, but their MO with the hoses and being filmed does raise some suspicions – maybe they just come from the same Le Mesurier stables (or sties).

  • Jack

    Skirpal must have been a very good spy for Theresa May since she is making such a big deal about this, also note how silent they have become since they failed to show evidence for russian culpability and the fact that skirpal is probably well by now. What a farce by May.

  • Dave

    I find it suspicious that we expelled Russians, they then expelled our diplomats in an understandable tit-for-tat, but we did nothing when they expelled even more after the ‘west’ presented a united front. The Russians had two bites at the cherry and then everything went quiet in our media.

    I do find it a sick joke that MSM news outlets like the Daily Mail bang on about the freedom of the press, refusing to acknowledge the existence of D Notices.

  • Roderick Russell

    As Ruth writes (April 28, 13:14 above) – “Those of us who have been in the firing line of the intelligence services know even better what they and the British Establishment are capable of”.

    I don’t know what the truth is about the “Skripals incidents”. I have no idea. I do know from my own well documented experiences that Ruth’s comment is spot on. I used to be one of those naïve souls who believed that our intelligence services were at least honest and patriotic. Not at all!! I soon learnt the hard way. As in my own well documented case, our spy agencies serve the interest of cliques within the establishment, and themselves, and have little regard for truth or for the interests of the country as a whole.

    Our own spy agencies are becoming a major threat to our democracy and the rule of law since our mainstream media and our politicians are scared of them.

    • Jo Dominich

      Roderick, I believe JFK felt the same way about the CIA and was going to disband them – look what happened to him!

  • Visual Artist

    “Probable Western Responsibility for Skripal Poisoning?”

    The question is WHY, what is the motive?

    • james

      there are a number of motives for a false flag here… demonizing russia has been on tap for how long now? this seems fairly obvious to anyone watching world events the past 5 or 6 years, starting in syria and moving onto ukraine.. the warmongering west is just not getting the traction they want for regime change in all the various countries up for regime change, but in particular russia – where that big bad fellow putin continues on with an approval rating that makes western politicians very depressed..

  • Rhys Jaggar

    JC: Would the Prime Minister categorically deny that members of MI6 who cannot be named have ever engaged in serious criminal activities either in the UK or overseas?
    TM: Matters concerning National Security cannot be commented on…
    JC: Would the Prime Minister explain why criminal activities of MI6 cannot be commented on but baseless accusations about Russian activities can be splashed continually across the uk media?
    TM: Accusations about Russian activities are not baseless..
    JC: Will the PM give a date when evidence strong enough to justify ICC action against Russia in general and Vladimir Putin in particular will be presented to Privy Councillors?
    TM: It is not appropriate to comment on uncertain future scenarios…..
    JC: So the PM admits that there is a significant probability that no evidence against Russian State involvement in Salisbury will be submitted to legal officers?
    TM: It would be inappropriate for me to comment or prejudge any decisions by legal professionals…
    JC: How would the PM respond to a senior Russian Minister exhorting Her Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence, to visit some prostitutes in Kensington, assuming he does not already partake in such activities?
    TM: I am sure my Rt Hon Friend would deal with the matter successfully himself….
    JC: Would the PM wish to deny that the bombed Research Centre in Damascus was a civil research centre and how would she feel about Russia bombing Royal Holloway University of London, which has undoubtedly engaged in research of interest to the arms industry?
    TM: Our research centres across the Uk all act according to accepted ethical standards and are thus not legitimate military targets for Russia. Our American friends shared intelligence with us on Syria and there is no reason to doubt its veracity….
    JC: So guilty until proven innocent is the standard for Syria but innocent until a global scandal erupts is the standard for the Uk?
    TM: The Rt Hon Gentleman knows full well that is not the case….
    JC: Does the PM condider a lie which I cannot prove to be a lie something acceptable to share with this
    house?
    TM: I do not lie in the House of Conmons….

    Or something like that……….

  • Ophelia Ball

    Forget the Skripals…… forget Dr Stephen Davies…….. forget the innocent Palestian kids shot by IDF snipers for sport…. forget the fact that there were no chemicals in those locations, and most of the missiles failed to reach their target –

    ……………………………. LOOK OVER HERE! – SHINY THINGS!!!! – (and Corbyn’s anti-semitic, pass it on!)

    and whatever you do, for Christ’s sale forget Brexit, that’s the last damned thing we need to have dredged up just now

  • Visual Artist

    “Probable Western Responsibility for Skripal Poisoning”

    The question is WHY? What is the motive if Russia were not responsible?

    If they are responsible for it, and it looks increasingly highly likely from all the available mainstream and independent news media reports on the case, then I and indeed many other BREXIT voters believe that this was because the Prime Minister ‘Treason’ Theresa May wished to deflect attention from the Prime Minister’s current failings in the polls and her dwindling leadership that will affect the polling results on the 3rd May 2018 as it reported prior to the Syria bombing that the Conservatives were due to lose as many as 100 local election seats. And because then there was subsequently NO corroborating, substantiated, irrefutable evidence to blame Russia except for circumstantial evidence and that despite a judge giving his view that the Skripals would be severely afflicted with disabilities and ill health and possible death, that transpired not to be the case as they have both survived their awful ordeal. Then it transpires that the nerve agent was not Novichok but some other BZ chemical nerve agent which is not deadly!

    Craig, I am sorry and disappointed that comments were closed on your article https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/04/the-british-governments-legal-justification-for-bombing-is-entirely-false-and-without-merit/#tc-comment-title for me to contribute to it, but seeing as the Syrian bombing by UK Armed Forces was clearly a proxy war with Russia over the Skripal poisioning due to the Daily Telegraph’s publishing of the Prime Minister’s statement for the bombing on the 14 May 2018, I would like to offer my person view on the matter:

    While the Prime Minister wishes to assert that she acted not at the behest of President Trump’s wishes but in the national interest to launch military strikes in Syria, many of the British electorate believe that she acted in her own selfish best interests due to forthcoming British local elections where it was previously reported in the media that she and her Conservative Party are due to lose as many as 100 seats at the local elections on the 3rd May 2018 and BREXIT betrayal over her Phase 1 deal allowing EU ECJ ‘indirect’ jurisdiction for EU migrants citizens rights in the UK and ever more EU migrants to stay in the UK indefinitely with all existing rights and entitlements to state funded benefits and so forth during the Brexit transition period which the British voting electorate did not vote for, don’t like and WON’T vote for at ant General Election! The REASON WHY the Phase 1 BREXIT deal was done with EU ECJ ‘indirect’ retention was simply because it was the REMAINER Theresa [Bomber Commander] May Prime Minister’s idea and policy to start the negotiation position at that point when it should NEVER have been so, the starting point should have been there will be NO EU ECJ Jurisdiction [which includes direct and indirect jurisdiction]!

    I do NOT believe the Prime Minister’s argument has ANY merit that air strikes in Syria by the U.S, UK and France was simply to send a message to President Assad that no more chemical weapons shall be used on his people and have the desired effect and that the UK acted upon humanitarian grounds simply because air strikes against Syria for their chemical weapons use last year by President Trump and it has NOT stopped President Assad [or whoever else is responsible for them] using them in an indiscriminate and inhumane manner and President Assad is committing genocide against his own people with conventional weapons which surely should also constitute the same outrage even though such weapons are not banned under international law or conventions? Nor do I accept the Prime Minister’s statement that there was no alternative to UK military intervention because air strikes have been tried before last year by President Trump but ECONOMIC SANCTIONS on Syria and Russia in the conflict have not? Why could ECONOMIC SANCTIONS on both of those ROGUE sovereign states not be used given that previous bombing by President Trump last year did not work? ECONOMIC SANCTIONS WORKED against North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un after all applied by President Trump via the UN without the UK’s assistance and he is in the process of wanting to talk to him face-to-face for an amicable resolution.

    If it was possible for the Syrian people to have a free an fair democratic election as to who they want to be their President so as to broker peace, then that should be an option to discuss.

    I also do not accept that having a Parliamentary debate and vote on authorizing military action would compromise intelligence or military action or national security or our national interests when the BBC broadcast and results of the parliamentary vote and UN SECURITY COUNCIL votes could be postponed for several days and specific details of the intelligence would not need to be shared with all MPs before voting. Simple basic questions about the verification of WMDs, crimes against humanity such as chemical poisoning attacks, torture and so on by independent agencies and wider news reports from news agencies, NGOs and independent organisations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Independent Observatory for Syrian Human Rights and so on would suffice for the majority of MPs. Our security forces knowing the location of WMDs, reducing the casualties, the purpose of the military intervention and an end plan and goal for an end to genocide and warring factions in Syria could have been debated. I agree that having no Parliamentary debate and vote on the matter did result in a very MINOR element of surprise for its intended targets because President Trump warned Russia of his intention to bombing Syrian targets and Russia would have warned President Assad anyway, so that argument is nonsense. There was far more of a surprise for the British public and all other MPs instead who awoke in the early morning to see their TV and internet news reports of the air strikes and I think the primary aim of surprise was to AVOID ANY Parliamentary scrutiny and a Parliamentary defeat on her bombing mission proposal given that FACTS and EVIDENCE of Novichok poisioning and the reasons given for the bombing in Syria cannot be accurate or truthful!

    If it was right for Parliament to have a debate and vote on military action to intervene in Iraq in 2003 and Syria in 2013, then it would have been RIGHT to have had such a debate and vote on it now with a recall to Parliament. Furthermore, if military air strikes did work last time last year under President Trump and do not work this time – why then, is U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley talking about applying economic sanctions against Russia in the Syrian conflict after the military air strikes in Syria? Isn’t THAT what should have been done in the first instance with the UN SECURITY COUNCIL? Therefore, the air strikes and violation of international law and UN Charter and Parliamentary convention was all for NOTHING and served NO purpose except to send the message of western military imperialism for personal domestic gains and interests?

    As for the Prime Minister’s repeated insistence that every time the UN SECURITY COUNCIL voted for resolutions against Syria, Russia vetoed them all thereby paralysing any intervention to resolve the conflict, and that Russia vetoing such resolutions could not be allowed to continue to become UK domestic foreign policy, VIOLATION and disregard of established international law and domestic Parliamentary convention and authority and accountability has NOW retrospectively and dangerously become UK domestic foreign policy as a result of Russia’s vetoes on the UN SECURITY COUNCIL. WHY could Russia not be forced to withhold their vetos against Syria or be prevented from exercising their vetos from Syria and if not practicable, why can’t Russia be REMOVED from the UN SECURITY COUNCIL seeing as they are such an INCONVENIENT OBSTACLE to International diplomacy, resolutions and peace?

    The OPCW might need a wider remit and more powers with legal teeth given their inability to gain access to the Syrian grounds for their fact-finding mission and given that the U.S.,UK and FRANCE refused to wait for their investigation and results of it before they begun air strikes! WHY? Did those 3 have something to hide like finding no chemical weapons and use of them on civilians?

    The Prime Minister was absolutely right in stating that Russia did not need her to militarily intervene in Syria before they (Russia) are to engage in cyber-warfare against the UK since we have already had previous attacks reported widely in the mainstream and wider news media. But she is foolish if she thinks that cyber-warfare threats against the UK only emnate from Russia or Russians on foreign soil, for they are commited on UK soil by domestic and foreign criminals both British, non-EU and EU criminals resident here as well as those abroad in the EU and non-EU countries. Cyber-warfare via hacking/computer misuse offences as well as misinformation, disinformation and trolling can severely undermine western democracies and UK elections and especially if our domestic and Global CRIMINAL LAWS and enforcement agencies are not ROBUST enough and are not being enforced against the criminals at home and abroad and on the media platforms (like this one for example) that they operate on if they do not properly regulate and remove such content and accounts.
    The bombing has only strengthened some of the warring factions to support President Assad against the Western military ‘powers’. We must stop bullying sovereign nations with bombs [WMDS] and instead focus on finding PEACEFUL political and diplomatic solutions to the war in Syria. Military action is the very LAST resort which Britain should use in any domestic foreign policy abroad.
    The BBC news reported on Friday 13th April that Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel was not in favour of military action but wanted sanctions. The Prime Minister thereafter the bombing said that Angela Merkel supported the military action – I wonder why and why did she not release any public statement herself to that effect prior to the bombing or during it?

    Why must it be the precedent and case that the only language Britain understands in domestic foreign policy and conflict is that of bullets and bombs? We as a hopefully soon to be sovereign nation should be TRYING to CREATE PEACE in the world and NOT more conflict.
    Let me be clear: I and many other Conservative party voters like myself, did NOT vote Conservative for another WARMONGER ‘leader’ like Tony Blair. I did NOT vote for Tony Blair post-Iraq 2003 and I will not vote for this Prime Minister Theresa [‘Treason’ Bomber Commander] May because of her acting on the BAD advice of Tony Blair to breach established International law and domestic Parliamentary conventions on the flimsy excuse of “there is no alternative, diplomacy hasn’t worked and Russia has vetoed all UN SECURITY COUNCIL resolutions against Syria”.

    If the UN SECURITY COUNCIL is not working properly if at all for Syria and other countries, then that matter obviously needs to be sorted out FIRST by REFORMS.

    I would say that any credibility the Prime Minister had left prior to her decision to engage in military air strikes in Syria has been diminished with her unsanctioned actions in Syria.

    I am no fan of President Putin, Russia or Baltic state migrants or EU migrants in general – I voted to leave the EU to regain FULL UK SOVEREIGNTY and for a significant cut in EU immigration after all, but I am certainly no fool either.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKrwXhmEiw0

    RT
    Published on 14 Apr 2018
    The substance used on Sergei Skripal was an agent called BZ, according to Swiss state Spiez lab, the Russian foreign minister said.
    Lavrov: OPCW may’ve misidentified nerve agent used in Skripal poisoning

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJh0yfhfpFc
    RT UK
    Published on 18 Apr 2018
    “The formula for these agents are out in the world” says Annie Machon as Britain admits Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) did not confirm ‘essential evidence’ on origin of Skripal poison.

    • Charles

      Why?

      Punishment for assisting Steele’s dodgy dossier

      With the benefit of conflating Russian / Syrian penchant for chemical weapons

      But also remember that the door handle was only going to poison whoever shut the door, so in that respect it was an indiscriminate attack

      • Doodlebug

        @Charles 19:42

        “But also remember that the door handle was only going to poison whoever shut the door”

        Or opened it perhaps?

        • flatulence

          I knew I must be using door handles wrong. So many fractured wrists over the years. I’ve always just assumed it was Russia’s fault because my door handle is of a type developed by Russia.

    • Radar O'Reilly

      Rumour has it that a wily Russian biznessman has just trademarked* the name “Novichock” inside the RF, and rushed out a competitor to Domestos, for their market, of course the meme was Domestos kills 99% of all known germs. Dead

      Goodness knows what the new Novichock will claim!

      (*hopefully being probably chlorine/hypochlorite based they won’t interfere with the US Patent #US9132135B2 for the Non Traditional Agent NBC/CBRN for an organophosphorus mix, otherwise could get messy)

      apologies if the Spam filter is still hungry

      • Paul Barbara

        @ Radar O’Reilly April 28, 2018 at 20:25
        Why not just use Glyphosate? Hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers have used it to commit suicide after being ruined by Monsanto’s lies and costs.

    • Visual Artist

      OOps Craig, I meant the UK, U.S. and France bombing air strikes on the 14th April 2018 not May!
      Anyway, from these reports it looks like Russia was not responsible. But given the fact that RT (Russia Today) has on many occasions broadcast outright lies about Russia and President Putin and their cyber-crime meddling and so forth, I would not at all be surprised if at some time in the near or distant future irrefutable evidence did surface to corroborate the Prime Minister’s claims. However, the majority of BREXIT voters like myself believe that the poisoning was just too convenient to be true given the timing of the BREXIT negotiations where the Prime Minister yet again during all the Skripal commotion SOLD OUT Britain and her 17.4 million BREXIT voters to the EU that we don’t like and WON’T vote Conservative for as I’m voting for UKIP now on unless we get 3 genuine BREXITEERS for Prime Minister, deputy PM and Chancellor of the Exchequer!

      Look at these links Craig and you decide for yourself, it just doesn’t stack up – let’s face it, Russia’s initial response to the Skripal poisoning to the UK government wasn’t exactly convincing on their part for their innocence ….but when you look at all these reports and you ask the question that if Russia are so dangerous and responsible, WHY then, does the UK Government still allow RT (Russia today) funded by President Putin’s Kremlin to continue to broadcast in the UK when there is all this damning content on there to blame the UK and west for these crimes?

      https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/long-read-does-the-uks-case-against-russia-stack-up
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/the-latest-chemical-watchdog-to-release-report-on-spy-case/2018/04/12/b3563a92-3e33-11e8-955b-7d2e19b79966_story.html?utm_term=.cd94fb4705f6
      12 April 2018
      The Latest: Russia urges full access to evidence in spy case
      https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/
      Senior Civil Servants Still Deeply Sceptical of Russian Responsibility for Skripal Poisoning 187
      18 Apr, 2018
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxRiG8vRRBk
      Published on 18 Mar 2018
      Russia-UK relations plunge amid row over the poisoning of a former spy. Award-winning journalist John Pilger joins RT to discuss this issue.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl_VWfzl_Ys
      RT Producers
      Published on 12 Mar 2018
      Annie Machon for RT on the Skripal case investigation
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih126CmHwzs
      Published on 13 Mar 2018
      “It’s a damaging conflation in a particularly sensitive diplomatic time” says Annie Machon as Moscow dismisses Theresa May’s accusations of involvement in the Skripal case as a ‘circus show’.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAO50c-vmm8
      RT UKPublished on 5 Apr 2018
      “The UK wants to puff itself up like an animal under threat” says Annie Machon​ who talks about the Conservatives​ handling of the Skripal case on CrossTalk​.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iHrbBRC9Yg
      talkRADIOPublished on 8 Mar 2018
      Annie Machon said “there was no point for Russia” in poisoning the former double agent” talking to journalist Julia-Hartley Brewer.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEySA8zhIno
      Published on 9 Mar 2018
      George Galloway – The Mother Of All Talk Shows (TMOATS) 09-03-18
      BBC Talk Radio BREAKING NEWS on Skripal case.
      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/18/russia-today-investigated-seven-times-ofcom-syria-salisbury/

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/16/syria-airstrikes-theresa-may-defend-decision-bomb-assad-regime/

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/17/public-support-syria-airstrikes-has-increased-labour-supporters/
      http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=89574
      https://www.politico.eu/article/chancellor-angela-merkel-rules-out-german-participation-in-military-strike-on-syria-bashar-al-assad-chemical-weapons/
      12 April 2018
      Merkel rules out German participation in military strike on Syria
      But Berlin backs measures to send signal that use of chemical weapons is not acceptable, chancellor says.
      12 April 2018, 3:34 PM
      Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday Germany would not participate in an attack on Syria over the suspected use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
      “Germany will not take part in military action,” Merkel told reporters during a visit to Berlin by Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. “But we see and support that everything is done to send a signal that this use of chemical weapons is not acceptable.”
      Merkel said a full spectrum of measures should be considered. In Germany’s case, the chancellor said, that would mean supporting the work of the United Nations Security Council and the chemical weapons watchdog OPCW.

      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/led-strikes-syria-180414030541085.html
      14 April 2018
      Five things to know about the US-led strikes in Syria
      The US and allies launched an early morning attack on Syria’s suspected chemical weapons sites.
      http://nrt24.ru/en/news/shocking-announcement-swiss-laboratory-have-discovered-chemical-agent-bz-which-only-us-and-uk?language=en
      15 April 2016
      SHOCKING ANNOUNCEMENT AS THE SWISS LABORATORY HAVE DISCOVERED A CHEMICAL AGENT BZ WHICH IS ONLY FROM THE U.S. AND UK THAT POISONED THE SKRIPALS !
      https://nypost.com/2018/04/14/russia-swiss-lab-analysis-shows-nerve-agent-designed-in-west/
      14 April 2018
      MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister says Moscow has received a document from a Swiss lab that analyzed the samples in the nerve agent poisoning of an ex-Russian spy, which points at a Western-designed nerve agent as a likely cause.
      https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/us/politics/trump-syria-attack.html
      12 April 2018
      Mattis Tries to Put Brakes on Possible Syria Strike, to ‘Keep This From Escalating’
      WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sought on Thursday to slow down an imminent strike on Syria, reflecting mounting concerns at the Pentagon that a concerted bombing campaign could escalate into a wider conflict between Russia, Iran and the West.
      During a closed-door White House meeting, officials said, Mr. Mattis pushed for more evidence of President Bashar al-Assad’s role in a suspected chemical attack last weekend that would assure the world that military action was necessary.
      https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/13/politics/trump-mattis-syria-policy/index.html
      14 April 2018
      Mattis warns Trump about Syria risks
      Washington (CNN)Top military officials, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, warned President Donald Trump during an afternoon meeting Thursday that he risks escalating US involvement in Syria if he goes forward with the type of aggressive bombing campaign he has pressed for over the past week, according to US and western officials briefed on the conversation.
      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-air-strikes-latest-us-coalition-assad-regime-chemical-attack-douma-iran-russia-middle-east-a8304521.html
      15 April 2018
      Syria air strikes: US-led attack careful to avoid any Russian and Iranian casualties
      American defence secretary James Matt stresses offensive was ‘one-off’ operation and was not aimed at country’s political leadership
      The Western air strikes in Syria that took place after days of accusations and recriminations with Russia were, in the end, relatively limited in scale, focusing on sites linked to chemical weapons and carefully attempting to avoid Russian and Iranian casualties.
      http://www.arabnews.com/node/1280911/middle-east
      8 April 2018
      Assad’ government accused of killing 40 Syrians in gas attacks on Douma
      BEIRUT: Syrian opposition activists and rescuers said Sunday that a poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near the capital has killed at least 40 people, allegations denied by the Syrian government.
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43792159
      Syria air strikes: Jeremy Corbyn urges MPs to assert authority
      17 April 2018
      It is time for Parliament to “assert its authority” over UK military action after it was not consulted over Syrian air strikes, Jeremy Corbyn has said.
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-43792120
      Syria ‘chemical attack’: OPCW investigators to be allowed into Douma
      17 April 2018
      You know the Conservative Party are finished when their currrent Prime Minister Theresa [Bomber Commander] May makes Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn look like a saint!
      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-local-election-results-latest-poll-john-curtice-a8179676.html
      27 Jan 2018
      Theresa May to hold crunch talks as pollster warns of heavy losses in council elections
      Exclusive: Elections expert Sir John Curtice says the Tories are ‘losing ground very heavily’ in London, where they may surrender more than half of their councils in May
      Theresa May will hold talks with her top team on how to head off major losses in the upcoming local elections, as one of the country’s top pollsters warned Brexit could hit Tory electoral chances.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIR9xs49ttE
      13 Apr 2018
      ALEX JONES (FULL SHOW) Friday 4/13/18: Steve Pieczenik, News, Headlines, Calls & Analysis
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb8xdSiwQHg
      16 apr 2018 hour 1
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqk4EM2Fcxc
      16 apr hour 2

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbwYVcyUqW4
      ALEX JONES INFOWARS APRIL 14, 2018 Hour 1
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nQPuojpyhw
      9 march 2018 Talk Radio
      George Galloway Delivers Unforgettable Opener On Sergei #Skripal Poisoning
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDrdlYZXa_o
      19 March 2018
      Craig Murray talks about Skripal case to George Galloway.
      Craig Murray former diplomat and ambassador talks about the Skripal evidence.
      http://tv.infowars.com/index/display/id/8742
      World Crisis: Trump Vows To Strike Syria Again And Sanction Russia
      15 Apr 2018
      https://www.infowars.com/emergency-broadcast-stop-new-strikes-in-syria/
      EMERGENCY BROADCAST: STOP NEW STRIKES IN SYRIA!
      Regime change in Syria the globalists’ ultimate goal
      Alex Jones – APRIL 15, 2018
      Alex Jones explains why the globalists are determined to topple Syria as part of a larger plan to destabilize Europe and dominate the Middle East.

      https://www.infowars.com/infowars-alex-jones-blasts-trump-over-airstrikes-hes-crapping-all-over-us/
      The Hill – APRIL 14, 2018
      INFOWARS’ ALEX JONES BLASTS TRUMP OVER AIRSTRIKES: ‘HE’S CRAPPING ALL OVER US’
      “We’ve made so many sacrifices and now he’s crapping all over us. It makes me sick.”
      Infowars founder Alex Jones ripped into President Trump on Friday night after the president authorized military airstrikes in Syria, saying the decision made him “sick.”
      “If he had been a piece of crap from the beginning, it wouldn’t be so bad,” a visibly emotional Jones said of Trump. “We’ve made so many sacrifices and now he’s crapping all over us. It makes me sick.”
      Jones said the decision to strike Syria was especially painful because Trump had been “doing so good.”
      “Trump’s now a fraud,” Jones later said. “Done.”
      “F— Trump,” he vented Friday.
      The conspiracy theorist, who once interviewed Trump in 2015 during the presidential race, said in January that the president had called him several times in the previous months but he missed the calls.
      His comments late Friday came after Trump announced that he had ordered “precision strikes” against Syria in retaliation for chemical weapons attack by Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last weekend.

      https://www.infowars.com/trump-signals-rebels-commit-more-chemical-attacks-and-i-will-blame-assad/
      TRUMP SIGNALS REBELS: COMMIT MORE CHEMICAL ATTACKS AND I WILL BLAME ASSAD
      So many special interests want war that it’s almost guaranteed
      Infowars.com – APRIL 15, 2018
      President Trump is prepared to strike the Syrian government again should another chemical attack occur – regardless of who perpetrated it.
      https://www.infowars.com/exclusive-us-general-leaks-secret-plan-to-overthrow-syria-start-wwiii/
      EXCLUSIVE: US GENERAL LEAKS SECRET PLAN TO OVERTHROW SYRIA, START WWIII
      Trump talked of pulling out of Syria, but that goes against globalist plan to take over Middle East
      Alex Jones – APRIL 14, 2018
      Alex Jones breaks down the globalists’ plan to overthrow seven nations in five years – including Syria – which was first exposed by retired General Wesley Clark over a decade ago.
      ISIS was created by the Obama administration, including Hillary Clinton and the Deep State as an instrument to facilitate that very plan, and false flag chemical attacks are meant to prompt military action to overthrow Syrian president Bashar al Assad.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/us/politics/trump-rejects-sanctions-russia-syria.html
      Trump Scraps New Sanctions Against Russia, Overruling Advisers
      By PETER BAKERAPRIL 16, 2018
      WASHINGTON — President Trump rejected, for now at least, a fresh round of sanctions set to be imposed against Russia on Monday, a course change that underscored the schism between the president and his national security team.
      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/world/middleeast/us-said-to-weigh-military-responses-to-syrian-chemical-attack.html
      6 Apr 2017
      Dozens of U.S. Missiles Hit Air Base in Syria
      WASHINGTON — President Trump said Thursday night that the United States had carried out a missile strike in Syria in response to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons attack this week, which killed more than 80 civilians.
      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/impact-strikes-syria-differ-2017-180414115026661.html
      14 Apr 2018
      How do Saturday’s US-led strikes on Syria differ from 2017?
      US President Trump launched an attack on Damascus last year following a chemical attack, and little has changed since.
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39523654
      7 April 2017
      Syria war: US launches missile strikes in response to ‘chemical attack’
      The US has carried out a missile strike against a Syrian air base in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town.
      Fifty-nine Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from two US Navy ships in the Mediterranean. At least six people are reported to have been killed.
      It is the first direct US military action against forces commanded by Syria’s president.
      The Kremlin, which backs Bashar al-Assad, has condemned the strike.
      It comes just days after dozens of civilians, including many children, died in the suspected nerve gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province.What action has the US taken?
      On the orders of President Donald Trump, Navy destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross fired dozens of cruise missiles at Shayrat airfield in western Homs province at about 04:40 Syrian time (01:40 GMT).
      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/10/tony-blair-says-theresa-may-does-not-need-parliaments-approval/
      10th April 2018
      Tony Blair says Theresa May does not need Parliament’s approval for air strikes against Assad regime
      Tony Blair has backed calls for military intervention in Syria and suggested that Theresa May could avoid seeking Parliament’s approval before taking action against Bashar al-Assad.
      The former prime minister has warned that failure to take action against the Syrian regime and its allies in the wake of a suspected chemical attack in Douma would only make them feel “emboldened to do more”.
      The suspected chemical weapons attack late on Saturday killed at least 60 people, with more than 1,000 injured at several sites in Douma, a city near the capital, Damascus, according to a Syrian aid organisation.
      Lending his support to the possibility of US-led airstrikes against the Assad regime, Mr Blair said…

      https://www.rt.com/uk/423054-pilger-assange-propaganda-war/
      John Pilger warns of war with Russia as West wages ‘propaganda’ battle (VIDEO)
      Published time: 3 Apr, 2018
      Campaigning journalist John Pilger has warned that the current propaganda war being waged by the West against Russia and China could escalate into a “real” war if it continues.
      The Australian journalist and filmmaker issued the warning during an interview with RT on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange having his internet access cut off by the Ecuadorian embassy, where he resides. The WikiLeaks editor has been unable to access the internet or receive visitors since criticizing Germany’s arrest of Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.
      “This is about a war on freedom of speech. This man is being denied the most basic right – freedom of speech,” Pilger told RT. “It’s part of a wider war against known enemies, Russia is one of them and China is another, but at the moment [it’s] on the propaganda stage,” he added.“This is about the public’s right to know and it’s the public’s right to know what governments are doing.”
      Pilger cautioned against the grave implications of the West’s current information war, as he said: “Forget about the whole idea of trade war, we’ve got the prospect of a real war unless this propaganda war is seen through. The attack on [Assange] and WikiLeaks over the years is so important because it does what journalists should be doing and that is holding great power to account,” Pilger added.
      READ MORE: Assange works for the people – now we need to save him
      His remarks come after a Change.org petition calling for his internet to be restored was signed by more than 38,000 people. It opened with a letter signed by renowned public figures including Noam Chomsky, Vivienne Westwood, Oliver Stone and Brian Eno.
      Assange has been locked up in the embassy since being accused of rape in Sweden back in 2012. While charges against him were dropped, he fears being extradited to the US for releasing a series of classified national security documents through his whistleblowing website, WikiLeaks.
      https://wcfia.harvard.edu/files/wcfia/files/615_eland.pdf
      Excessive U.S. Military Action Overseas Breeds Anti-U.S. Terrorism
      By Ivan Eland
      Director of Defense Policy Studies
      Cato Institute
      As the cataclysmic events of September 11 have receded farther into the past,
      U.S. policymakers and the public should have been able to think more clearly about the
      causes of those events. But that has not happened.
      Just after the attacks, the initial wave of nationalistic feeling was understandable
      (similar sentiments held the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941). And
      https://scholar.harvard.edu/barro/files/02_0610_mythpoverty_bw.pdf

      https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/terrorism.pdf
      International
      Terrorism:
      Definitions,
      Causes, and
      Responses
      Education Program
      (202) 429-3854
      http://www.usip.org
      https://chomsky.info/20151203/
      Horror Beyond Description
      Noam Chomsky on the Latest Phase of the War on Terror
      By C.J. Polychroniou, Truthout, Thursday, 03 December 2015.
      https://www.democracynow.org/2017/4/5/the_assad_regime_is_a_moral
      “The Assad Regime is a Moral Disgrace”: Noam Chomsky on Ongoing Syrian War
      STORY APRIL 05, 2017
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOkpECipSaY
      TRUMP LAUNCHES WAR ON SYRIA! POTENTIAL WW3! Russia Vows To Strike Back!
      The Alex Jones Channel
      Streamed live on 13 Apr 2018
      Help us spread the word about the liberty movement, we’re reaching millions help us reach millions more. Share the free live video feed link with your friends & family: http://www.infowars.com/show
      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/14/syria-airstrikes-donald-trump-set-make-announcement-military/
      14 April 2018
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrRXWmk49vU
      Annie Machon (former MI5 Agent) talks about false flag operations (911, London, Madrid)
      1 Aug 2009

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E6AT2I1_hU
      Pilger to RT: Prospect of real war unless this propaganda war is seen through
      “We’ve got the prospect of a real war unless this propaganda war is seen through” says John Pilger as he joins Noam Chomsky​ in demanding Ecuador to stop ‘gagging’ Julian Assange​.
      3 apr 2018
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxRiG8vRRBk
      18 March 2018
      ‘Skripal case is a carefully-constructed drama’ – John Pilger
      https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/theresa-may-trump-syria-strikes-parliament-vote-britain-russia-chemical-weapons-latest-a8303146.html
      14 Apr 2018
      Theresa May avoided a vote in parliament on Syrian air strikes because she knew she would lose
      Last year, Donald Trump launched strikes within three days of a chemical weapons atrocity, but this time he waited a week, giving Britain and France time to join him – but also giving May time to consult parliament if she wanted to
      https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-air-strikes-assad-chemical-attack-parliament-vote-theresa-may-wont-solve-anything-a8301431.html
      14 April 2018
      The horror in eastern Ghouta at the weekend was truly sickening. People foaming at the mouth, children suffocating, scores dead. We’ve seen these kind of images before, but they do not become less shocking. From the evidence we’ve seen so far it appears that the latest chemical attack was likely by Mi-8 helicopters, probably from the forces of Syria’s murderous President Assad.
      In London the cabinet meets today – deciding on Britain’s response to this appalling act.
      The UK’s response must have the backing of parliament. That’s why it is absolutely essential that any military action is debated and voted on by MPs, not simply decided at cabinet level. Interestingly, five years ago Boris Johnson was asked about whether there should be a vote on military action in Syria. His answer was emphatic: “there’s got to be a vote”.
      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-iran-guards/irans-supreme-leader-says-western-attack-on-syria-a-crime-idUSKBN1HL0DO
      14 April 2018
      “Today’s dawn attack on Syria is a crime. I clearly declare that the president of the United States, the president of France and the British prime minister are criminals,” Khamenei said in a speech, according to his Twitter account.
      “They will not benefit (from the attack) as they went to Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan in the past years and committed such crimes and did not gain any benefits,” Khamenei said.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvUZ0S1QgN0
      David Icke (April 13, 2018) – Where is the Gutless Media as Freedom of Speech Disappears in the UK-RUSSIA case.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MRQlC9wnok
      “Russia Hysteria Is Making US International Laughing Stock”- Chomsky
      21 Apr 2017
      https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/13/45-groups-urge-un-secretary-general-act-syria
      April 13, 2018 10:59AM EDT
      45 Groups Urge UN Secretary-General to Act on Syria
      Establish Investigative Body on Chemical Weapons Attacks
      https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/04/syria-year-chemical-weapons-attacks-persist
      April 4, 2018 12:00AM EDT
      Syria: A Year On, Chemical Weapons Attacks Persist
      International Action for Deterrence, Justice Ineffective
      https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/syria
      The fight against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) emerged as the top priority for Syria’s multiple warring parties in 2017. The government, with the assistance of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, retook large parts of Central and Eastern Syria from ISIS while US-backed Syria Democratic Forces controlled Raqqa. The race to secure territory and consolidate gains was accompanied by grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law that have come to characterize the Syria conflict.
      https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/13/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-attacks-maps-history.html
      Most Chemical Attacks in Syria Get Little Attention. Here Are 34 Confirmed Cases.
      By SARAH ALMUKHTAR APRIL 13, 2018
      A suspected chemical attack that killed dozens of Syrians in Douma, a rebel-held town near Damascus, drew promises of retaliation from President Trump days after he instructed his military commanders to quickly end American involvement in Syria.
      https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/02/syria-witness-testimony-reveals-details-of-illegal-chemical-attack-on-saraqeb/
      Syria: Witness testimony reveals details of illegal chemical attack on Saraqeb
      6 February 2018,
      The Syrian government’s use of internationally banned chemical weapons was laid bare once again on 4 February when a chlorine gas attack on the town of Saraqeb left 11 people in need of emergency treatment, according to testimony gathered by Amnesty International.
      https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/04/skripal-poisoning-deleted-foreign-office-tweet-leads-to-awkward-questions
      4 April 2018
      Skripal poisoning: deleted Foreign Office tweet leads to awkward questions
      Boris Johnson under pressure to explain whether position has changed after tweet blaming Moscow is deleted
      https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/04/uk-urged-to-counter-disinformation-from-russia-over-novichok
      4 Apr 2018
      UK urged to counter ‘disinformation’ from Russia over novichok
      Hamish de Bretton-Gordon says government must give more details of why it is sure Moscow was behind Salisbury attack
      A leading chemical weapons expert has called on the UK government to give more details of why it is sure Moscow was behind the Salisbury attack after the head of the Porton Down defence research laboratory said it had not established the nerve agent that poisoned Sergei and Yulia Skripal was made in Russia…………..
      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/10/michel-barnier-demands-britain-signs-brexit-non-regression-clause/
      10 Apr 2018
      Michel Barnier demands Britain signs Brexit ‘non-regression clause’
      Michel Barnier, the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator, has demanded Britain signs a “non-regression clause” to guarantee it stays shackled by Brussels red tape after Brexit.
      Signing up to the clause would convince the EU-27 governments to support a future trade deal by reassuring them that Britain would not undercut EU standards on tax, health and the environment to poach investments, said Mr Barnier.
      The clause would be part of the political declaration setting the framework of the future UK-EU relationship, which will be finalised alongside the divorce agreement in October.
      If Britain does not agree to the clause, which would tie the hands of future governments to set their own rules and regulations, EU-27 governments could vote down the free trade agreement underpinning UK-EU relations after Brexit.
      https://yougov.co.uk/news/2018/04/12/two-one-public-oppose-missile-strikes-syria/
      By two to one, the public oppose missile strikes on Syria
      Even though most Britons believe a chemical attack has been perpetrated, only 22% of Britons would support a cruise missile attack against the Syrian military
      New YouGov research, carried out following the latest accusations of chemical weapon use by the Assad regime in Syria, shows that the public are opposed to Britain and allied countries launching cruise missile strikes against Syrian military targets. Donald Trump has announced that he plans to launch such strikes, although it is not clear what involvement, if any, the British military will have in action against Syria.
      Fewer than a quarter of Britons (22%) say they would support these attacks, with almost twice as many opposing (43%).
      This is despite the fact that the majority of Britons (61%) believe that the Syrian government or their allies probably did carry out a chemical attack. Only 10% think that either there probably wasn’t a chemical weapons attack or that something else happened. The remaining 29% said that they don’t know.
      Across all parties voters are more likely to oppose than support missile strikes, although Conservative voters are the most evenly split with 34% in opposition and 33% in support.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gle5NubaDTs
      Published on 24 Apr 2018
      “People are very keen to hear the view of Syrians, BBC’s reporting is very biased” says Baroness Caroline Cox who’s just returned from a trip to Syria.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0z1ySCKPSg
      Syrian witnesses cast doubt on toxic attack claims at watchdog HQ
      Published on 27 Apr 2018
      ‘I’m shocked at the levels to which Western media has stopped over this alleged event in Douma,’ says Vanessa Beeley, Independent researcher, journalist, photographer, as Syrian witnesses cast doubt on toxic attack claims at watchdog HQ.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWdzwKp6RHw
      Syrian doctors testify they saw no patients with chemical poisoning
      Published on 27 Apr 2018
      Witnesses of the alleged chemical attack in Douma, including 11-year-old Hassan Diab and hospital staff, told reporters at The Hague that the White Helmets video used as a pretext for a US-led strike on Syria was, in fact, staged.
      “We were at the basement and we heard people shouting that we needed to go to a hospital. We went through a tunnel. At the hospital they started pouring cold water on me,” the boy told the press conference, gathered by Russia’s mission at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
      Former UK Ambassador to Syria and Bahrain Peter Ford says the OPCW evidence will be ignored by the UK Government to downplay it or undermine it to justify the bombing in Syria over the chemical attacks] and that the British media fail to point out that it was Russia and Syria who requested the OPCW to attend in Syria for the investigation into the alleged chemical attack. Ammar Waqqaf a middle east expert says the bombings by the U.K., U.S. and France before the OPCW investigated proved there was no solid case and they knew there was no chemical attack.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iejzhb_-Do
      RT
      Published on 13 Apr 2018
      Turns out, sources reporting on chemical attack in Douma are sponsored by West… Still surprised?
      Those who reported on the alleged attack in Douma have some question marks hanging over their credibility – as Murad Gazdiev explains.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N7Z7nJ4fiI
      Published on 13 Apr 2018
      Some of America’s key partners are not so keen to launch a strike on Syria – with Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Canada all stating there needs to be a thorough investigation first. Peter Oliver has the details.
      Germany, Italy, Netherlands & Canada vow not to strike Syria, call for thorough investigation
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-z_eQcdQVI

      RT
      Published on 9 Apr 2018
      Washington and the US media seem to have no doubts about the Syrian government’s complicity in the Douma incident despite the fact that those who want America to stay in Syria have far more solid motives, Ron Paul told RT.
      ‘Assad had no reason to launch chem attack, unlike those who want US involvement’ – Ron Paul

      Mattis: No evidence on Syria chemical attack, but I believe there was one… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
      RT
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRTeLIjQ2jk
      Sky News
      Published on 13 Apr 2017
      The deadly gas attack in Syria is “100% fabrication”, says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

      He explains here what he thinks really happened, in his first interview since the incident.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LKsn4ZutxQ
      BBC News
      Published on 7 Apr 2017
      Former British Ambassador to Syria Peter Ford believes that the chemical attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun may not have been committed by the Assad regime.
      “Trump has just given jihadis a thousand reasons to stage fake flag operations” BBC News
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZuaJ_Arqfg
      RT
      Published on 7 Apr 2017
      The US launched a missile strike on a Syrian airbase, killing at least six people, including civilians, and wounding several others. Peter Ford, the former British ambassador to Syria,joins RT to discuss the US missile attack.
      ‘Dog returns to its own vomit: We forgot lesson of Iraq’ – frmr UK ambassador to Syria on US strike

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKrwXhmEiw0

      RT
      Published on 14 Apr 2018
      The substance used on Sergei Skripal was an agent called BZ, according to Swiss state Spiez lab, the Russian foreign minister said.
      Lavrov: OPCW may’ve misidentified nerve agent used in Skripal poisoning

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJh0yfhfpFc
      RT UK
      Published on 18 Apr 2018
      “The formula for these agents are out in the world” says Annie Machon as Britain admits Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) did not confirm ‘essential evidence’ on origin of Skripal poison.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc9tToN5XGk
      Theresa May’s husband’s firm profits from Syria airstrikes
      RT UK
      Published on 18 Apr 2018
      Thereasa May’s husband’s Capital Group is largest shareholder in BAE, shares soar since Syrian #airstrikes.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_e4ykDeB0c
      “I think she’s a disgrace to be honest” Londoners react to May not consulting MPs
      RT UK
      Published on 18 Apr 2018
      “I think she’s a disgrace to be honest”
      Londoners react as 54% of Brits believe Theresa May was wrong not to consult MPs over Syria airstrikes.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG9XBrDUtOI
      HUMANROOTS.NET
      Published on 20 Apr 2017
      Paul Joseph Watson on Terresa May and U.K Election, who to vote for? Infowars 2017
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdZu_lEHxJw

      50 Stars
      Published on 1 Feb 2018
      “SHE’S AN INCOMPETENT LEADER” Peter Hitchens DESTROY Theresa May

  • mark golding

    Last time I eyeballed a D-Notice was when a MK24 torpedo went awry and smashed into a Scottish fishing boat. It was issued to (a) avoid embarrassment and (b) to prevent an outcry from the Scottish fishing industry who nets were constantly ripped up by torpedo trials.

    It is clear the ‘deep state’ or the British establishment knew some time before it was announced that Trump, in attempts to ‘clear the swamp’ wanted to withdraw US military presence from Syria on a game plan intimated by Putin I believe. That withdrawal was unacceptable to the Neocon/yinon plan who have laid waste to prepare for assaults on Syria and Iran. They needed to ‘correct’ Trump.

    Thus we had the false-flag event orchestrated by the ‘White Helmets’ as part of a designed operation which together with the Skripal deception would give the UK/IS cover for a missile attack on Syria to, I believe, test the effectiveness of Syrian/Russian anti-missile batteries. This in preparation for a Syrian ‘Shock & Awe’ scenario set forth by British establishment war-mongers.

    Certainly this harbinger of death, this signal of destruction and chaos can be somewhat curtailed by (a) Throwing the book at UK/US/France for the missile attack on Syria and writing this in history as a war-crime; (b) Pointing a finger at President Trump for acting like a puppet subjugated by lies and corruption AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.

    • Tony_0pmoc

      mark golding,

      I seem to recall you wrote maybe 10 years ago, that you yourself were subjected to a missile attack on an HMG ship in The Falkland’s war.

      I can understand your view tha the crazy neocons, are not going to easily give up, and that recent events were several things -old 80’s style Western missiles vs old Russian misslie defence (designed to shoot them down, maybe even by pre-programmed (by modern radar) gatlling guns from WW1. They weren’t flying much faster than The V2 Rockets from Germany near the end of WWII.

      Now of course all this is good, for the military manufacturers on both The Western and The Russian side – to use up their old crud, and manufacture even more weapons of mass destruction and flog them…

      However, the problem with this scenario, is that the Russians, did not actually attack the Western ships and submarines, with very modern conventional weapons….

      If they pull this stunt, again, they almost certainly will, and send all the Battleships, to the bottom of the ocean…

      That will seriously annoy the Americans, regardless of who is in charge…

      It would be almost certain to go nuclear immediately.

      Anyhow, as I am getting a bit to old too relocate to Christchurch in New Zealand (though my son and his kids may) I am planning to go to Cyprus Rocks again…In fact already bought the tickets and the flights…

      If they want to kill us all in the meantime, well it seems there is next to bugger all we can do to stop them.

      You simply cannot reason with a lunatic, holding a hand grenade, that is capable of blowing up the entire world, especially when he is looking at you like Dick Cheney, and he has already pulled the pin out, and is clenching it in his fist. How do you disarm him? If you shoot him, he lets go. If he falls asleep. He lets go. How do you convince such a lunatic to gently put the pin back, when he actually believes in Armageddon, and feels it his duty, to destroy all mankind, so that he can immediately ascend to heaven and sit at the right hand side of God for all eternity?

      We need some fresh ideas quick.

      https://www.cyprusrocks.co.uk/home

      Tony

  • Passer

    This would explain the fact that neither Russia (which I categorically exclude from the list of culprits but list for completeness’ sake) nor the UK could have been interested in having this event playing out in public as it did with known consequences, i.e. publicity. It looks somehow as not having gone exactly as laid out or as coincidental, meaning
    a) Let’s say some fentanyl users had been sitting on the bench before (all on a rather lousy day in early May, though) and it had gotten accidentally contaminated. Then, of course, if that had caught on people might have started, equally accidentally, to find out Skripal was a spy etc. etc. etc. and found out about Orbis etc.etc. etc. and that’s why Pablo Miller had to disappear and from there it somehow escalated and the UK Government figured they rather ride a huge attack and thus camouflage the whole thing (i.e. DISTRACT from where the actual crux is)
    b) If there is anything anywhere and it was not accidental it looks botched as that party cannot have intended to throw the spotlight on this and then the same thing happened, Pablo Miller had to disappear, the huge attack, the distraction etc etc etc.

    The fact the Skripals seem to not exist anymore (maybe they are in the US already) is what makes this highly suspicious.

  • Passer

    “I meant to add that the policeman who ‘just happened’ to be around was almost certainly the special branch ‘minder’ who was keeping Yulia under surveillance. The media are not allowed to mention the existence of a D notice.” To me this looks as if he was trying to give first aid to Yulia Skripal, maybe. Just thinking.

  • Formerly T-Bear

    One matter not encountered: Usually military intelligence has little to do with the arts of spying though may use the product of spying. Military intelligence might be better named Military information, usually focused on some mission or project, informing the planning and execution of information needed to accomplish some goal. MI-5 and MI-6 have devolved into political information gathering from their original military intelligence rôle. Sadly the same for most U.S. alphabet information agencies.

    If Skripal was Russian Military Intelligence does not automatically mean he was a Russian spy. Most likely he became a British spy and not a double agent as so commonly stated. This makes it more than less likely it was British secret services that had the motivation to either terrorise Skripal into silence or to silence him. Russia pardoned Skripal because he was after conviction of no further use to Russia. The British abduction of the Skripals may be actionable in the ICC.

  • Basil Fawlty

    Whatever happened in Salisbury, thanks to their panopticon intelligence systems, I am convinced that the Americans have a pretty good
    idea. As Trump is now in charge of the NSA and is taking on the deep state swamp critters who knows what might emerge in due course…

  • Stuart Blair

    I have been analysing the BZ issue with great focus since I first heard Sergei Lavrov’s claims that this was the real nerve agent, thus implicating the UK in a plot against the Russian’s (i.e. a false flag). I am a mere Physicist (a teacher at that) with a background in electronics so I was not well versed in false negative control samples. These are samples given where the provider expects the testing authority to provide a positive result. If they do not, foul play or technical malpractice may be suspected. I am unaware of what result the other 3 labs (the OPCW employed 4, including the Swiss Spiez lab that detected BZ) returned. That would be good to know as it would corroborate the technical explanation of BZ as a control ingredient. I must say, the whole issue does still raise other questions. For instance, if the Novichok was ‘high purity’ why was there no detection of some delaying agent, which surely must have been present (given that Novichok acts in 30s to 2 mins). What really is required is some info from the Skripal’s themselves. What symptoms did they experience and how are they now? Who did they interact with? Who did they touch and why are they not ill?

    The whole incident reeks of inconsistencies as David made clear in his recent blog posts. I merely post here to express my opinion that the BZ issue is perhaps not relevant. Funny that Lavrov made such a deal of it though. It seemed poorly executed, as if he was misinformed? Surely the Russian’s do not think it would get traction if it could be so easily explained. Don’t they have scientists to brief them! If it was to muddy the waters briefly that certainly failed. It might have played well in some corners of the internet but didn’t have the legs to work as ‘misinformation’. No, something fishy going on there.

    • Formerly T-Bear

      Think of the logic of this. If BZ and its breakdown products were the control and pure (read as unaltered A-234) “Novichok” was placed in the sample sent to all the labs involved, then all lab reports would contain a reference to “Novichok: A-234” and only those labs having the original samples would also mention their finding of BZ and its breakdown components. A cunning plan, indeed, since the ‘chance finding’ of BZ could be conveniently discounted as something else. Facts hiding in plain sight. Caveat: Do not discount for a moment the very first reports that a Fentanyl poisoning was being treated, a drug which may have very similar physiologic activities as BZ, and breakdown byproducts of BZ were substituted for the original clinical samples of Fentanyl. Both the byproduct of breakdown of BZ and “Novichok: A-234” would be readily available just 7 or 8 miles up the road at a moment’s notice. Maybe a plan too clever again by half.

  • John Monro

    Hello. I think we can mostly agree that the media have been muzzled one way or another. The total lack of follow up proves this. How is Sergei? Why have we not heard a peep from Yulia? Etc etc. however we truly do not know what happened here. Your theory they’ve been poisoned to teach them a lesson seems a bit wild. They’re lucky to be alive, if they still are. That doesn’t mean that “our side” didn’t do this though with the intent to kill. Equally I wonder if it was a Russian criminal element that they’d got mixed up in. If what you suggest is true that Skripal was mixed up in the Russian dossier then perhaps Russia did have some motive after all. Perhaps the intended victim was Yulia, she had just returned from Russia. We just don’t know and one theory however wild is just as good as the other. What this affair does confirm is the frightening capitulation of the media to a right wing government. The media would not be so docile if Corbyn were our PM.

  • M.J.

    If the British were responsible for poisoning Skripal, why cause such diplomatic havoc, and why would the Americans expel 60 Russian diplomats?
    There are problems with any theory of who was responsible, whether the Russian state, Russian rogue agents, or false flag egents..

    • Paul Barbara

      @ M.J. April 28, 2018 at 21:27
      ‘If the British were responsible for poisoning Skripal, why cause such diplomatic havoc..’
      To thoroughly demonise Russia ahead of the planned Douma ‘False Flag’ CW hoax.

  • Tom Smythe

    Just to keep the record straight, using ‘custom time interval’ of google search to restrict hits to pre-Skirpal:

    DS Nick Bailey was indeed based at police HQ in Devizes as of 05 Dec 2016 but on 05 Jun 2017 was stationed at the
    Bourne Hill Police Station which is 531 meters from Zizzi’s. I could not confirm that he was still at Bourne Hill on the afternoon of the attack nor that a Detective Sergeant would actually respond (seems improbable) to another two Salisbury drug addicts passed out on a park bench.

    The article says it is ok to call him direct: “If anyone has any information contact Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey 1772 at Bourne Hill Police Station on 101” which I think means call their 911 number and ask for extension 1772. Possibly there is call-forwarding to the British West Indies — he has was documented at the scene of the attack, nor visitable at the hospital, nor seen after discharge on 10 Mar 2018, even now he is not seen. Some 39 days have elapsed.

    The Côte Brasserie restaurant where Sergei and Pablo Miller, the MI6 handler with his own Linked-In page, met monthly to discuss old (and new?) times, is an additional 100 m south of Zizzi’s.

    https://uk.linkedin.clo /in/pablo-miller-obe-0017916124 (account deleted; it showed 9 jobs and described connections)

    http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/14946702.officer-who-put-serial-rapist-behind-bars-recognised-for-outstanding-police-work/

    http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/15329207.Update__Burglary_at_Ogbourne_St_George_property/

    • Tom Smythe

      DS Nick Bailey is key to any theory of events — and we are really overdue to assemble a wholistic timeline here without the tin-hats, misinformation and disinformation. Bailey is a real above-average Wiltshire policeman, an über-boy scout by all prior accounts. What can possibly be the purpose of disappearing him? Why are all his “statements”, like the Skirpals, handed out on police stationery? Bailey is no whistleblower but might not lie if directly queried.

      We don’t actually know if Bailey was ever exposed or merely agreed, on natl security grounds, to stand in as the public face for the third poisoned person in the Salisbury Hospital narrative. In that and other scenarios, that would be a perpetrator who inadvertently got a mild exposure to agent in the bungled process of hitting the Skirpals.

      People posting here with backgrounds in toxicology have been unanimous in saying said two people of such radically different attributes (age, weight, fitness, gender, health) exposed to necessarily dissimilar exposures could simultaneously — within minutes if not seconds — succumb to agent several hours after exposure. I concur: impossible to arrange this even in a time-release pharma implant. The choices are (1) exposed at Zizzi’s, (2) sprayed in the market walkway, or (3) sprayed on the bench. The Mill Pub is already unreasonable; the door handle is preposterous. Does it really take from March 4th to April 28th to process the half hour of the one CCTV cam that takes in the bench?

      • Tom Smythe

        To answer my own question, why throw out all this nonsense about cemetery flowers, tainted perfume bottles and BMW air vents when it’s perfectly clear that the attack took place from Zizzi’s to bench?

        If the perp were some shadowy person masked by trenchcoat, sunglasses and flaps-down ushanka hat (of a fur trapped only in Russia), why not just go with that. The problem is, given the internet hordes and facial recognition software, the perp can be identified from the CCTV.

        If the perp is a friendly secret service which cannot be exposed, or a conflict-zone middle easterner, or Putin-hostile expat Russian, or grudge-bearing exposed FSB agent, or super patriotic mother in law, the fact is however awful the attack, none of these are fit for purpose. It follows the perpetrator is known but is not being sought. Their identity cannot be revealed now or later because the massive lying would be exposed.

        • Ophelia Ball

          Down & Out in Belmarsh and Barbados

          You will never hear of – much less from – either DS Bailey or Dr Stephen Bailey ever again. The difference is that onky ine of them has a suntan and a pension

          • Ophelia Ball

            Yawn, typoes!

            Dr Stephen Davies and “only one”

            NB for those of you listening to this in black & white back home in Idaho, “Down and Out in Paris and London” was writren by a little-known British author named Orwell, who also wrote the following in Chapter 4 of his other book, “Homage to Catalonia”:

            “”Early in life I have noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper, but in Spain, for the first time, I saw newspaper reports which did not bear any relation to the facts, not even the relationship which is implied in an ordinary lie. I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting, and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed. I saw troops who had fought bravely denounced as cowards and traitors, and others who had never seen a shot fired hailed as the heroes of imaginary victories; and I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that had never happened. I saw, in fact, history being written not in terms of what happened but of what ought to have happened according to various ‘party lines’.”

  • John Goss

    I am glad Craig is keeping this in the public eye because soon, after the OPCW reports on Douma, a few other journalists might start to question the real story about the Skripal affair. Or am I losing it? More likely they will concoct another Corbyn anti-Simeticism (deliberately misspelt) story to earn their whoring wages.

  • Formerly T-Bear

    One last comment:
    Either BZ exposure or a Fentanyl poisoning are the only way both Skripals could have simultaneously been affected and still be alive. Food poisoning would have acted at different rates on either Skripal. The DS affected has yet to publicly explain his exposure. Lack of credible information is like the dogs that didn’t bark. Lack of convincing narrative points to the perpetrators, all things being equal. Next I suppose Tony Blair will be running for office again in order to make Britain great again.

    • Paul Barbara

      @ Formerly T-Bear April 28, 2018 at 21:59
      ‘..Next I suppose Tony Blair will be running for office again in order to make Britain great again…’
      Hopefully, for the Tories?

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