Jan 06 2007
Litvinenko Investigation Takes Bizarre Turn
I see the Litvinenko investigation taking a very bizarre turn (read to the end please), as the media and authorities try to keep a grasp on the assassination theory and dismissing the possibility of a smuggling effort. We were one of the first sites to propose Litvinenko was not poisoned all at once but over a period of multiple exposures. And at the time I pointed out this would indicate a smuggling effort with Litvinenko repeatedly coming into contact with the contraband and being poisoned in stages. The evidence of this was the timing of the hair loss, which put one incident around the 16th of October and the first of three possible smuggling rounds of Polonium-210 which coincided with Lugovoi meeting Litvinenko and UK security firms.
Now we have further confirmation of the smuggling theory as the authorities now admit the poisoning was not a one time event:
Scotland Yard officers are also investigating whether the former spy was first poisoned with polonium-210 several days earlier than previously reported. Investigators believe Mr Litvinenko may have been contaminated twice, with the second attack taking place at a central London hotel several days after the first “hit”.
…
But detectives are understood to be investigating whether Mr Litvinenko was poisoned several days earlier. They are examining his movements and meetings, particularly with Russian contacts, in the previous days.
Toxicology results from Mr Litvinenko’s post-mortem examination revealed two “spikes” of radiation poisoning, suggesting he received two separate doses. The second attack is almost certain to have taken place at the Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair. Eight hotel staff have tested positive for polonium-210. So has a tea cup.
Clearly the poisoning was the result of two (or more) exposures. And if one looks at the Polonium trail we can see where those happened, and the strongest footprint is in the Millenium Hotel room – not the Hotel’s Pine Bar. More people were contaminated in the Bar, but 7 out of 8 of those people were staff and probably exposed via the dishwasher in the kitchen – which was heavily contaminated. Nearly 100% of the staff (1 out of 8 escaped contamination) of the bar were poisoned at low levels. The fact is only 1 out of 250 patrons showed signs of contamination. There are scenarios which make sense if one looks at the bar only, but there is the problem of the massive contamination of the hotel room.
If a fraction of a grain of salt in a tea cup did that much damage in the Pine Bar – who was hit with the spill in the hotel room? Someone had to have cleaned it up and traced the spill from the floor to the light switch. Who was it? It is the hotel room which actually shows the potential for a massive dose, not the Pine Bar. While more people are exposed in the Bar area they are exposed at low levels, the hotel room shows a spill of what appears to be the metallic form of Po-210 and in high concentrations.
And as we pointed out here, the form of the Po-210 is critical in determining whether this was an assassination or a contraband effort. The salt form of Po-210 is ideal for assassination – but all signs point away from this form. The metallic form is ideal for a nuclear trigger, and useable for a dirty bomb if it is in a fine particulate form. So far indications are it was not in the salt-form.
Now that authorities admit there was exposure ‘days earlier’ before Nov 1st and the incidents in the Millenium Hotel, and they have concluded there were multiple ‘consignments’ of the material being smuggled, it is easy to nail down the other opportunities and locations for Litvinenko’s exposure. These coincide with meetings with Lugovoi as he travelled to London to meet Litvinenko. Around October 16th they met and the hotel Lugovoi stayed at showed multiple rooms contaminated (as if the material was being dispersed to its next destination). Around Oct 26th there was another visit and another hotel contaminated. These are the two other opportunities and I believe Litvinenko was exposed both times to the Polonium-210 consignments. One ‘spike’ could easily go undetected. But we now know there were at least two.
Now the big question is how did authorities detect two spikes from an autopsy performed over a month after the last spike. I have had suspicions Litvinenko was poisoned by ingestion and inhaling. The ingestion symptoms showed up first (the vomitting) and the inhaling as he neared death (the swollen mucus membranes). The symptoms showed up 3 weeks apart. If the doses where different then that could explain varying response times from the body. The hair loss timing points to around Oct 16th – and the hotel site associated with the trip at that time appeared to have wide spread contamination.
A more worrisome option is the Po-210 comes from multiple sources which are distinguishable by their signatures. In this case it would be absolutely clear there were two spikes because the two consignments come from two different processing facilitites and each spike carries the signature from that source. Multiple sources would indicate much more than assassination. Much more.
but lets add into the equation now the time it took for Kovtun’s and Lugovoi’s symptoms to arise and we see that their hair loss was after Litvinenko’s death. Did Kovtun’s hair loss coincide with the November 1st spill or some other event outside of the UK? It might make sense that Kovtun and Litvinenko were present in the hotel room at the Millenium when the spill took place. Giving Litvinenko the symptoms from ingestion that he experienced that night and the next day, while causing Kovtun’s hair loss weeks later.
We have a lot more information now to fold into our speculations. There were multiple exposures to the Po-210 by Litvinenko. The material seems to be in the worst possible form for an assassination. And we still have to resolve how much Po-210 has been accounted for and how much was in the consignments being smuggled. More and more this looks like a smuggling ring accident.
What worries me is the story remains doggedly on assassination, which means there is an agenda of some kind that is resisting the smuggling option.
The media is still being spun that the assassination theory is alive or the authorities are spinning it to tamp down public fear and outrage. I have always been questioning the need to post on this subject and whether exposing the smuggling angle was any public value. I am still not sure if it is, but what worries me is there is no indication authorities are reacting to the smuggling alternative – and they must. This incident shows the danger of elements like Polonium-210. Hopefully this is happening
Of import is the fact we have yet to determine the flow of material as it is smuggled and distributed. I am now wondering if the meetings in London where to distribute the Po-210 around Russia. We know of Berezovsky’s, Litvinenko’s and Zakayev’s desires to destabilize Russia so Berezovsy could take control and free Chechnya. Berezovsky has admitted he would use force to meet his goals and this would happen before 2008 (the next round of Russian elections for President).
The material is clearly being divvied up, supposedly to other Russians in the hotels where Lugovoi and Litvinenko are meeting. So what is the source and destination?
Let’s assume the sources of the Po-210 were Russian facilities. Russia claims all their material is accounted for. They export all of it so that ‘accountability’ ends at the destination overseas. So who could get their hands on exported Russian Po-210? Someone with lots of money and contacts all over the world – Boris Berezovsky. What if Litvinenko was the source of material? All the airliner contamination points from London to Moscow – not the other way around. Lugovoi returned from London the same day Kovtun left for Hamburg. Did Lugovoi contaminate Kovtun before he departed Moscow, setting the stage for the trail through Hamburg? Did the transporters who received the divvied up P0-210 use more conventional transport (trains and ferries) to move the material to the continent and onto their final destinations?
Litvinenko was working on a very interesting book at the time. Recalling the PR machine that surrounds all of this it is important to note Litvinenko was updating his claims that Putin was behind the 1999 apartment bombings which were perpetrated by the Chechen rebels and led to the second Chechen war. What if there were Po-210 dirty bombs set off in Russian cities (and elsewhere) that had material traceable back to Russian processing faciltiies under state control? Even if these were set off by Chechen rebels the stage would be set for some plausible deniability (and is still set given the reporting to date). What if the destabilization was a combination of new Litvinenko book that mirrored some aspects of a new round of bombings that implicated Putin? Then Boris would have his opportunity, Litvinenko his fame and the Chechyans their cause as smeared freedom fighters.
It would be a brilliant PR stunt. “Dirty bombs set off in Russia by Putin” – what a headline. Boris and Litvinenko might have decided that all their claims regarding the 1999 bombings required some serious support. I have always wondered why so many people are avoiding the smuggling theory with such gusto. Let’s face it, smuggling Po-210 is not as news worthy as the assassination attempt. And this is what worries me about the continued bias in the reporting. It is leaving this kind of act still plausible and possible.
Balanced reporting of both options would damper activities associated with either option. If there was serious concerns about the smuggling of a nuclear material and its use then, if this was the case, those activities would most likely be suspended so as to not throw suspicion the wrong way. But to continue to pretend the assassination theory was the only angle given serious thought could convince a smuggling effort to move forward since the overall dynamics have not changed to expose the activity. I would simply feel more comfortable if both possibilities (not the details of course) were being explored in the press.
I believe authorities are still being balanced and keeping all avenues open. I see this in the fact much of the assassination theory is added by the media around quotes from authorities. The media simply applies the quotes to their preconceptions without any thought of how well they fit. For example, the referenced story notes which authorities are leading this:
Two Russian businessmen, one a former KGB officer and the other a former Soviet soldier, are the focus of the investigation by anti-terrorist officers from the Metropolitan Police.
The anti-terrorism office, I would assume, would not become fixated on the assassination angle. At least I hope so. But I am not completely sure. Of the two scenarios, the smuggling angle worries me the most. I hope authorities are on the verge of completing their investigation and finding the remaining Po-210. But I cannot help but wonder if the authorities will try to use a cover story and brush this under the rug for security reasons, or whether we will all face the threats from this kind of material and openly takes steps to address it. Honestly, I am not even sure which is the better answer.
Through a Russian looking glass…
Litvinenko Investigation Takes Bizarre TurnA J Strata see the Litvinenko investigation taking a very bizarre turn (read to the end please), as the media and authorities try to keep a grasp on the assassination theory and dismissing the possibility of…
How would the media have covered this, IF the “jobs” in question, built a “spritzing” device. That was planted on the podium when Bush gave his State of the Union Address? The one that’s coming up?
Because Bush wouldn’t have fallen off the podium.
And, others in the room would also get sick. But like on a time clock.
Do you think you’d have ever heard the truth?
Gerald Ford supported the Warren Commission’s finding that there was a “wavering one bullet” that not only hit Kennedy, but also others. And, nobody made a big deal of the fact that the Secret Service agent, driving the Kennedy car didn’t “put his foot on it.” Because there was enough time for Jackie to try climbing out of the car; not by exiting through a door. But by clamboring up on the hood. Remember?
Litvinenko’s death is just the tip of the iceberg.
And, for me, the biggest clue still remains the imam who didn’t want the coffin box in “his” mosque! Since this wasn’t a “bomb going off at all.” Just leakage. Enough to frighten the imam into thinking even a dead body in a box could affect the health of his membership. What an unusual funeral!
How much money would it take to get this ball rolling? You bet! A lot.
But how was the “gizmo” that held the alpha-particles able to “leak?” And why was Litvinenko CONSTANTLY opening this stuff up? Also, how did the drop occur? Was the salesman showing off the container before it dropped? Did he swear it was “safe to hold?”
I’d bet all the secret service agencies know a lot of stuff that they are not telling you.
Could this plan also be used elsewhere? You really think those responsible are “holding onto the contraband?” That it didn’t drop off into the Thames, yet?
Let alone the recoil. A lot of times you can see idiots handling “hardware.” And, unaware that there’s physics involved. So they can point and shoot. And, then they go flying over backwards; as the recoil breaks their shoulder.
Given that the CIA still has access to the President, DAILY. You don’t think this kind of report to him has surfaced yet?
I have no idea what’s ahead.
But Litvinenko’s death is on the order of what would have happened to the CIA, IF Oswald had been run over by a bus on his way to work, on November 22, 1963.
In other words? A KEY. You can’t keep this “plot” going after its been exposed. Heh. Sherlock.
Keeping in mind that there is an Official Secrets Act in Britain, these leaks are not going to be from the higher ups in the investigation unless they are deliberate misinformation. I don’t think we really know what the investigators are thinking. We know what a couple of unnamed sources connected to the investigation think – they still are hanging on to the deliberate poisoning theory…a theory that is easy and popular with the kneejerk Putin haters (ok he’s no saint, I think we can all agree on that ) and this is no different than the kind of misinformation we get all the time in the US papers regarding sources in the CIA saying something bad about Iraq or things like that. I guess I am still hoping that the British higher up investigators are taking this smuggling business very seriously because it has consequences for all of us. An assasination of Litvinenko really has very little if any impact on all of us.
AJ I have to think authorities are looking seriously into the smuggling alternative. I recall the word “consignment” being used, do you know if that word came from Scotland Yard? An assassin would not use a “consignment” of poison, that’s a smuggling word, pure and simple. A “consignment” relates to a delivery.
Here’s the Wikipedia:
“Consignment is the act of consigning, which is placing a person or thing in the hand of another, but retaining ownership until the goods are sold or person is transferred. This may be done for shipping, transfer of prisoners, or for sale in a store (i.e. a consignment shop). In the context of sale, it is usually understood that the consignee (the consignment seller or the party to which goods are sent) pays the consignor (the person with items to sell or the party by which the goods are consigned) only after the sale, from its proceeds.”
I could be being too optimistic and/or naive, but if this Berezovsky-led coup angle is one of the frontrunning scenarios, then Putin’s Russia and the Brits can only be cooperating in earnest. And if you’re investigating a smuggling ring and want to coax them into the open, the only way to do that would be to keep the real line of investigation under wraps.
I don’t see what the authorities would have to gain by doing otherwise. Let the media hype the assassination angle, so what.
There will always be those who insist “poor Litvinenko” was murdered.
I say: “Manslaughter” : a death occurring during the commission of a separate crime. Ordinarily, this would be “death by misadventure”;but the element of Polonium smuggling changes the character of the offense.
Either verdict is acceptable.
And by the way, I know that forensic examination of poison victims focuses on studying their hair, particularly in cases of multiple exposure. With more mundane poisons they can pretty much nail down the dates and dose sizes.
I would guess they could do the same with polonium, with the added difficulty that at some point the hair all falls out!
If they did suspect some sort of dirty bomb plot or nuclear device I would not expect them to announce it. The British intelligence agencies, government and police cooperate quite well and are good at keeping sensitive information out of the media.
Following on from my last comment, see this on the British D-Notice (now called DA-Notice) system:
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-notice
There’s nothing whatsoever “bizarre”about this “turn” in the investigation.
The death of Litvinenko is the kind of break JFK never got. Because Oswald didn’t get killed BEFORE 11/22/63.
But given how things connect between mafias, and countries like italy and russia; you can assume when BIG MONEY changes hands there are a lot of bad people who get to “know” something.
And, that’s in the “chatter.”
I still think we avoided the worst possible scenario. Which would have been taking out Bush and Cheney, and any of a dozen others, when Bush gives his State of the Union Address.
Why would the House of Saud choose this path?
Well? It seems they were convinced the “russians had the science.”
And, there were enough bad guys with billions, who wanted to access this party.
That Litvinenko blamed Scaramella? Well, Scaramella was a useful idiot. Probably SELLING contraband. And, so he also met with the smugglers. Perhaps adding to the “stockpile.”
The chatter extended itself to the arabs in Londonstan. Or the imam in the mosque wouldn’t have feared Litvinenko’s casket. (You’d think, because you were disccusing a closed box, that the real coffin could have been kept in a waiting car?) But this deception didn’t happen. And, the imam was ADAMANT. Made it into the newspapers.
There was no assassination plot, here! Because you don’t have the victims. You’ve got multi-millions of dollars trading hands. And, “hot spots.” So some sort of nuclear material was moved around.
But IF when this “dropped” Litvinenko didn’t feel threatened. And, went about picking this up with a teacup; surely means they weren’t as aware of the science, involved. Just greed.
While all the trails are cold, now.
The Italians are in hiding.
They’ve been up to no good since at least Sgrena played a kidnap act. And, the top of Italy’s government was part of the plan to move the money INTO the terrorist’s nest.
Next thing you know an American Colonel, never identified, is stationed at the airplane that was to scoot Sgrena away. UNFORTUNATELY, the car contained a dead body. The #1 Italian spook.
But there’s been no media play at all.
And, you just can’t discount dirty hands within our own CIA!
But if this was a new plan for an event the likes of which America has never seen, I’ll bet ya a lot of security services are a lot more aware of what money can buy. And, what’s out there “to be had.”
We’re lucky Litvinenko and his fellow band of traveler’s were jerks when it came to handling the contraband.
Otherwise? NOBODY would have ever put together something like this, to explain what could have happened if our President, Vice President, and heads of our Federal Government all got spritzed at once with alpha-particles.
When a plan of this size fails the drawing board for the al-kay-duh ring stays empty for awhile. Or, let’s hope so.
The Twists And Turns Of Polonium’s Trail…
Litvinenko Investigation Takes Bizarre Turn
I see the Litvinenko investigation taking a very bizarre turn (read to the end please), as the media and authorities try to keep a grasp on the assassination theory and dismissing the possibility of a smuggli…
So . . . run that past me again.
Polonium is several million times deadlier than cyanide, but . . . they thought they’d better poison him twice, just in case.
And at 10 million a shot, they thought, what the hell, it’s only money, let’s slip him another one for luck.
It’s not only bizarre, it’s total BS.
Too much money, and too many countries are involved here, for this to have been an “amateur production.
And, if 9/11 is a lesson “plan,” what we could learn from it is that Osama ALWAYS had targets in mind!
In other words? Osama works “backwards.”
He picks something he wants to have happen. And, then he goes about setting this up.
We also know from 9/11 that there were two targets. America’s financial might was supposed to be crushed by the destruction of the Twin Towers. And, Congress was on the hit list. But moving a big airplane around in the sky, to “hit” a targeted area, ran into problems. WE KNOW THAT!
Here? Letvinenko is dead. And, the “money” behind the operation came out FAST with PR. Some of the assassination dreck still sticks.
But the puzzle isn’t complete until you figure out WHY would there be so much money. Why would the italians be involved here, just as they were with Sgrena (in Iraq).
And, what happens to plans like this, IF, for instance, say, Oswald met with an untimely death? PRIOR to 11/22/63.
In other words, what do America’s Secret Service agents do? Do they wait around for a mishap? Or can they intervene? And, if you pick “intervention,” how would you know?
Anyway. Litvinenko brought this HOUSE OF SAUD cards down. And, it could have been just an accidental mishap. The way Chernobyl (and other russian accidents) points directly towards INCOMPETENCE.
Are there other targets? Who knows? But I’m sure the Brit’s are watching the construction of the “super-duper mosque,” in Londonstan, with interest.
And, I’m sure our Secret Service is AWARE that here, in DC, The House of SAUD’s Turki, took a hike in a hurry. Faster than the usual compromised steps of diplomacy.
That might mean nothing to you at all.
On the other hand? If this was funded by the HOUSE OF SAUD, then definitely the DC link would have been funded through Turki.
Even better. President Bush KNOWS! Because he gets secret, yet detailed data, daily, from the CIA. He even knows WHY Turki “took a hike.”
And, what happens to the al-kay-duh-ring dudes when their plans fall apart?
Here, they certainly had a lot of polonium on their hands, that nobody wanted to touch!
Did the Imam “in that mosque,” think, that, perhaps, the russians would have put the “evidence” into the box along with Litvinenko?
Just because reporters don’t know, and you haven’t seen enough dots that would let you connect this stuff to a “stream of events,” doesn’t mean “something didn’t go down.”
I’ll also guess, that just like AFTER 11/22/63; even while the Warren Commission was dressing up to produce a laughable report. WITH Gerald Ford the last one to survive that fakery … You get to see how one man, Ford, treated the body of JFK, without any respect at all. And, yet no one mentioned this at Ford’s funeral.
So when you get spin all it really is, is garbage. Propaganda.
But after JFK was assasinated, if you followed that story around, you’d have discovered there was a mostly SILENT hit list. With dead bodies showing up. Dead bodies that had links to the CIA. (Probably,. to the mafia as well.) And, all you know is that you never got the facts right, from our government.
Ditto here.
But with the Internet? It’s a better place to look to see how a lot of people handle the bullshit they get from “official sources.” Even if we never learn about the “queer deaths” that follow. Including those that are definitely following Litvinenko underground.
It was pretty bizarre from the beginning so there is very little space in this area :-).
First they made everybody and his brother aware about the potential of polonium as a potent poison (nice PR for attention hungry media suckers). Now they try to undo the damage by raising awareness:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16503116/
And of course Russia is the main point of attention and actual picture of distribution of this material is distorted.
Compare with:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/England/1868414.stm
A Bristol college has been issued with an enforcement notice by the Environment Agency for breaching radioactive materials regulations.
The move follows the disappearance of a special anti-static gun containing the isotope polonium 210 from Soundwell College.
The gun which is in general use in many UK garages, has radioactive material on the inside of the barrel.
Air is sprayed through the gun to remove static electricity before spray painting to help improve the spray finish.
Granville Roberts, Radioactive Substances Inspector at the agency, said the gun could become dangerous if tampered with.
“The gun is shielded and quite safe, but the problem is if someone tampers with it, say, cuts it open, the radioactivity – the polonium – could get into the body and then there’s no shielding.
I’m still with Mariposa.
Article in today’s WaPo may be of interest to those still paying attention to this case.
“Polonium is several million times deadlier than cyanide, but . . . they thought they’d better poison him twice, just in case.
It’s not only bizarre, it’s total BS. ”
Is that an expert opinion? So many here at Strata-Sphere comport themselves as if they are, when in reality it’s best to remember that everyone here is speculating.
Poisoning a wary individual with a highly unstable substance is probably a fairly tricky proposition.
The killers most likely attempted to poison him several times, as I’ve said previously, and I hold to that.
That is certainly most strightforward, and makes more sense to me than all the silly Berezovsky-cast-as-Dr. No speculation floated by the Kremlin and its apologists.
Mariposa wrote . . .
“Poisoning a wary individual with a highly unstable substance is probably a fairly tricky proposition”
Which is why no one would do it. Even once.
Case closed.
Mariposa,
You too act is if yours is the only answer. The point is valid and it is based on reporting and science. My science background is not speculating. I point to fact. Fact of toxicity, potency, physics, chemistry and biology. All fields I am well versed in. I no more speculate about Po-210 than I do about gravity.
What would be nice is when facts are surfaced and addressed people with opposing views debate the points, not people’s intentions or expertise. This is a constant failing of the assassination theorists. You have nothing you can point to that supports your claims anyone was deliberately poisoned. You can only spin a web of speculation. One that ignores all the facts and speculates wildly based on no reporting or fact whatsoever. You assumed these people bungled an assassination but nothing in evidence indicates that is the case over a bungled smuggling effort. And I can tell you absolutely the amount of Po-210 we are seeing is magnitudes more than what Litvinenko ingested, and that in its self is tens of times more than needed to kill him.
When you can debate issues without personal attacks then maybe you will get more respect. But if you have not noticed, I am getting tired of reading comments that are personal attacks and not germaine to the topics. I am very close to shutting down comments here.
AJStrata,
“When you can debate issues without personal attacks…”
It is a shame that you must view as a personal insult my questioning your expertise — you, a purposefully anonymous blogger — or pointing out that none of us who enjoys commenting here is expert in this matter.
In addition, after reading your own high-handed and belittling commentary to Jerry in promoting your view of stem cells over his — although it turned out his experience was apparently greater so he could speak more credibly in the matter. Remember that? Here’s what you said to Jerry: “I know for a fact you have little understanding of science so I am not surprised you find the fact of the words disturbing because they may actually be right.”
I think I have ample reason to question not only your expertise, but your manner in relating it to others.
And if that is insulting to you, then so be it.
I think Putin/KGB would do this in a New York minute.
So many of his critics on the war in Chechnya have died, and the KGB often does use poison.
I asked a retired intelligence officer about this, and he said that he thought it was Putin.
Putin has been just brutal in Chechnya. They undermined their moderate nationalist opposition —who were not Al Qaeda—and advanced the fanatics so they could just go in a smash the whole place up.
AJ–you need to look at what Politkovskaya has written and others who were also killed. She has some books in English.
Putin is a very bad man. He would do this, I am afraid.
Putin is a really bad person. He is just old-fashioned KGB.