Dec 13 2006
Some Litvinenko Thoughts
The news on Litvinenko’s death and the Polonium-210 trail has succumbed to the moder Ripper news, so obviously something very quiet is being done behind the scenes or the trail is growing cold. I think it is the former because this quick response by the Germans in response to some possible evidence that Kovtun made a phone call from Berlin during his period in Germany between Moscow and his trip to meet Lugovoi and Litvinenko in London.
I meant to note I find the constantly shifting stories by Lugovoi and Kovtun to be a clear sign they new full well they have been in contact with radiactive material. The tanning salon excuse is just pathetic. I also find their pointing to Oct 16th as possible contamination point telling as well. They knew that their illnesses were due to Polonium 210, but they only realized their problem after Litvinenko fell ill and died. Up until they could not hide the truth anymore (i.e., they needed medical attention) they tried to divert suspicion using one lame excuse after another. But they knew it was Polonium 210.
Add this the fact Berezovsky’s mouthpiece Goldfarb went out of his way to dismiss any idea that Lugovoi and Kovtun could have been involved in the assassination effort and one can see he too was trying to divert attention from them as culprits in Litvinenko’s death. When in reality they represented the best lead to Putin and Russia as part of an assassination effort. Why would Berezovsky/Goldfarb go out of there way to publically vouch for the best supporting evidence of a Russian assassination plot to ever surface? Diversion. Only when it became clearly obvious that Lugovoi was ill did Goldfarb go silent again.
Finally, the delay in questioning Lugovoi could easily be seen as negotiations for a plea agreement. Lugovoi has been giving the public perception he is working for investigators on this case, and investigators are not out denying anything. We still have this mysterious fourth contaminated hotel out there, and we have police backing away from the poisoned tea cup theory. I would not be surprised if within a few days we see some sweeping actions by authorites. Then again, I would not be surprised to see nothing new happening for days on end as well. My latest musings for all to rip apart at their leisure!
It is not yet illegal to smoke in bars – although most bars ask customers not to smoke AT the bar (the serving point)
This is changing the subject somewhat but I have been thinking about
the drama surrounding whether the authorities have been asked to check aeroflot planes. I remember that about 2 weeks ago it came up on BBc as breaking news that a Finnish Plane had been tested by Russian authorities and they had found contamination. I was impressed and thought that the authorities had begun testing all planes leaving moscow. – Several hours later it was reported that it was found to be eminating from legal cargo!
As if to say the trail on BA planes could be harmless!
I will add a precaution along with AJ.
It is a well known established fact that all security services have complicit media people in many countries to shape the message.
The really don’t have to get out in front and discredit, all they have to do is create the fog of doubt when trying to tamp down a cross border story.
The only way you can sort it out is if you have a source quality rating built over a long time frame.
Sort of like a rating of how good is a stock touting newsletter.
Right now I would suggest the older a story is that someone finds that is not directly connected to this story the better the information is since when that story came out no one had fore knowledge of how it may influence this one.
Anything contemporary, note it but wait judgment to see if it’s consistant.
It only takes a nudge to put a meteor off on a different course.
Litvinenko did not die from a smuggling accident. By all accounts, he had to ingest the PO for the quantity in him, which basically excludes unintended inhalation. As Enlightened pointed out (& I have, too), there is no confirmation of Lug & Kov poisoning. There is hysteria of contamination spread everywhere, but so far it seems to be very low levels, if even at all.
Smuggling — who & why? Typically, it’s for $ and/or a cause. Where’s the money here? So far no money trail. OK – it’s for Chechen terrorists you say. Would Litv really try to smuggle PO into UK to somehow set off dirty bomb back in Russia? He was former FSB/KGB & I think aware of PO and possible hazards. He was supportive of the Chechen cause for independnece, but I don’t think for terrorism. And wouldn’t there be an easier route than across Eurpoe into UK, only to go back?
Were Litv & Lug & Kov all in it for $, and the PO was really for dirty bomb in UK? Once again, where’s the $. Plus, this doesn’t fit Litv profile – he seemed to like UK and not be supportive of terrorists (maybe I’m wrong?).
OTOH, we have Russia under Putin and all the dirt & corruption & intimidation & blackmail & bribery & all the other scary tactics illuminated here already. And the pertinent fact that Putin/Kremlin critics & dissidents are showing up dead frequently, and in many places. Plus, torture & poisoning, and I’m quite sure PO poisoning, have been a staple of KGB/FSB tactics throughout Russia past.
Did Putin “order” this? Of course not. Was Putin complicit, could he have stopped it – Yes.
What about Boris? Well, maybe he was the primary target, maybe not, but he certainly was/is on the List. Some things, even assassination attempts by “professionals” don’t go as planned, are not that “clean”. And that’s why the massive disinformation campaign is in high gear by Russia. I’ll be shocked if it is ever “solved”.
I think MerlinOS2 made a very good point that news stories itself can be manipulated.
P.S. Sorry for yesterday dupes: something was wrong with the system and it did not show posts after they were posted.
Likbez I had the same problem yesterday. Apparently it has to do with the spam filter.
Folks,
Again my apologies for the delayed comments. I cannot check in as often this week as I usually do. Posts are hitting the spam filters for some reason I cannot figure out. Typically it is the number of links, but it could be a word that trips it.
New registered commenters have to have the first comment mediated and then they are typically OK. BTW, I don’t mind the dupes and neither should anyone else. It is easier for me to batch release them than pick the best version someone created. I know it is a pain to rewrite or copy your comments thinking they are not getting in. Sadly the spam is the culprit here.
AJ, all,
May I make a suggestion? We have all given this story a lot of thought, and I think it is to our credit that we have a good amount of “smugglers,” “assassins,” and agnostics. (I am a newfound agnostic after having been a smuggler.)
What we need–and what I think we can accomplish–is a summary of the case to date, focusing on what we know with certitude, or at least near certainty. As an example, I think we can all agree that Lugovoi and Kovtun are involved in this, one way or another. In addition to the circumstantial evidence, their comments have not been straightforward, suggesting that they are somehow implicated in the crime(s).
As we go forward we can cross-check what we know and add to the case.
I think it’s very healthy that we have so many representatives from both camps. That way we can cross-check each other and sound out whether theoretical points can become “facts.”
This could take a bit of work but I am sure that we would have many eager contributors. I do not have any firm idea as to the format but suggest keeping it simple–AJ maybe you could start a “Facts” thread that we could keep updating and moving forward on a day by day basis.
What do you think? I volunteer, of course.
Go to it. I may even write it up in some comprehensive form afterward.
Uh what I meant was I will be happy to contribute. If I have time I will write something up.