Dec 01 2006
Now If it Was An Assassination Attempt On Litvinenko…
I have been exchanging emails with a very interesting person who agrees with Clarice Feldman and disagrees with me on whether this entire event was an assassination attempt or not. The reason this person is interesting is she is a well known liberal writer and, while disagree on the motivations, she and I agree on all the questionable reporting. Well this person just emailed me one of the best theories I have ever seen that explains HOW the Polonium-210 might have been delivered so as to kill and leave little trace, and to get Scaramella and Litvinenko and Berezovsky all at once.
The creator of this excellent theory is none other than Raw Story’s Larisa Alexandrovna, and she presents her theory here at her blog:
Now many people have argued that because this is so obvious, it could not have been Putin or FSB without Putin. But people fail over and over to grasp what I have already reported and believe given the people with whom I had talked: this was not meant to be traced, they thought they could get away with it. So, if you had something that you thought no one would be able to trace and you wanted to take out three very visible targets, would you not do it? Ah, exactly, FSB would do it, but they must have miscalculated on the dosages.
…
If Mario is not involved, but contaminated, what did he share with Alex and when? The same question applies to Alex’s wife. What was it, a cup? No, because Mario did not go home to visit Alex’s family.
How about this:
A cigarette. In fact, a cigarette would be an extremely powerful way to distribute the polonium via air, causing another to inhale it. But since the only people that would inhale for any real duration would be people in close proximity to the victim, it is certain to do the trick as smoking at most places is not allowed and also because in small vapor qualities it would not be necessarily lethal, so not too much of a danger to the British public, although somewhat of a danger if things went badly.
This a bit of brilliant thinking. I mentioned myself that if Litvinenko and Scaramella were exposed at the same time, an airborne agent would make sense with the lesser (more dispersed) dose for Scaramella. In the true sense of serendipity, I was sent an email a few days ago by blogger AJacksonian regarding an 1987 study regarding Polonium-210 found in Syrian cigarettes. At the time I dismissed this since Polonium-210 is a natural element and it can be found in lots of places – but the point is it can be hidden in cigarettes (I of course emailed this to Larrisa).
Now if we combine Larrisa’s theory on the delivery mechanism with reader Crosspatch’s notes that Polonium-210 would best be brought in disoved in an acid-salt (probably in crystal form since liquids can be dodgy these days on plays) we have enough pieces to put together a good scenario. The Polonium suspension is possible what spilled in the Millenium hotel. Once in a liquid form of sufficient density of Polonium it one would simply need a syringe to deposit some of the suspension down the center of a cigarette and there you go.
Now do I believe this is what happened? Nope. But it is the first good theory that shows a sophisticated assassination plan, not some half baked one. I do not think the air plane contamination can be explained this way. And cigarettes would not explain the contamination in the planes or the Hotel where the Russians where staying. But you have to admire the beauty of the concept!
When I heard that the WMD division of the FBI was helping with the Litvinenko investigation, I couldn’t help but wonder why our domestic Federal law enforcement teams would be a part of it. Surely the CIA would have more experience, knowledge, and leverage when dealing with global movements of nuclear contraband, terrorist threats involving WMD, and political assassination attempts. I couldn’t get past the idea of sending our domestic investigative teams, until I had this chilling thought: What if the FBI is on this case because it will be able to be directly involved in an investigation in a country where there are no U.S. Constitutional rights to privacy, where warrants are easier to come by, and where you can detain citizens for longer periods of time without issuing charges? What if a threat of a plot is so dangerous and imminent that our government feels that, with the legal bar being set so high in the U.S. to be able to gather the necessary evidence to convict and thwart the plot, it would be prudent to send the FBI where it could directly get the info it needed, and then return to the states, with the necessary intel in hand to gain warrants and make arrests? My thought is all dependent on how common it is for our FBI to be directly involved in an investigation of a crime that happened in another country. If it happens a lot, then never mind. If it is rare, or unprecedented, then I think there is more to this polonium 210 story then is being reported. Just a thought I had while washing the dinner dishes, so take it with a grain of salt. This is simply the only site that has a good discussion on this news item.
Weight of Glory – look below – that sick guy Gaidur was in the US before he went to Dublin just as an aside
Putin is getting PO’ed and do you blame him?
Mr Putin’s deputy spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Mr Putin was disappointed with British media hysteria that accused him of being behind the poisoning.
Without naming them, he speculated that responsibility might be laid at the door of Mr Litvinenko’s associates in London, the Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky and Chechen militant Akhmad Zakayev, both of whom have received asylum in Britain.
He also said that Russian authorities had found no trace of radiation at the Moscow airport where BA planes were possibly contaminated by polonium.
Polonium is present in all cigarettes, it is the primary carcinogen in cigarette smoke so the article about it being found in Syrian smokes might just be bogus. Basically it comes from the soil. Natural radon gas in the soil decays into polonium and the tobacco plant likes it for some reason and absorbs it.
A tobacco with high polonium would mean it is grown in an area with a high radon content in the soil meaning there is a higher concentration of natural uranium.
That being said, yes, a cigarette would be an easy delivery mechanism but probably not in the way you suggest. Most likely one would treat the end of the filter with the polonium salt solution so that when it is placed to the lips, the polonium is transferred and ingested. Try injecting anything into a cigarette sometime … it will stain and be obvious that it was tampered with.
Or, even if polonium is on one’s fingers, the cigarette is still an easy way to transfer the material to the mouth. The cigarette is handled in the fingers and then it is placed in the mouth. That is one reason why smokers get more colds, by the way. It is because they are constantly transferring germs from hand to mouth via the cigarette.
Lets say I have polonium on my hands. I smoke a cigarette and some of it gets in my mouth. Now I shake your hand. You smoke a cigarette. A smaller amount gets in your mouth.
Interesting that a couple of articles do say at or “near the Sushi restaurant” when they discuss the location of the contamination. On the other hand we still don’t know what went on with the light switch and Room 441 at the Millenium. Today a second notice went out to all people at the bar at the Millenium and at the Sushi restaurant to call in to a hotline. Whether this was for witness info or more fears of contamination possibility I have no idea. I think we still have reason to fear that the situation is not yet contained. They even evacuated a bloddy 5 star hotel today or at least partially evacuated it.
Lizarde1, thanks for the info., but your response still leaves me with some confusion. It may be my memory, but I seem to recall that we actually sent teams over to England to help with the investigation. If a loose thread happened to be in the U.S. before he went to Dublin, it would seem that the necessary level of help would simply be intel sharing; and that can be done over the phone, no need to send people to the Island. Again, this is dependent on my reading the news correctly that FBI teams were actually sent to England; and my wife will tell you that my literacy is not something to bet the house on!
I guess the trick here would be how did Sasha come to have a cigarette with the room 411 polonium solution in it? Maybe they simply just gave him a doped pack? Maybe after the polonium got bounced on the floor, and picked up, everyone needed a smoke! Who would it have been who gave it to him? Are we left believing one of the Russians he knew was an enemy after all or was there a separate assassin who somehow got a doped cigarette into Sasha’s possession, to take out and smoke at the sushi place? He was a runner, but also a Russian, are we sure that he smoked? Larissa is good, interesting that you talked, Strata-spere is the go to place for polonium discussions.
No you are correct Weight of Glory – the FBI did go there formally – I was just struck by finding out that Gaidur had actually been in the US before going to Dublin – this is probably a red herring – I still think all this may have to do with the airline liquids thing that did in fact threaten US cities but I may be just overreacting here (as I have been wont to do in the past).
There can be no question that Sasha got the polonium either accidently or intentionally. If intentional, this is extremely messy because there is apparently polonium all over the place from London to Moscow to possibly Italy. That makes it harder for me to accept that he was targeted. The fact that there appears to be polonium all over Europe at this point would lead me to believe that the exposure as an accident.
Simply contaminating a cigarette with the stuff would probably not be enough of the it to contaminate several people, at least one car, and several airplanes along with a hotel, possibly now two hotels … it is just too much of a mess. It appears like this was either some kind of accidental spillage or some kind of intentional broader contamination than a targeted killing would suggest.
Just saw a video interview With Gary Kasparov(former chess champ) now an oposition leader against to Putin. He details what’s really going on politically in Russia. Go to Sky news,then Videos it’s in the video index. He also gives his opinion as to who might have killed Livinentko
“I still think all this may have to do with the airline liquids thing”
The same thought came to my mind this morning but I didn’t want to say anything.
I don’t know if this has been posted yet, but the FBI team that is over there is fairly new, July of 06. I pulled this from a press release on the FBI’s web site, describing the restructuring, composition, and duties of this new division of the FBI:
“Under the new structure there are now five branches headed by Executive Assistant Directors. As announced last month, Willie Hulon now oversees the National Security Branch (NSB) composed of the Counterterrorism Division, Counterintelligence Division, and Directorate of Intelligence. Added to the NSB will be the new Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Directorate, which consolidates WMD and counterproliferation initiatives. This new Directorate will study the consequences of a WMD attack, increase our level of preparedness, and coordinate the Government’s response in the event of a WMD attack in the continental United States. The WMD Directorate will be headed by Assistant Director Vahid Majidi. Dr. Majidi comes to the FBI from the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he headed the Chemistry Division, including such strategic programs as nuclear weapons-related research and non/counter-proliferation. He previously served as Chief Science Advisor to the Department of Justice.”
See anything in there of interest?
yes I see Los Alamos notorious for not keeping track of stuff LOL
Lizarde1:
heh!
Here is some bio. info. on the director of the WMD division:
The Deputy Attorney General named Doctor Vahid Majidi, Chief Science Advisor for the Department of Justice (DOJ) in February 2003. Dr. Majidi is on a detail to the Department from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico. Dr. Majidi is responsible for coordinating science and technology policy among the Department’s component agencies and with state and local law enforcement entities. He also serves as a Department liaison to the scientific community.
Dr. Majidi earned his BS degree in chemistry from Eastern Michigan University and his PhD degree from Wayne State University. After his graduate work, Dr. Majidi spent two years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas (Austin).
Prior to his assignment at DOJ, Dr. Majidi was the Group Leader for Actinide Analytical Chemistry Group (C-AAC) at Los Alamos. The Group’s main objectives were to serve the laboratory in national security and the nuclear materials characterization arena. Specifically, the Group provided specialized chemical analysis for the pit manufacturing, 238-heat source, MOX (mixed Pu/U oxides), surveillance, and ARIES (nuclear material recovery) programs. Research efforts were concentrated on development of new technologies for materials characterization, development of in-situ sensors, fiber-optic based analysis and process analytical chemistry for the intelligence community.
update news item:
This suggests that he may have eaten or drunk something contaminated with the poison. He could not have picked it up from shaking Mr Litvenenko’s hand, or from conversation across the table.
Tests conducted on all staff at the restaurant have found no traces of polonium-210.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,1962345,00.html
So it’s a significant dose. (I still like the document theory but we haven’t heard anything about documents recently.) I think the experts’ point is that a large dose couldn’t be easily transferred and ingested via a handshake – but if the food was hot, Sasha’s hands could be really hot (unless he eats sushi with chopsticks).
Say Sasha has a cigarette after eating highly contaminated sushi, maybe Scaramella could get some polonium that way.
S claims all he had was water, if someone brought the water and the soup I guess they both could be poisoned by that person, deliberately or inadvertantly. I just can’t see the two of them sitting there while a guy sprays the sushi that Sasha chose from the buffet.
Would Po210 in hot soup start floating in the air around the table?
Nobody knows anything yet about this stuff IMO – experts always find something to disagree about – this is all pretty new stuff just like the anthrax seeping through the envelopes – nobody thought that could happen either probably – at least not right away. The wife got it and the workers in the restaurant didn’t – the seats on the plane got it but maybe (or maybe not) nobody got it from the plane. They are cordoning off a hotel where Scaramella stayed and yet they say you can’t get it from a handshake or casual contact etc etc Maybe we’ll know more in a few months. In the meantime I already know two people of the 33,000 who were on those planes – small world.
more on the Moslem connection:
A post-mortem examination was carried out yesterday on Mr Litvinenko’s body but the results are not expected for several days.
The Daily Telegraph has been told that Mr Litvinenko had converted to Islam.
Akhmed Zakayev, the leading Chechen dissident who lived next door to Mr Litvinenko, said: “He was read to from the Koran the day before he died and had told his wife and family that he wanted to be buried in accordance with Muslim tradition.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/02/npoison02.xml
Livermore can’t be involved – the hotel did not burn down!