I was expecting an “incident” with the Russian Presidential election, so this “incident” does not surprise me.
It was poorly executed since others were contaminated but Peter Hitchens writes today his belief the Russian state was behind the attack.
But he says Russia is being goaded into its action by the hostility coming from the West.
He also urges his readers to stay clear of war, since the UK is militarily weak.
http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/
Hitchens is correct to conclude that Britain doesn’t benefit from engaging in a dirty war with Russia, but he also doesn’t address some basic facts and questions about the attack on Sergei Skripal that need answering.
For instance, the attack occurred less than 10km away from one of the largest biochemical weapons labs in Europe, where nerve agents like the one used in the attack are stored. It is quite likely employees of that lab frequented the restaurant the Skripals ate in before the attack.
Then there is the question of what exactly Sergei Skripal was currently doing with Britian’s M16 and what was his relationship with the consulting firm that ex-spy Michael Steele runs.
The Russian state had plenty of opportunity to kill Skripal when he was in their custody and his betrayal was fresh on their minds. Why release him and wait a decade to try and murder him...and on the eve of a Russian presidential election no less.
OTOH, if Skripal was somehow involved fabrication of the Steele dossier and could connect the dots to British intelligence involvement, one could make a reasonable argument that the Brits themselves are suspect...both motive and opportunity.