A Curious Incident Part IX | The Vineyard of the Saker

bu Sushi for the Saker Blog

Observations on the OPCW Report

The OPCW report dated April 12th, 2018 was released in two versions. The minimal public version is available here. The full report is only being made available to State Parties and will likely make its way into the public domain at a later date.

The OPCW public report contains a surprising amount of information if you know what to look for.

OPCW – Key Finding

At paragraph 11 the OPCW report states:

The TAV team notes that the toxic chemical was of high purity. The latter is concluded from the almost complete absence of impurities.

This is an explosive finding. It completely undermines the statements of the May government.

Observation 1 – Purity

Industrial bulk production of any product will introduce impurities into that product. The product may be 99.99% pure but removing that last .01% is either uneconomical, and / or unlikely to make any real difference to the end user.

The same principle applies to the production of “military grade nerve agents” of the type rumoured to have been utilized in Salisbury. The fact the production process leaves minute trace evidence in the form of impurities offers a forensic method that may be used to identify the source of the material. Each unique production plant will leave unique trace evidence, or a “fingerprint,” which makes it possible to establish the point of origin of any suspect material.

If you can identify the production location then you can identify the State Party associated with the production of that material.

If there are no impurities in the chemical then it is not possible to identify a “fingerprint” and it is therefore impossible to associate the toxin with any specific State Party.

Observation 2 – Lab Grade

The absence of impurities is strong evidence of the suspect toxin not having come from a production run of toxic chemical. It is evidence of the toxin having been created in a laboratory environment. Science is based on shared universal knowledge. A key aspect of all scientific practice is ensuring the validity of any research process. This includes the necessity to remove all possible contaminants that may compromise the research.

Materials created in a laboratory will typically exhibit a greater degree of purity than the same product derived from bulk industrial production. The “almost complete absence of impurities” suggests that the Salisbury toxin was produced in a competant laboratory, one able to work to the required high standard. This implies the availability of well trained and knowledgeable technicians, and laboratory support workers, in addition to the research scientists. It also implies a significant budget for materials, beakers, wash stations, test instruments, glove boxes, ventilation hoods, the safe disposal of any vapours, or any other waste material, a means to ensure a constant stream of filtered air, airlocks, a positive or negative pressure containment, a set of written laboratory guidelines and an enforced set of practices intended to maintain the necessary work environment.

All of the foregoing costs money. A lot of money. The OPCW report provides confirmation that the toxin was not cooked up in a bedsit by a single individual bent on mayhem. It required a degree of resources only to be found in a sophisticated laboratory setting. Lesser university labs would be unable to create the compound without introducing impurities. A university with a strong research emphasis would have the capacity to synthesise a pure compound as would a competent state laboratory. A crime syndicate might develop a similar capability. But why spend all that time and money when a 9mm parabellum round costs under a dollar?

Observation 3 – Military Grade

Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Gary Aitkenhead have made repeated use of the phrase “a military grade nerve agent.” As described in Part VII a “military grade nerve agent will typically include additives intended to ensure the efficient application of the toxin, ensure stability during storage, or meet another unique military requirement.

A “pure” toxin is not a “military grade nerve agent.” This would have been known to DSTL Porton Down. Gary Akenhead would have been aware of this fact at the time of his interview with Sky news. He acted to mislead the public.

Observation 4 – Military Additives

The military must deal with a wide variety of circumstances many of which are beyond their control. The military may also seek to use various methods of application for the same agent. This will typically require the use of additives to facilitate the desired application and enhance the toxic effects.

A toxin intended for percutaneous application may have a chemical added that will assist the toxin in being absorbed through the skin. An agent used in an airborne spray may require diluents. Many agents are liquid at room temperature and may require the addition of talc, or fine clay, to create a paste which might adhere to an object such as a door handle. A variety of other means may be used to delay the body’s absorption of a toxic chemical and to ensure a timed three hour release.

The fact that no such additives of any kind were found in the samples reviewed by the OPCW suggests that a laboratory grade toxin was applied without modification to the Skirpal’s door handle and that none of the means by which a lethal toxin may be modified to ensure a 3 hour delayed reaction were present. This suggests the Skripal doorknob could not have been the source of the toxin which incapacitated them.

Observation 5 – Appellation

VX is one of a family of organophosphate acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. “Pure” VX is an oily liquid. According to Vladimir Uglev the first 3 toxins developed under the FOLIANT program: A-1972; B-1976; and C-1976; were all liquids. Only D-1980, the last substance developed, was a solid. According to Vil Mirzayanov, A-232 was one of the earlier compounds developed. It was not the last compound developed under FOLIANT and hence is unlikely to be a solid.

On March 12, eight days after the March 4 attack on the Skripals, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson met with the Russian ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, and informed him that A-234 was the chemical substance employed in the attack on the Skripals. A-234 is not shown in the detail images of Table 2 found in Part II. Table 2 was obtained from a report written by Mirzayanov.

According to a secret U.S. Army report, A-234 is an ethyl analog of A-232, as developed under the FOLIANT program and is “as toxic as VX, as resistant to treatment as soman, and more difficult to detect and easier to manufacture than VX.”

The Mirzayanov Table 2 documentation does not include A-232 as a “NOVICHOK” agent. It is shown to be a precursor chemical for the binary agents later researched under the “NOVICHOK” code name. According to Uglev the appellation “NOVICHOK” was used specifically to describe a program designed to develop binary versions of the toxins developed in the FOLIANT program. Again, according to Uglev, Soviet researchers failed to develop binary versions of the toxic chemicals discovered by them prior to the termination of the research program on the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This detail is included as it provides conclusive evidence that Foreign Secretary Johnson had knowledge on March 12 2018 that the substance employed in the attack on the Skripals was A-234 and was not a “NOVICHOK” as Novichok is the code name for a research program and not the name of any specific organophosphate acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.

The chemical formula for A-234 is:

C8H18FN2O2P

And the scientific name is N-2-diethylaminomethylacetamidido-ethoxyphosphonofluoridate. None of these references allude to a place of origin. Novichok carries a clear Slavic connotation and its use by the UK government serves no purpose other than to prejudice the public against the Russian Federation.

The detail in this section is intended to convey the complexity, and variety of the different naming conventions surrounding these toxins. Despite this confused set of facts, Johnson had on March 12 the knowledge that the agent used was A-234.

The scientific identification of the substance used in the Skripal attack is not given in the public version of the OPCW report.

Observation 6 – Toxicity

If the above documentation is correct, than the substance used in the attack on the Skripals is not 8 to 10 times more toxic than the organophosphate acetylcholinesterase inhibitor VX, a substance developed in the UK at Porton Down.

VX is an extremely toxic substance. The median lethal dose (LD50)—the exposure required to kill half of a tested population—as estimated for 70 kg (154 lb) human males via exposure to the skin is reported to be 10 mg (0.00035 oz). The constant reference to a substance 8 to 10 times more toxic than VX achieves no purpose other than to create public alarm. You cannot kill a person 8 to 10 times. Once is sufficient.

Observation 7 – Bio-physical Samples

Two types of samples were utilized in the preparation of the OPCW report. Environmental samples and bio-physical samples.

A bio-physical sample provides indirect evidence of the presence of a substance as the substance will have been processed through the subject’s body and its chemical form modified. These modified forms of the substance are metabolites and the common metabolites of VX are:

1) ethyl methylphosphonate,

2) methylphosphonic acid

3) diisopropyl-2-(methylthio)ethylamine

It must be noted that the only way of determining the metabolites of an unknown substance is through prior test records of a similar poisoning. While it is possible to identify unknown metabolites in the serum of a poisoning victim, the only possible means of identifying the original chemical cause of the poisoning is through prior research into similar poisoning events. Since ethical concerns prevent the use of human subjects, animal test subjects are employed and the metabolites produced are carefully documented.

It is reported that DSTL had access to blood samples from the Skripals and DS Bailey and was able to identify the toxin. DSTL must have had access to a documentary record of the metabolites of A-234 in order to correctly identify this as the toxin.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in the destruction of the research materials associated with the FOLIANT program, there must be another location which has synthesized A-234 and carried out an animal test program to verify the metabolites of A-234.

It cannot therefore be true that the Russian Federation is the only location able to manufacture or otherwise synthesize A-234. The required research program must have been undertaken before the March 4 2018 attack on the Skripals as there was insufficient time to conduct the required testing between the date of the attack and March 12, the date of the first positive identification of the chemical used in the attack.

Information from a US Patent filed in 2015 states that “little is known about Novichock.” If this is correct then some agency had to work very diligently to ensure DSTL Poston Down had access to the necessary information by March 2018.

Observation 8 – Environmental Samples

An environmental sample is one which is obtained prior to the chemical having been processed through an organism. The OPCW public report states that these environmental samples were of “high purity” and demonstrated “the almost complete absence of impurities.”

What is being said here is that a chemical substance was distributed through a number of locations in Salisbury and each such sample demonstrated the “almost complete absence of impurities.”

This is difficult to understand. Any chemical placed in the natural environment will be subject to degradation through hydrolysis and the effects of UV. The same chemical will also become mixed with other materials found in the natural environment and will demonstrate cross contamination.

It would be standard practice for the OPCW team to conduct their own environmental sampling. They would need to do this in order to properly establish chain of custody. The earliest the OPCW team might have conducted environmental sampling is March 21 a full 17 days after the release of the subject chemicals into the environment.

VX is known to be the most persistent of the nerve agents. But this persistence is measured in a duration of 2 to 3 days not 2 to 3 weeks.

The presence of environmental samples exhibiting a near “complete absence of impurities” suggests the salting of the samples. A laboratory grade chemical was placed at specific points immediately prior to the arrival of the OPCW team.

Observation 9 – Timing

The OPCW team arrived in Salisbury on March 21 and departed on March 23 with the public report being issued on April 12, a span of twenty days. If we assume two days to distribute the samples and three days to compile the report and we are left with 15 days to perform laboratory identification of the samples.

The Skirpals were attacked on March 4th but the first evidence of unusual activity in the case occurred on March 5th at 1100 when Salisbury District Hospital (SDH) was placed in lockdown. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson provided the A-234 identification to the Russian Ambassador on March 12, a span of 7 days to properly assess a chemical agent from the initial bio-physical blood samples and accurately identify a chemical little known in September 2015.

It is noted that Boris Johnson spoke in the House of Commons on March 6 and was already implicating Russia at that date:

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has vowed that Britain will respond “robustly” if evidence of state responsibility emerges after a Russian double agent was left fighting for his life following suspected exposure to an unknown substance.
Sergei Skripal, 66, was found unconscious in Salisbury, Wiltshire, along with his 33-year-old daughter Yulia shortly after 4pm on Sunday.
Answering an urgent question in the Commons, Mr. Johnson said he wanted to address speculation about the “disturbing” incident.
Noting that the case has “echoes” of the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian dissident who was fatally poisoned in London in 2006, he told MPs: “While it would be wrong to prejudge the investigation, I can reassure the House that should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then Her Majesty’s Government will respond appropriately and robustly.”
Mr. Johnson said it was clear that Russia is now “in many respects a malign and disruptive force and the UK is in the lead across the world in trying to counteract that activity”.

If the SDH lockdown at 1100 on the morning of March 5th represents the first awareness of the Skripal poisoning being from other than Fentanyl, then March 6 was insufficient time for DSTL Porton Down to have conducted the necessary work to prepare the blood samples for identification of the metabolites of a substance not well known in September 2015.

Yet on March 7 the police announced the Skripals had been “poisoned by a nerve agent in a targeted murder attempt.”

Observation 10 – Decontamination Protocol

The above image shows personnel assigned to the Skripal incident removing protective clothing. This clothing is worn when entering a contaminated environment. It must be assumed that the protective outerwear will be contaminated by toxic agent.

Standard decontamination protocol mandates that immediately after exit from the contamination zone personnel should walk through a step bath to remove contamination from their footwear. They should then enter a wash-down station where they may be scrubbed down with water which may contain an agent to neutralize the suspect toxin. Only after completing this wash-down should the protective suit be removed.

Failure to follow this protocol will likely result in contamination from the exterior of the protective garment being transferred to the hands, face, and clothing of the worker. If there is no wash-down then dry particles of toxin may become airborne and be inhaled by the worker. Inhalation is one of the fastest routes to poisoning due to the presence of air / blood exchange occurring in the lung alveoli.

In all of the publicly available imagery of persons wearing protective clothing there has been not one single image showing a step bath or a wash-down station.

The personnel in the images are dealing with a toxin reported to be 8 to 10 times more lethal than VX. Skin contact with 0.00035 oz of VX is sufficient to kill one half of all exposed persons. Yet not a single person suffered an exposure injury.

Winston Churchill once said “Nothing so concentrates the mind as the thought of one’s own demise.” Having had to enter into, and work within, environments equally as toxic as VX, I can assure you that your mind becomes wonderfully concentrated.

Not a single person in the available imagery of Salisbury shows any personnel exhibiting this degree of concern for their own safety.

The Guardian timeline of the event reports that at 1713 on March 4 “members of the pubic still strolled nearby” the site of the attack. None suffered injury.

The OPCW arrives 17 days later and finds environmental samples of “high purity.”

Observation 11 – Radio Message

You are a trained intelligence agent. As such you are aware of the great variety of technical means used to capture any and all communications of a suspect. You have just committed a murder in Wiltshire. Your objective is to safely exit the country un-noticed. The first thing you do to achieve this outcome is make a phone call.

According to a report in the Sunday Express an RAF flight lieutenant in southern Cyprus picked up a message on March 4, the day of the Skripal assault, that “the package has been delivered.”

It is believed the message intercept would have occurred at the GCHQ listening post on Mount Troodos in Cyprus. According to Craig Murray who has visited the facility and been introduced to its operations:

Troodos is valued enormously by the NSA. It monitors all radio, satellite and microwave traffic across the Middle East, ranging from Egypt and Eastern Libya right through to the Caucasus. Even almost all landline telephone communication in this region is routed through microwave links at some stage, picked up on Troodos.

How many messages do you think are processed by this facility in the course of one hour? Six? Twelve? Twenty-two? How about Twenty-two thousand? Perhaps two or three times that number. And a flight lieutenant picked an incriminating message out of that volume of traffic?

It is doubted that any message traffic is processed on Cyprus. It is more likely that the entire take is transmitted back to GCHQ in Cheltenham via a fibre optic link. There exabytes of take are processed, not by a bored flight lieutenant, but by banks of high speed computers.

Clearly someone in Cheltenham has committed a programming error. Anyone with any knowledge of secret communications knows that the code phrase used to confirm a murder in Salisbury is “small pizza, no anchovies.”

Observation 12 – Information Requests

On April 9th the police offered a reward of £20,000 to anyone who can help them track down two men who committed an assault. A grainy CCTV image depicting the suspects was presented together with a description of each individual.

The Skripal case was not a common criminal assault. May and Johnson allege that the Skripal incident was a State Party attack against the UK, an act of war. This attack provoked an international incident with May seeking to invoke NATO Article 5, obtain the assistance of allied State Parties, and apply a wide variety of sanctions. Surely the welfare of the UK is worth at least £20,000.

It is now day 36 since the attack. No CCTV images of any suspects have been presented. No artist’s sketch based on witness interviews (think Unibomber) has been presented. There have been no descriptions of the possible attackers. No indication of their potential movement prior to, or immediately following the attack. No reward money has been offered.

What plausible explanation can there be? Nobody wants to know? Or nobody in HMG wants to know because they already know and are determined to conceal the truth from the public?

Observation 13 – Skripal Image

This is an image of the two Skripals alleged to have been taken on March 3rd in the Zizzi restaurant. According to discussion on the Moon of Alabama web site, the person in the mirror is Pablo Miller, Skripal’s former MI6 case officer. This identification has not been verified.

This image was widely available on the web and appeared in many early stories of the curious incident.

The camera used is not a cell phone. It is a “point and shoot” of a type popular prior to the wide acceptance of cell phone imaging devices.

An image captured via cell phone is easily shared and distributed. A wide variety of apps are available to perform this sharing. Point and shoot cameras typically lack such communication functions. Images are stored on an SD memory card and you need to remove this card and place it in an SD card reader attached to a PC or laptop, download the image files, and then use another program to distribute the image. PCs or laptops lack the range of social media image sharing apps commonly found on cell phones.

Question 1 – Since the image capture was performed on a device that does not permit easy sharing how did it receive such quick and wide distribution?

Question 2 – Is the man in the mirror Pablo Miller?

Question 3 – It is reported that the image was made available through the East-West Agency. This agency operates in the UK and in the Ukraine. How did they obtain it so quickly?

Question 4 – Was this image circulated in order to cast the Skripals in a positive and sympathetic light?

Spying is a repugnant profession in which cheating, lying, deception, and general moral turpitude are job requirements. Skripal is reported to have revealed the identities of more than 300 agents operating against the west. Some of those agents may have lost their lives due to Skripal’s treachery. The wide distribution of this image was intended to generate positive public sympathy toward Skripal. Here we have an old gent and his daughter hoisting a pint. Less than 24 hours later they will be fighting for their life on a park bench. One immediately feels sympathy for them and hostility the person who committed this attack. The rapid wide dissemination of the image supports the inference of a calculated program of deception.

Observation 14 – Motive

This map is a portion of a larger map found in a Stimson Centre publication describing the chemical and biological weapons facilities in the former Soviet Union. The square symbols represent the location of chemical weapons research facilities and each pentagon represents a biological weapon research facility. The area of the Crimea has been recoloured to represent the UN recognized self-determination of the residents following the 2014 coup.

The next article in this series seeks to unpack the complex issue of motive.

–– ∞ ––

Prior articles in this series:

https://10.16.86.131/a-c urious-incident/

https://10.16.86.131/a-curious-inc ident-part-ii/

https://10.16.86.131/a-curious-incident-part-iii/

https://10.16.86.131/a-curious-incident-part-iv/

https://10.16.86.131/a-curious-incident-part-v/

https://10.16.86.131/a-curious-incident-part-vi/

https://10.16.86.131/a-curious-incident-part-vii/

https://10.16.86.131/a-curious-incident-part-viii/

–– ∞ ––

Many persons commenting on the Saker blog, and in information sources other than the MSM, have made statement similar to the following:

While scanning for news that morning I noticed that all of the MSM had basically the same text to describe the event, but in a few cases different headlines, mainly dependent on which side of the Pond they came from. I skipped them, they seemed too coordinated.

This lack of critical coverage on the part of the MSM reduces your ability to come to your own conclusions with respect to the truth. This is a critical issue both with respect to an understanding of this Curious Incident, and to the proper functioning of any democratic polity.

The Saker does not tell me what to write. But he is generous enough, and sufficiently concerned over the current state of geo-strategic chess, that he makes these, and other articles, freely available to a global audience. I see he is presently making an appeal for donations to help defray the cost of hosting the site. I am paid nothing, but I do have an IT background and IT is not inexpensive. I ask that if you find this series informative that you support the site.

The Saker has not asked me to make this request.

In memory of David Christopher Kelly, CMG (14 May 1944 – 17 July 2003)

Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 5:13 am EST/EDT

Some interesting comments from Craig Murray site:

— BZ recovery after 3rd or 4th day, When did Julia check her vk.com account???

“Paradoxically, one of the most reliable indications of recovery is the return of awareness by the subject that he is not as proficient as he should be. Subjects who received an incapacitating dose usually regain this awareness by the third or fourth day. By this time, their objective performance on addition and word recognition tests has generally risen to 80 or 90 percent of their baseline level, and the principal symptoms are some residual lassitude and blurring of vision…”
https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/bz/bz_article1.shtml

— The other question that springs to mind is what did Nick Bailey’s blood contain?
Just A-234? Just BZ toxin? Both?

If it just A-234 it might confirm my “work accident” theory – that Nick Bailey got ill from spraying all the places the Skripals visited that morning with A-234 for Porton Down to identify.

— The Skripals were NOT attacked with nerve agent on the 4th , they were treated for Fentanyl. Later 5th March morning a major incident was declared at the hospital. Subsequently Nick Bailey was conjured up. The three were subsequently dosed with substances identified by OPCW. http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Poisoning_of_Sergei_Skripal

— BZ does not target the acetylcholine esterase like A-234. Instead, it competes for acetylcholine’s receptor sites. A commonly used antidote would by phystigamine, which increases acetylcholine abundance, out-competing the BZ and restoring neurotransmission.

BZ is consistent with the statement of Dr. Stephan Davies. BZ would explain why the hospital has not released any clinical information — phystigamine is a far cry from atropine used for nerve agents targeting acetylcholine esterase.

— Lavrov says “the clinical picture shows that the nerve agent BZ had been used on the Skripals.”

If that weren’t enough, Lavrov said the Swiss experts also found traces of volatile A-234 (a type of Novichok) in Skripals’ samples “in its original form” and in considerable quantities and purity.

Lavrov notes that’s chemically and physically impossible given two weeks had elapsed before collection of the samples. The amount and purity would have brought death immediately.
This strongly suggests deliberate tainting of samples by A-234 furnished by Porton Down.

— Wiki: In February 1998, the British Ministry of Defence accused Iraq of having stockpiled large amounts of a glycolate anticholinergic incapacitating agent known as Agent 15. Agent 15 is an alleged Iraqi incapacitating agent that is likely to be chemically either identical to BZ or closely related to it. Agent 15 was reportedly stockpiled in large quantities prior to and during the Persian Gulf War. However, after the war the CIA concluded that Iraq had not stockpiled or weaponised Agent 15.

In January 2013, an unidentified U.S. administration official, referring to an undisclosed U.S. State Department cable, claimed that “Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15, a hallucinogenic chemical similar to BZ, was used in Homs”. However, in response to these reports U.S. National Security Council spokesman stated “The reporting we have seen from media sources regarding alleged chemical weapons incidents in Syria has not been consistent with what we believe to be true about the Syrian chemical weapons program”. The chemical was also allegedly used in the August 2013 Ghouta attacks. The U.S. Army tested BZ as well as other “psycho-chemical” agents on human subjects at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland from 1955 to 1975, according to declassified documents.

http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/FileDownloadpublic.aspx?docid=13d94373-93f3-47a9-9822-c572b3b6aa43
https://www.cma.army.mil/wp-content/uploads/RCMD-FPF.pdf
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/3-Quinuclidinyl_benzilate

— Regarding the possible use of BZ on the Skripals and the fact that BZ is more Western-derived, I assume people are aware of the potential connection between daddy Skripal and the shenanigans occurring in the US? In short, an ex MI6 agent called Christopher Steele put together a (dodgy) dossier of Russian-sourced dirt on Donald Trump which was then used to obtain a FISA warrant which allowed the FBI to spy on Trump. Steele works for Orbis Business Intelligence. Someone else who also works for Orbis Business Intelligence is Pablo Miller, also an ex MI6 agent, who just happened to be the guy who recruited daddy Skripal as a double agent . And guess where Pablo Miller is believed to live…….(drumroll please)……Salisbury.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/03/spy-posions-spy-and-the-anti-trump-campaign.html

69 Comments

Mikael H on April 14, 2018 · at 10:52 am EST/EDT

Interesting indeed if true

https://www.rt.com/news/424149-skripal-poisoning-bz-lavrov/

[QUOTE]Lavrov: Swiss lab says ‘BZ toxin’ used in Salisbury, not produced in Russia, was in US & UK service [/QUOTE]
- Sushi on April 14, 2018 · at 2:32 pm EST/EDT
  
  More info on this topic:
  
  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12032809
  
  QUOTE
  Lavrov added that the Swiss lab also pointed at the presence of the nerve agent A234 in the samples, but added that the lab noted that its presence in the samples appeared strange, given the substance’s high volatility and the relatively long period between the poisoning and the sample-taking.
  ENDQUOTE
  
  This confirms my analysis that the environmental samples were “salted” i.e. they were placed immediately prior to the arrival of the OPCW technical team to ensure the OPCW found exactly what the British wanted them to find.
  
  After 17 days from the March 4 date of the attack there should be nothing to be found in any environmental sample certainly not a “pure” sample of A-234.
  - Anonymous on April 14, 2018 · at 6:03 pm EST/EDT
    
    Sushi, indulge me please, I am lacking sleep and not as ‘lucid’ as normal.
    
    Accepting these: that the Skripals were actually poisoned, that A-234 “Novichok” was ‘painted’ just prior to OPCW arrival, that there was no nerve agent in the general vicinity of the park bench area as evidenced by the public floating about and ‘decorator’ biohazard suit optics.
    
    The patent for Novichok is held by the US, patents in 2008 and 2015 if I recall the image on the one article.
    Is this true?
    The Swiss lab confirms a hint of ultra pure A-234 but says the toxin was BZ toxin which I assume is a totally different toxin.
    Which toxins were obtained from surfaces and which toxins were confirmed from blood samples of the three victims?
    The OPCW pdf leaves many questions unanswered since it does not even state the toxin by name, only to confirm it was whatever the Brits told the OPCW it was. It could have been aflatoxin in peanut butter for all we know. There’s a lot of deception going on. The doctor at Salisbury hospital stated nobody was being treated for nerve agent poisoning. How does all this correlate? Is BZ toxin a nerve agent or not?
    
    Was the BZ toxin confirmed by the blood samples or environment and can we now rule out a saxatoxin type poison from the mussels at the restaurant? In other words did the MI6 minder just capitalise on bad seafood after the event? It all seems too contrived and pre-planned for this but it would be good to eliminate this possibility.
    
    How were the Skripals poisoned and who did it? The MI6 minder had opportunity.
    - Sushi on April 14, 2018 · at 8:35 pm EST/EDT
      
      The patent for Novichok is held by the US, patents in 2008 and 2015 if I recall the image on the one article.
      Is this true?
      I have read the patent (dated September 2015) shown at the link and it describes an antidote for OP poisoning. It does not attempt to patent NOVICHOK
      
      a hint of ultra pure A-234 but says the toxin was BZ toxin which I assume is a totally different toxin.
      This is a key point and it very difficult to determine with accuracy. A-234 comes in two forms with two different chemical names and formulas. The big problem is that the dialogue concerns things like NOVICHOK (which is a codename not a chemical) A-232, A 234, A-1972 etc, etc and none of these terms are properly defined. Without a chemical name, or formula, it is impossible to determine what is really being described.
      
      from blood samples of the three victims?
      We do not know this either. Details of where the environmental samples were taken (from residence doorknob, from park bench, soil in park) and the associated concentration would help but that information is not available in the public summary. It is presumed to be available in the full report but that has not yet been confirmed.
      
      The OPCW pdf leaves many questions unanswered since it does not even state the toxin by name,
      Agreed. And this is a major concern as it makes it difficult to evaluate the validity of the report. This may be intentional obscuration and it serves the interests of the UK and acts against the interests of the public. The CWC is intended to protect us, the citizens, not the May government.
      
      it was whatever the Brits told the OPCW
      And here we again are forced into the assumption that what the UK told the OPCW is the same thing BoJo told the RF Ambassador on March 12 which is that the toxin was A-234. No chemical name or formula was provided. Makes it difficult for the RF to provide an objective scientific response which I believe creates great frustration for the Russian side.
      
      can we now rule out
      Very little can be ruled out. This is a huge tactical error by the May government. Or it is an element of the deception plan. Or it is a by-product of the entire event being cooked up as a PR campaign put together by non-scientists from the Cambridge Analytica / SCL group? Wemay be dealing with crooked politiicians operating to “a plan” developed by a bunch of PR masterminds operating from the belief they can create “reality” and foist that “reality” off on the public. They now face increasing public push back and cannot figure out how to back out of the problems they have created for themselves. This is my working hypothesis at the moment. Problem is that it is difficult to write up due to the many twists, and turns. I am trying to avoid hypotheses unsupported by the available evidence but this is difficult to achieve. See next answer.
      
      How were the Skripals poisoned and who did it?
      I have a model for this that explains most of the “facts.” I hesitate to publish it as it then becomes taken up by the rogue May government. In other words, I would much rather May and BoJo twist on the end of the rope they have created then provide an explanation that helps them get out of their noose.
      
      Great questions.
      - Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 2:25 am EST/EDT
        
        Many thanks for the clarification -excellent analysis with available data. That ‘reality’ you speak of sounds like Karl Rove’s famous piece of supreme arrogance -“We are an empire now…”
        
        A worthy perspective on that too:
        https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-13/skripal-syria-empires-new-realities-are-reaching-end-road
        
        I think the challenge now is too keep these hoax analyses alive and prevent them from being swept under the carpet. If Russia cannot do this or for whatever reason feels it expedient not to then it only encourages more.
        Reading the MSM news lately feels like I am living in a parallel universe.
        
        I also hope that Trumpster&co will declare victory and leave Syria ( I doubt) and that the armada when it arrives will make a lot of noise, strut about, but do nothing.
        
        Thanks nazcalito for BZ link.
      - Cassandra on April 15, 2018 · at 11:13 am EST/EDT
        
        I think I would prefer, Sushi, that you wait until the twisting and thrashing stops and then wait a while longer to ensure brain death. After that would be a good time to reveal IMHO.
    - nazcalito on April 14, 2018 · at 9:21 pm EST/EDT
      
      BZ is not a nerve agent, it’s an incapacitant and hallucinogen, See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-Quinuclidinyl_benzilate. Note what the wikipedia article says about it, especially “delayed symptoms several hours after contact.”
      
      “Physiochemical characteristics
      
      BZ is odorless. It is stable in most solvents, with a half-life of three to four weeks in moist air; even heat-producing munitions can disperse it. It is extremely persistent in soil and water and on most surfaces. It is slightly soluble in water; soluble in dilute acids, trichloroethylene, dimethylformamide, most organic solvents, insoluble with aqueous alkali.[16]
      
      Mechanism of action
      
      The characteristic that makes BZ an incapacitating rather than a toxic chemical warfare agent is its high safety margin (ICt50/LCt50) of around 40-fold (range 32 to 384 fold). It has an ID50 of 0.00616 mg per person (i.v.) with a probit slope of 9.2. The respiratory ICt50 (median incapacitating dosage) for BZ is 110 mg·min/m³ (mild activity—15 l/min rate of breathing), whereas the LCt50 is often estimated to be around 3,800–41,300 mg·min/m³.[17]
      
      Detection and protection
      
      BZ is odorless and nonirritating with delayed symptoms several hours after contact.[1]”
      
      Erowid describes BZ as a “potent, long-lasting anticholinergenic deliriant that resembles scopolamine and atropine.” Erowid also has a description of BZ effects from Chemical Warfare; Secrets Almost Forgotten. James S. Ketchum, MD. 2006 at https://erowid.org/chemicals/bz/bz_article1.shtml.
    - joaopft on April 15, 2018 · at 6:07 am EST/EDT
      
      BZ, or Buzz, is 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate. It is a drug discovered in Switzerland (by pharmaceutical research) and later developed as a chemical weapon by the US military.
      
      Its purpose on the battlefield is to incapacitate enemy troops without killing them. The hallucinogenic effects of Buzz explain why the police initially thought the Skripals were under the effect of recreational drugs.
      
      The 2013 false flag in Goutha may also have been carried out with Buzz. At the time, it was leaked to the press that a U.S. State Department cable reported that “Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15, a hallucinogenic chemical similar to BZ” had been used in Homs and Ghouta.
      
      The problem was that the use of Buzz was inconsistent with the (former) chemical weapons program of Syria, but highly consistent with the (publicly known part of the) US chemical weapons program. The US military was not happy with this story, and Buzz was never mentioned again.
      
      Reference:
      
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-Quinuclidinyl_benzilate
    - Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 9:55 am EST/EDT
      
      “Accepting these: that the Skripals were actually poisoned,”
      
      Isn’t it a Sherlock Holmes maxim that one should not make assumptions ahead of having evidence? In this case, I consider it important to remember that we have not even seen evidence of this first stage of reasoning.
      
      We have government press releases that say there was a poisoning.
      
      I suppose we think we know that there are people known as ‘the Skripals’. The father has a record of being in the UK after being swapped in a captured spy exchange with Russia. There appears to have been a Yulia Skirpal who used a passport to travel to England to visit her father. They do seem to have had at least one real relative in Russia. Beyond that, we know little or nothing.
      
      We do not know if the people seen on CCTV footage in Salisbury were actually the Skirpals. We do not know if the people found on the bench were the Skirpals. We do not know if the Skripals were treated at Salisbury hospital. Actors and make up and wearing similar clothing can fool low-res CCTV cameras. We don’t know if the Skirpals really were at the resteraunt. We don’t know if for instance if a switch was made at the resteraunt and the Skirpals were hustled out the back door. We don’t know if the people on the bench were the Skirpals.
      
      We do not know if the people sitting slumped on the bench were poisoned. We do not know with what were they poisoned. The OPCW was given samples the UK government says were taken from the victims of the poisoning, but we do not know this beyond the word of the UK government.
      
      It is important to know that we know little or nothing that has not been spoonfed us by the UK government.
      
      And, at this time, I’d have to say that it is “highly likely” that the UK government is lying, thus anything they say should be treated with great doubt until actual evidence with a solid chain of custody emerges that backs up their story.
      - Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 1:03 pm EST/EDT
        
        Your last sentence is in itself an ‘assumption ahead of evidence’.
        
        Sorry -I agree with most you have said but in order to dissect and analyse at all it is necessary to accept some premises for argument’s sake. In order to logically follow evidence that various authorities have provided you accept, however temporarily, some top level premises. Thus “Accepting these: ”
        
        It does not mean you have to believe any of them and if your analysis as it follows its path sheds sufficient doubt on the top level premises then you discard the lot and start again. Guarding against any emotional attachment prevents personal bias creeping in but, that said, intuition and leaps of logic are valuable tools for troubleshooting through these dense fogs of authoritarian obfuscation and deceptions.
  - Anonymous on April 14, 2018 · at 9:18 pm EST/EDT
    
    Just to add to this here is the UK Russian Embassy statement on BZ:
    
    “14.04.2018
    Embassy Press Officer comments on the findings of the Swiss experts regarding the Salisbury incident
    
    Q. Is there any new information regarding the findings of experts from Switzerland in connection with the Salisbury poisoning?
    
    A. According to information from the Swiss Federal Institute for NBC-protection in Spiez, its experts received samples collected in Salisbury by the OPCW specialists and finished testing them on 27 March.
    
    The experts of the Institute discovered traces of toxic chemical called “BZ” and its precursors. It is a Schedule 2 substance under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
    
    “BZ” is a chemical agent, which is used to temporary incapacitate people. The desired psychotoxic effect is reached in 30-60 minutes after application of the agent and lasts up to four days. According to the information the Russian Federation possesses, this agent was used in the armed forces of the USA, United Kingdom and several others NATO member states. No stocks of such substance ever existed either in the Soviet Union or in the Russian Federation.
    
    In addition, the Swiss specialists discovered strong concentration of traces of the nerve agent of A-234 type in its initial states as well as its decomposition products.
    
    In view of the experts, such concentration of the A-234 agent would result in inevitable fatal outcome of its administration. Moreover, considering its high volatility, the detection of this substance in its initial state (pure form and high concentration) is extremely suspicious as the samples have been taken several weeks since the poisoning.
    
    It looks highly likely that the “BZ” nerve agent was used in Salisbury. The fact that Yulia Skripal and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey have already been discharged from hospital, and Sergei Skripal is on his way to recovery, only supports such conclusion.
    
    All this information was not mentioned in the final OPCW report at all.
    
    Considering the above, we have numerous serious questions to all interested parties, including the OPCW.”
    
    https://www.rusemb.org.uk/fnapr/6486
  - Neil on May 13, 2018 · at 4:52 pm EST/EDT
    
    Why claims of chemical weapons in Salisbury evidence a deception operation
    On 4th March two people had medical emergencies in Salisbury.
    They were treated – according to this report – by medics for exposure to the opioid fentanyl.
    A “major incident” was declared the following morning at Salisbury Hospital.
    Until 7th March , only two people were known to be affected as stated on that day by the Gov dept Public Health England who also stated that all known first responders had been examined.
    The Police Oracle had reported on 6th March two officers discharged from hospital after minor symptoms, no mention of any ill police officer or any third person
    Also on 7th March, under the command of the CTPN (formerly Special Branch) the MET announced that there was a seriously ill police officer in hospital – named in the press the following day.
    Subsequently a consultant in Emergency medicine at Salisbury NHS Trust wrote a letter to the TImes published 18th March clarifying that no one had symptoms of nerve agent poisoning although three people did have significant poisoning and that there were no abnormalities in any blood test results.
    Subsequently, permission for blood tests on the unconscious Skripals was sought in the Court of Protection. These subsequent blood test results were reported in the following ambiguous terms. “Blood samples from Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal were analysed and the findings indicated exposure to a nerve agent or related compound. The samples tested positive for the presence of a Novichok class nerve agent or closely related agent.”
    Biomedical samples from the three would later to be taken by the OPCW. Environmental samples collected around Salisbury by the OPCW tested positive for the presence of a toxic chemical the samples were said to be of high purity ( according to a leak from a Swiss laboratory the substance is A-234, but the provenance of this info is disputed by Swiss representatives to the OPCW).
    The lab results have not been made public . Testing for organophosphate nerve agent exposure in biomedical samples is never definitive. Quote. In the case of Sarin the presence of isopropyl methylphosphonic acid (IMPA) in urine is usually taken to be indicative of Sarin exposure but some victims of an alleged incident at Khan Sheikhoun April 2017 failed blood tests for Sarin exposure, but had IMPA in the urine, indicating that IMPA may have been ingested.
    A234 is of a class of nerve paralysing agents that would, presumably, cause irreversible damage to anyone exposed. It would act in mintues. Anyone who was was exposed and then mistakenly treated for opioid exposure would not stand a chance of recovery.
    These inconsistencies: concerning treatment for fentanyl, a untraceable policeman said to have been made ill, and no abnormalities in initial blood test results, show that whatever happened in Salisbury on 4th March it was not the poisoning of the Skripals with Novichok.
    http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Poisoning_of_Sergei_Skripal
- Züri on April 15, 2018 · at 4:40 am EST/EDT
  
  Well, the Spiez Lab itself has clearly and quickly contradicted Lavrov’s account:
  
  https://twitter.com/SpiezLab/status/985243574123057152
  
  Now how do you interpret this?
  - joaopft on April 15, 2018 · at 6:52 am EST/EDT
    
    Their tweet doesn’t contradict Lavrov, since it only reaffirms that “Novichok” was found. The tweet fails to mention that themselves have also found “Buzz” in the samples. But by now Lavrov, through Russia’s OPCW membership, must have had access to the written report of the Swiss lab…
    
    The Swiss lab found out that both drugs are present in the samples. But why are the symptoms evidenced by the Skripals consistent with the exposure to “Buzz”, not “Novichok”?
    - Züri on April 15, 2018 · at 8:46 am EST/EDT
      
      To me, already the first sentence “Only OPCW can comment this assertion” is clear-cut: they state that they have nothing to say beyond the OPCW report. In particular, this means that they have not found any BZ.
      
      They’re too polite to call Lavrov a liar, so they put it diplomatically.
      
      Of course, trying to discredit the OPCW in this way is a brilliant move by Lavrov.
Craig Mouldey on April 14, 2018 · at 11:26 am EST/EDT

In summary, we are living in a manufactured world of lies and deception. As a past CIA director was quoted as saying “We will know our disinformation campaign has been successful when everything the American people believe is false”.
This deception is constant, spanning many decades. It seems every time the U.S. wanted to start another war they used or set up a false flag as justification. It is seen in virtually every terrorist event in the U.S. where a particular storyline is quickly advanced by the authorities, but closer examination very quickly reveals many inconsistencies in the official story which are never explained. We see it in the animal Assad gas attack against his own people to justify this crime just perpetrated by the U.S. leadership. They say they have solid proof Assad did it. What is this proof? They won’t say. No doubt, it’s national security. The naked truth is it is all just lies, spewed forth by evil people with an agenda for tyrannical authority.
Izaates bar Monobazeus on April 14, 2018 · at 11:26 am EST/EDT

The Skripals were not poisoned. The Skripals in my opinion are complicit in this hoax.
- Oscar on April 14, 2018 · at 11:33 am EST/EDT
  
  Good suggestion! Everything about them appears so cloudy that this should be considered.
- Cassandra on April 14, 2018 · at 3:30 pm EST/EDT
  
  I don’t buy that, if they were complicit then they would at least allow a press conference. Probably no more than the press, but a press conference would be very effective. The clamp down and move of Julia to a secure location suggests that she is under duress and kept incommunicado and probably intimidated by being kept separate from her father.
the pessimist on April 14, 2018 · at 11:39 am EST/EDT

Posters at moa saying that Swiss OPCW lab identified Skripal toxin as BZ: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-Quinuclidinyl_benzilate

That would be interesting and rather damming if true. Not sure that all reported symptoms fit but other characteristics do…
Penny on April 14, 2018 · at 11:53 am EST/EDT

I just saw the reporting about the BZ being used on the Skripals
It seems quite likely given the attributes of BZ- but there is something interesting that may connected US/UK to the false flag ‘chemical attacks’ in Syria as well

Quoting ” In January 2013, an unidentified U.S. administration official, referring to an undisclosed U.S. State Department cable, claimed that “Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15, a hallucinogenic chemical similar to BZ,[9] was used in Homs”.[10]

However, in response to these reports U.S. National Security Council spokesman stated “The reporting we have seen from media sources regarding alleged chemical weapons incidents in Syria has not been consistent with what we believe to be true about the Syrian chemical weapons program”.[8][11] The chemical was also allegedly used in the August 2013 Ghouta attacks.[12]”

My thoughts as follows…..The claim by the US National Security Council is interesting- In a nutshell they are saying since Syria didn’t have Agent 15/BZ that the chemical weapons attack could not have been conducted with this substance-

BUT, that’s an obfuscation, with the built in assumption that the Assad government was the perpetrator. The reality being if the Usrael backed rebels had been given or provided with this substance, they could have used it themselves to create a false flag chemical attack scenario to blame on the Assad government. BZ could explain the incapacitation seen in many of the videos- along with the difficulty breathing.
vot tak on April 14, 2018 · at 12:08 pm EST/EDT

Lavrov: Swiss lab says ‘BZ toxin’ used in Salisbury, not produced in Russia, was in US & UK service

https://www.rt.com/news/424149-skripal-poisoning-bz-lavrov/

“Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with an incapacitating toxin known as 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate or BZ, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, citing the results of the examination conducted by a Swiss chemical lab that worked with the samples that London handed over to the Organisation for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The Swiss center sent the results to the OPCW. However, the UN chemical watchdog limited itself only to confirming the formula of the substance used to poison the Skripals in its final report without mentioning anything about the other facts presented in the Swiss document, the Russian foreign minister added. He went on to say that Moscow would ask the OPCW about its decision to not include any other information provided by the Swiss in its report.

The Swiss center mentioned by Lavrov is the Spiez Laboratory controlled by the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection and ultimately by the country’s defense minister. The lab is also an internationally recognized center of excellence in the field of the nuclear, biological, and chemical protection and is one of the five centers permanently authorized by the OPCW.

The Russian foreign minister said that London refused to answer dozens of “very specific” questions asked by Moscow about the Salisbury case, as well as to provide any substantial evidence that could shed light on the incident. Instead, the UK accused Russia of failing to answer its own questions, he said, adding that, in fact, London did not ask any questions but wanted Moscow to admit that it was responsible for the delivery of the chemical agent to the UK.

Moscow believes that the entire Skripal case lacks transparency and that the UK is in fact not interested in an independent inquiry. “We get the impression that the British government is deliberately pursuing the policy of destroying all possible evidence, classifying all remaining materials and making a transparent investigation impossible,” the Russian ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, said during a press conference on Friday.”

The nerve agent used is of a type produced in usa/uk, not in Russia. Well, that certainly narrows it down a bit.
- JJ on April 14, 2018 · at 3:01 pm EST/EDT
  
  So it all sounds like a very deliberate attempt by non Russians to endanger a young lady a Russian citizen as part of the plot for supposed chemical attacks in Syria…with delays and procrastinations to instantly blame Russia then later bring in OPCW…deliberately done by uk to continue their fabrication and contaminate disguise the BZ by adding a variant of what they chose to publicly blame Russia.
  
  Any other circumstances…would be a declaration of WW3….and as George Galloway says he was told Trump did not believe TM. as it made no sense..the false chemical poisenings re Douma were deliberately designed to bring him under neocon control to enable last nights attacks after saying usa was going to leave Syria….still ” strange” how treacherous Macron really really wanted to get in on the act.
  - Sushi on April 14, 2018 · at 8:38 pm EST/EDT
    
    There exists a secretive group composed of USA, UK, France and Saudi Arabia and this group meets to co-ordinate a group position on actions taken against Syria. I have some documentation on this and am working to pull it together for the next part.
    - vot tak on April 14, 2018 · at 11:35 pm EST/EDT
      
      “There exists a secretive group composed of USA, UK, France and Saudi Arabia”
      
      But not Israel, of course…
      
      All those bad goys, and what they are up to, just terrible.
Paul Greenwood on April 14, 2018 · at 12:14 pm EST/EDT

Nice article. I appreciate your tribute to Dr David Kelly whom I believe “highly likely” to have been murdered by Tony Blair directly or indirectly. I think there is evidence – such as the efforts to avoid an inquest – and the disinterring of his body and subsequent cremation – to indicate foul play by agencies of the British State.
Wind of Siberia on April 14, 2018 · at 12:22 pm EST/EDT

Independent Swiss Lab Says ‘BZ Toxin’ Used In Skripal Poisoning; US/UK-Produced, Not Russian

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-14/independent-swiss-lab-says-bz-toxin-used-skripal-poisoning-usuk-produced-not
sean the leprechaun on April 14, 2018 · at 12:45 pm EST/EDT

My money is on Ukrane assised by Mi6 for the farce………..because a state actor with a compitant hit team would have eliminated ‘double tap style’ the target. Only incompitant fools could bungle such a simple thing. An old man and his daughter, really. Like even the cop who didn’t touch the door knob ‘wink wink, say no more’ got sick from several miles away……….infectous stuff, it was.
Cassandra on April 14, 2018 · at 1:13 pm EST/EDT

Gary Aitkenhead is NOT a chemist! Look at his bio. It is highly unlikely (IMHO) that he would understand this point about chemical synthesis that you are making. That is cited as head of Porton Down is strange enough, but it is highly likely that he was given a brief and used as a mouthpiece because an actual head chemist would, due to his/her background have found it extremely difficult to spout such barefaced lies and evasions that he did.
- anti-west on April 14, 2018 · at 1:57 pm EST/EDT
  
  This is a stunning fact. He is a business manager/director and therefore totally unqualified to pass any judgment chimicals! Congratulations
- Sushi on April 14, 2018 · at 2:27 pm EST/EDT
  
  I am not a chemist and I understand the point I am making :-)
  
  I find it interesting that Aitkenhead did not “revise” or “correct” the prior false impression until such time as it became clear that the OPCW would become involved in a confirming assessment.
  
  I also suspect that Aitkenhead faced an internal revolt on the part of the actual scientists and chemists on staff at DSTL Porton Down. The evidence for such revolt is as follows:
  
  1) Aitkenhead is forced to go public to make clear the competence of his staff and what they did or did not actually say.
  
  2) Craig Murray’s reporting which indicates a conflict between DSTL and creation of a “negotiated” setledment between HMG and its scientists.
  
  3) The announcement of a significant boost in spending for DSTL by HMG a week after the first information release by DSTL. HMG has the belief that if you offer a scientist a shiny new teakettle he / she will be mollified. I doubt that to be true.
  - Cassandra on April 14, 2018 · at 3:46 pm EST/EDT
    
    But you are interested, his bio suggests that he isn’t so interested. From:
    https://www.gov.uk/government/people/gary-aitkenhead
    
    “Chief Executive, Dstl
    With direct line responsibility for members of the Executive team, the CE leads Dstl as a Trading Fund, delivering value-for-money science and technology-based support and advice to customers. This includes getting the best out of suppliers and partners, and balancing short-term delivery with long-term capability.
    
    The CE role is ultimately responsible for ensuring:
    
    the financial viability of Dstl
    that customers are satisfied
    that Dstl’s staff are suitably engaged and rewarded for their contributions”
    
    Does it sound, to you, as if he could possibly be at all interested in the peculiarities of chemical compounds??
    - Sushi on April 14, 2018 · at 8:42 pm EST/EDT
      
      Sounds like an advert for Poisions For Hire
      Tagline –>
      Our customers are satisfied or we kill them off
  - Cassandra on April 14, 2018 · at 3:50 pm EST/EDT
    
    I should have read more before shooting from the hip – your points are well made, it’s likely that Aitkenhead is not a bad actor (in the villain sense), but under extreme keep your job or not pressure. And he is likely to be the lid on the pressure cooker comprising the DSTL staff scientists. I don’t envy him.
    - Sushi on April 14, 2018 · at 8:45 pm EST/EDT
      
      Behind him are angry scientists with pitchforks.
      Ahead of him is the May government holding a noose.
      
      Good posiiton for a CEO to be in.
      Keeps them honest :-)
JJ on April 14, 2018 · at 2:26 pm EST/EDT

“The Syrian Arab Army and with the help of Russia captured a shipment of chemical weapons destined for the Eastern Ghouta. These were British weapons produced at Porton Down in Salisbury. Russia has indicated that the Skripal incident is related to Porton Downs chemical weapons smuggling, Skiripal was working at Porton Down as a chemical weapons trafficker in partnership with a Ukrainian firm. Russia denies attacking Skripal but admits he was under surveillance for his activities involving support of terrorism in Syria and arms trafficking.”

A post by Doom Sternz on a theDuran article http://theduran.com/curious-timing-for-missile-attacks-against-syria-was-trump-covering-up-uks-guilt/

Another comment by Daisy Adler confirms symptoms of BZ poisening exactly match what happened

“have been checking up 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate or BZ (I have MD. in Chemistry and Physics) and it fits to the Skripals’ symptoms to a tee:
“a hallucinogenic and incapacitating chemical warfare agent. BZ is disseminated as an aerosol, through the respiratory system. BZ affects both peripheral and central nervous systems.
… signs of disorientation, agitation, tremor, ataxia, stupor, coma, and seizures may occur. BZ is disseminated as a small particle aerosol and so may be present on clothing, which is removed and sealed in a plastic bag, or skin, which is washed with water. If severe delirium and agitation occur, then the patient may require sedation with a benzodiazepine.”
https://www.sciencedirect.c…
British Metropolitan Police asked the people who were in contact with the Skripals to wash their clothes or throw them away in sealed bags.
Both father and daughter were kept under heavy sedation for at least three weeks.
Yulia said that she feels disoriented.
QED”

Does this mean that Russia can claim legitimately that Skripals are detained under false pretences? And as OPWC did not include BZ findings…OPWC is now discredited?
- Sushi on April 14, 2018 · at 2:55 pm EST/EDT
  
  DS Bailey also reported being very disoriented at the time he was relesed from hosptial.
  
  The nature of the chemical and the associated after-effects appear to permit “re-programming” of the vicitm. So if HMG sequesters Yulia Skripal and convinces her that their narrative is the correct one she will then parrot exactly what she has been instructed to say.
  
  Of course the prospect of a new life in the US with no financial concerns for life may also play a role.
  - Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 4:12 am EST/EDT
    
    Use of BZ is also supported by a witness, a girl from a gym who saw Skripals on the bench and said in an interview that it appeared to her Skripal and his daughter had been taking something quite strong.
- Cassandra on April 14, 2018 · at 4:00 pm EST/EDT
  
  Doesn’t this BZ also sound a little bit like the symptom reports of the ‘CS’ gas used by the Israelis in the oppression of the Palestinians??
one minion on April 14, 2018 · at 2:34 pm EST/EDT

Thanks for that very informative report, Sushi. I had read the OPCW summary of the report but, not being a specialist, lacked the kind of detailed information breakdown that you provide here.
This type of reportage needs to be more widely circulated in the UK.

RIP Dr David Kelly.
christo on April 14, 2018 · at 2:40 pm EST/EDT

The perfect timing of this event, coinciding as it did with chemical weapons charges against Russia and Syria, makes it clear that it was the work of Britan’s MI6; the only real question remaining in the Skripal incident is whether or not the pair are witting or unwitting victims. Yulia’s one-off phone call on a borrowed phone and her subsequent silence argues for the latter. Were they really poisoned with this BZ stuff? Sounds quite plausible from the wikipedia article:

“The characteristic that makes BZ an incapacitating rather than a toxic chemical warfare agent is its high safety margin (ICt50/LCt50) of around 40-fold (range 32 to 384 fold). It has an ID50 of 0.00616 mg per person (i.v.) with a probit slope of 9.2. The respiratory ICt50 (median incapacitating dosage) for BZ is 110 mg·min/m³ (mild activity—15 l/min rate of breathing), whereas the LCt50 is often estimated to be around 3,800–41,300 mg·min/m³.[18]
BZ is odorless and nonirritating with delayed symptoms several hours after contact.”

So it is effective in low doses but not highly toxic in larger amounts, is odorless and tasteless, and has a delayed reaction of several hours.

As BZ seems not to be highly toxic, when will we be hearing from Serge?
sean the leprechaun on April 14, 2018 · at 6:32 pm EST/EDT

It was the cop/not a cop, he was the hit man. That explains how only the Skiprals and the now disappeared cop got sick. Aerosol delivery of a fast acting BZ type neurotoxin except he balled it up, schmuck.
- one minion on April 14, 2018 · at 7:33 pm EST/EDT
  
  Most likely. A detective wouldn’t have been the first police response to the 999 call, that what the wooden-tops (uniform) are for. They attend then summon detectives if necessary.
  He was also unlikely to enter the empty house alone, cops have procedures to protect the collection and chain of evidence and prevent later accusations of theft, planting of evidence etc. The Skripals were supposedly, at this point, suspected of having overdosed recreationally on fentanyl, a Class A banned drug, according to the story.
  
  I somehow doubt that the pic of the detective in the media bears any resemblance at all to the ‘dectective’ at the scene who later entered the house alone.
Kaiama on April 14, 2018 · at 7:11 pm EST/EDT

If the chemicalwas BZ, an incapacitating chemical rather than a lethal chemical, then clearly it wasn’t an attempted assassination. I understand that BZ is often applied in an aerosol form i.e. fast acting. If the BZ thing is true then the whole thing falls apart even more.
mdroy on April 14, 2018 · at 7:23 pm EST/EDT

DSTL Porton Down. I really don’t think this is one entity – although clearly the press would like us to believe so.
Porton Down is one of half a dozen entities that are controlled by DSTL. Aithkenhead, a Telecom Salesman until December 2017 is CEO of DSTL – the implication being that no one from Porton Down could be persuaded to say what was needed to be said.
DSTL is based in Sevenoaks, 100 miles from Salisbury
sean the leprechaun on April 14, 2018 · at 8:07 pm EST/EDT

The only person who could approach the Skiprals without raising suspision would be a cop in uniform. Or someone dressed like a cop. Nothing to see here folks. Move along. Right at the last minute the old man realizes
it’s a hit. A short struggle trying to save his daughter, he gets the worst of it. But not enough to kill him. She gets some, attacker, fake cop, gets exposed also.
Sad to say, but chances are the Skiprals are dead, very loose end. They know what really happened hence the fake going into hiding story.
Anonymous on April 14, 2018 · at 8:08 pm EST/EDT

Sushi,
A superb instalment on a stellar “Curious Incident” series.

I am trying to construct a narrative that accounts for what we have plausible reason to infer, but which does not rely on any official interlocutors (except perhaps Boris Johnson, who may not be able to help himself) clearly lying.

First question–and I imagine you might cover this in your next instalment:
Am I correct in thinking that BZ and any of the Novichok / Foliant series are simply not similar enough to be covered by Porton Down’s public description of the substance “in question” as being:
a) a Novichok
b) or from that class of nerve agent
c) or a closely related compound

BZ isn’t a), isn’t b) a nerve agent at all and c) is not closely related to any of the family of compounds that could be in any way considered a Novichok.

Inferences:
1) So, if the finding was actually BZ, when the OPCW confirms the UK’s findings, the OPCW is not confirming any of the statements made along lines a), b) or c).

The OPCW, then, is not
i) confirming that the substance is of a “type developed by Russia” and so it would seem are either, instead
ii) confirming something the Salisbury medical personnel have been quoted as saying, or
iii) confirming the findings of some other entity that can be plausibly glossed as having official (“UK”) findings, or
iv) are confirming UK findings not made public.

Which is to say that all along there have been at least two substances in play, and a bit of a bait and switch game, in which “it” is presumed to be specified but the descriptions are referring to another substance.

For example, the bait is Novichoks, etc. But when we think they are referring to a substance whose metabolites are found in the Skripals’ biophysical samples, that substance may actually be bench-grade or lab-grade BZ. Some other sample–taken from a park bench, door knob, restaurant, cemetary headstone, or car ventilation system, may have been tested as containing highly pure (Porton Down lab-grade) A-234, for example.

Each time we think they are talking about one, they are talking about another, and we never really pause to re-examine which “it” they are referring to.

Not technically a lie, except perhaps what might initially seem like an “innocent” exaggeration–“weapons-grade” but actually this, as you note, is a big giveaway. The substance for which the OPCW is confirming the UK findings, is not weapons grade, but as they say, virtually without impurities. You are the only source I am aware of who has emphasized that weapons-grade is not, as the lay person might suppose, highly pure but is in fact marked by certain impurities from a full-scale production run and perhaps additionally to introduce changes of viscosity, etc.

Is any of this making sense, and does anything seem factually incorrect here?
nazcalito on April 14, 2018 · at 9:40 pm EST/EDT

Of course if it was BZ it could have been produced by any number of people as its synthesis is well known.
See erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/bz.txt, which quotes the following from Chemical Abstracts, 1959, vol 53, #1385h, under the heading “Esters of diaryl hydroxyacetic acids,” referencing US Patent # 2,843,593.

“Thus, 15 grams anhydrous methyl benzilate in 50 cc dry toluene is added
with stirring to 1.2 gram of sodium metal dispersed in 50 cc toluene, the
mixture kept below 30 degrees (C) by external cooling during hydrogen
evolution. (1 hour). Whereupon 5.2 grams anhydrous 3-quinuclidinol in
toluene is added, the mixture refluxed 30 minutes (turns reddish), cooled
to -20 degrees C, (turns pale yellow) extracted 3 times with cold 1-normal
HCl, made alkaline with 35 cc 15% NaOH, extracted 3 times with chloroform,
dried over sodium sulfate, evaporated till crystallization begins, 50 cc of
acetone added, allowed to stand 24 hours in a refrigerator (not further
defined), and the precipitate filtered off and washed with acetone to give
84.2% benzilic acid ester of 3 quinuclidinol, melting point 160-161. “)

This wouldn’t even require a sophisticated lab, just some glassware and a source of heating / cooling if you have access to the ingredients. The Erowid underground chemists describe the synthesis as “very simple”
vot tak on April 14, 2018 · at 11:00 pm EST/EDT

“An image captured via cell phone is easily shared and distributed. A wide variety of apps are available to perform this sharing. Point and shoot cameras typically lack such communication functions. Images are stored on an SD memory card and you need to remove this card and place it in an SD card reader attached to a PC or laptop, download the image files, and then use another program to distribute the image. PCs or laptops lack the range of social media image sharing apps commonly found on cell phones.”

Years ago, perhaps around 10, I bought an inexpensive digital camera. For reference, at the time I did not own a cell phone. This digital camera, while being a used item (in chattering classes terminology, previously owned) came equipped with it’s original box and materials. These consisted of a CD and a cable. The cable was for interface with a computer, the disk contained the necessary software.

Now, I understand that for some people the process of inserting a CD into a computer drive and following some simple steps, easily presented, can be quite a challenge. Likewise, it is very complicated to connect a camera to a computer with a cable. I mean, those computer connectors are all so mysterious without a handy hammer to ram them home…

After garnering all my computer techie knowledge and successfully mastering the camera-computer interface, there was then the added complication of finding the files. Fortunately, it was automatic, I didn’t have to think. What a relief.

Now, after mastering the above, which took all around maybe 5 minutes, I went out and started taking photos. It was at night, and there was a full moon.

After taking a few shots, and checking them out through the tiny screen, I wanted to see the images on my computer to see how they really came out.

Then I realised I would have to walk inside, start my computer, connect the cable, and get this, actually click a couple icons. God, I mean the effort I had to go through, those actions wore me out.

But all that extraordinary effort paid off. I was amazed this low end camera was able to photograph moon shots. Also met a new friend, a woman who happened to be visiting friends while I was out squeezing camera buttons*, who had buttons if her own, even though it was a warm night. So there was also the distraction factor and the motive to shut down this endeavor to pursue more important things.

The point I am making is this section by sushi is total nonsense. Every one of these sushi articles have contained nonsense like this which is juxtaposed with better reasoned data or analysis. Why would an honest person do this?

*(another aspect of this trying experience I neglected to mention, ever tried pushing a mechanical button, rather than clicking a cell phone screen? God the effort involved is immense, like people over 50 would not no longer be capable.).
- vot tak on April 15, 2018 · at 1:06 am EST/EDT
  
  BTW, putting those digital images on other websites via pc involved no more effort than doing this now with a cell phone does.
  
  Again, why would an honest person waste people’s time with this dishonest nonsense?
- Paul Greenwood on April 15, 2018 · at 2:45 am EST/EDT
  
  and of course a Canon WiFi compact digital could use the free WiFi in the Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury to send pics to the Cloud or to a remote printer.
  
  I still find seafood risotto at £12.95 really dirt cheap, but I suppose anything can be priced keenly in a chain restaurant thought I would worry about Ciguatera poisoning.
  
  Then again it seems Skripal was a regular here and as a diabetic he probably liked this dish
- Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 3:06 am EST/EDT
  
  “Images are stored on an SD memory card and you need to remove this card and place it in an SD card reader attached to a PC or laptop, download the image files, and then use another program to distribute the image. PCs or laptops lack the range of social media image sharing apps commonly found on cell phones.”
  
  Yes, this is rich and astonishing nonsense. The laptop on which am writing this sentence has an inbuilt SD card slot, like plenty of laptops. I can take a picture with any digital camera purchased any time in the last 15 years, take the SD card from it in about 2 seconds, insert it in my laptop in another 2 seconds, and put any image from it on twitter or youtube or whatever in a couple of minutes.
Elixer on April 15, 2018 · at 2:56 am EST/EDT

So how long before a sceptical English public starts turning into an ugly crowd of rage, a crowd which demands proof that the poisoned Russian Yulia has voluntarily left her newly refurbished Russian apartment, her fiance, her dog and her close relatives and has decided to voluntarily go into exile, no longer wishing to talk to the world?

And will May’s government last two days beyond Yulia’s first press conference?
- Elixer on April 15, 2018 · at 4:24 am EST/EDT
  
  The crimes of May’s government are starting to add up now: poisoning, kidnapping, cruelty to hamsters, the crime of pre-emptive war by bombing the independent and sovereign state of Syria..!
Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 5:13 am EST/EDT

Some interesting comments from Craig Murray site:

— BZ recovery after 3rd or 4th day, When did Julia check her vk.com account???

“Paradoxically, one of the most reliable indications of recovery is the return of awareness by the subject that he is not as proficient as he should be. Subjects who received an incapacitating dose usually regain this awareness by the third or fourth day. By this time, their objective performance on addition and word recognition tests has generally risen to 80 or 90 percent of their baseline level, and the principal symptoms are some residual lassitude and blurring of vision…”
https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/bz/bz_article1.shtml

— The other question that springs to mind is what did Nick Bailey’s blood contain?
Just A-234? Just BZ toxin? Both?

If it just A-234 it might confirm my “work accident” theory – that Nick Bailey got ill from spraying all the places the Skripals visited that morning with A-234 for Porton Down to identify.

— The Skripals were NOT attacked with nerve agent on the 4th , they were treated for Fentanyl. Later 5th March morning a major incident was declared at the hospital. Subsequently Nick Bailey was conjured up. The three were subsequently dosed with substances identified by OPCW. http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Poisoning_of_Sergei_Skripal

— BZ does not target the acetylcholine esterase like A-234. Instead, it competes for acetylcholine’s receptor sites. A commonly used antidote would by phystigamine, which increases acetylcholine abundance, out-competing the BZ and restoring neurotransmission.

BZ is consistent with the statement of Dr. Stephan Davies. BZ would explain why the hospital has not released any clinical information — phystigamine is a far cry from atropine used for nerve agents targeting acetylcholine esterase.

— Lavrov says “the clinical picture shows that the nerve agent BZ had been used on the Skripals.”

If that weren’t enough, Lavrov said the Swiss experts also found traces of volatile A-234 (a type of Novichok) in Skripals’ samples “in its original form” and in considerable quantities and purity.

Lavrov notes that’s chemically and physically impossible given two weeks had elapsed before collection of the samples. The amount and purity would have brought death immediately.
This strongly suggests deliberate tainting of samples by A-234 furnished by Porton Down.

— Wiki: In February 1998, the British Ministry of Defence accused Iraq of having stockpiled large amounts of a glycolate anticholinergic incapacitating agent known as Agent 15. Agent 15 is an alleged Iraqi incapacitating agent that is likely to be chemically either identical to BZ or closely related to it. Agent 15 was reportedly stockpiled in large quantities prior to and during the Persian Gulf War. However, after the war the CIA concluded that Iraq had not stockpiled or weaponised Agent 15.

In January 2013, an unidentified U.S. administration official, referring to an undisclosed U.S. State Department cable, claimed that “Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15, a hallucinogenic chemical similar to BZ, was used in Homs”. However, in response to these reports U.S. National Security Council spokesman stated “The reporting we have seen from media sources regarding alleged chemical weapons incidents in Syria has not been consistent with what we believe to be true about the Syrian chemical weapons program”. The chemical was also allegedly used in the August 2013 Ghouta attacks. The U.S. Army tested BZ as well as other “psycho-chemical” agents on human subjects at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland from 1955 to 1975, according to declassified documents.

http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/FileDownloadpublic.aspx?docid=13d94373-93f3-47a9-9822-c572b3b6aa43
https://www.cma.army.mil/wp-content/uploads/RCMD-FPF.pdf
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/3-Quinuclidinyl_benzilate

— Regarding the possible use of BZ on the Skripals and the fact that BZ is more Western-derived, I assume people are aware of the potential connection between daddy Skripal and the shenanigans occurring in the US? In short, an ex MI6 agent called Christopher Steele put together a (dodgy) dossier of Russian-sourced dirt on Donald Trump which was then used to obtain a FISA warrant which allowed the FBI to spy on Trump. Steele works for Orbis Business Intelligence. Someone else who also works for Orbis Business Intelligence is Pablo Miller, also an ex MI6 agent, who just happened to be the guy who recruited daddy Skripal as a double agent . And guess where Pablo Miller is believed to live…….(drumroll please)……Salisbury.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/03/spy-posions-spy-and-the-anti-trump-campaign.html
JJ on April 15, 2018 · at 6:49 am EST/EDT

Hope peoples are still checking this thread…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5616859/Novichok-Salisbury-hitman-failed-kill-Skripals-raining.html

They did not die because rain diluted the chemical on the door knob…..ye gods

Also detectives are going to interview a russian defector who claims the GCHQ bloke in a suitcase was murdered by the same Russian team that made the attempt on the Skripals…uk still trying to blame Russia for at least 14 assassinations…..the nasty work still going on folks.
JJ on April 15, 2018 · at 6:54 am EST/EDT

Oh plus a very curious post…http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5616611/Sinister-social-media-post-Yulia-Skripals-Russian-Facebook-site-raises-new-hacking-fears.html
- Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 9:13 am EST/EDT
  
  Such a lie by dailymail. Where is the picture of a new ‘sinister’ post? First, it is old news that someone was checking her account on March 7th. Nothing was posted.
  
  https://www.rt.com/news/422931-skripal-yulia-social-media/
  https://sputniknews.com/russia/201804021063140965-yulia-skripal-social-media-active-coma/
  https://www.fort-russ.com/2018/03/curiouser-and-curiouser-yulia-skripal-logged-into-vk-while-in-coma/
  
  If there is a new post, it must have been added later than March 28th, which is the last day we can see how her profile on VK looked like. On that day the last post from Yulia is still the same dancing cat from March 3rd.
  See an archived copy of her VK page from 28 Mar 2018
  https://archive.is/MsuXb
  
  By the way, since April 12th she has a twitter account or an account in her name.
  https://twitter.com/skripalyulia
  - Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 9:44 am EST/EDT
    
    Yulia is going dady’s way or a Stockholm syndrom?
    
    Юлия Скрипаль Yulia Skripal‏ @SkripalYulia Apr 12
    #Захарова лжет. Это было мое заявление. Да, мне помогли его составить британские представители.
    
    # Zakharova is lying. This was my statement. Yes, I was helped by British representatives.
- Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 11:05 am EST/EDT
  
  Re allegations in dalymail:
  
  How could British intelligence possibly learn that “GRU cyber specialists” targeted Yulia Skripal’s e-mail accounts in 2013? Does this mean that they had been monitoring her communications ever since her father moved to the UK? (Russian embassy in London)
christo on April 15, 2018 · at 8:38 am EST/EDT

Serge Skripal’s close connection to Orbis, Pablo Miller, and Christopher Steele cannot be coincidental. Did Skripal posses some hard evidence showing both that the Steele dossier was fabricated, and that the FBI was well aware of this fact? If revealed, this would have exposed Comey’s FISA warrants as flagrantly Illegal, proving that Obama, the DNC, and the FBI knowingly broke the law in an attempt to sway the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Was Skripal offering to sell or ransom this information? Given his history of unscrupulous behavior, this cannot be ruled out. Was the Skripal Affair MI6’s Monty Pythonesque attempt to kill three birds with one stone: get rid of Skripal, frame the Russians for it, and set the stage for the CW false flag in Syria?
JJ on April 15, 2018 · at 9:12 am EST/EDT

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201804151063573543-novichok-creator-opcw-report/

The inventor confirms…a pure substance cannot be novichok
Bugged on April 15, 2018 · at 9:38 am EST/EDT

I find it curious that at least 3 photos of the Skripals in similar pose were taken, presumably in the time of Yulia;s visit . Who was filming and why? What are they toasting? See the pics in this link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5555641/Sergei-Yulia-Skripal-poisoned-nerve-agent-DOOR-police-confirm.html
Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 11:14 am EST/EDT

Good comment from Russian Embassy

Embassy’s comment on the letter of Mark Sedwill to NATO on the incident in Salisbury

We have taken note of the letter by Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser Sir Mark Sedwill to NATO Secretary General Mr Jens Stoltenberg published on 13 April. This piece is a further demonstration of the lack of any evidence of Russia’s involvement in the Salisbury incident.

The whole case against Russia is built on three elements: the identification of the chemical substance, artificial assumptions and conclusions regarding “track record” and “motive”, and unverifiable “intelligence information”.

As to the substance, it is now common knowledge that any modern laboratory is able to produce it. The OPCW report adds nothing in this respect.

As to the motive and historical record, Mr Sedwill says nothing new and repeats well-known allegations that we have commented upon elsewhere.

As to the “intelligence”, we should remember that UK secret services have a huge track record of misleading the government and the public, with disastrous consequences. However, this time, they are offering such an unbelievable picture that nobody will be misled. Here are some immediate questions to Mr Sedwill’s letter:

– In September 2017, the OPCW certified full destruction of Russia’s chemical weapons, in the presence of UK representatives. If the British government had information about Russia’s alleged secret chemical programme, why didn’t they raise the matter at that point?

– If the UK has for years had information on Russia “investigating ways of delivering nerve agents, including by application to door handles”, why didn’t the Salisbury investigation team check the door handle on Mr Skripal’s house in the first instance, but spent several weeks studying the bench, the car, the pub, the restaurant, etc.?

– How could British intelligence possibly learn that “GRU cyber specialists” targeted Yulia Skripal’s e-mail accounts in 2013? Does this mean that they had been monitoring her communications ever since her father moved to the UK?

Overall, the very fact of sending this letter today means that before, UK had not provided NATO allies even with this pathetic level of information. No wonder many of them start questioning their hasty decision to expel Russian diplomats out of the wrongly understood solidarity.

Boris Johnson has once advised: when you are losing an argument, throw a dead cat on the table. As the official Salisbury case is falling apart, we can expect more dead cats from the British intelligence.

https://www.rusemb.org.uk/fnapr/6483
sean the leprechaun on April 15, 2018 · at 1:08 pm EST/EDT

Skipral Steel Dossier connection
Dad daughter share info
Dad feels unsecure maybe go back home?
People are following the money trail.
The guy taking the pic is the handler.
He invites them to lunch. Meet the daughter he’s heard so much about and all that bs.
They all eat then leave the restaurant.
Handler gets fake call, tells them it’s important. Tells them to carry on, he’ll catch up in a few minutes. Tells them we’ll meet at the bench in the park. That’s the set up. Game over. Sergie may have recognized the fake cop at the last second, maybe he spoke and an accent gave him away. The attacker lost the element of surprise.
All three were exposed to the same thing at the same time. Everything else is fake fabricated bull shit.
Anonymous on April 15, 2018 · at 2:18 pm EST/EDT

Agent BZ: Top Five Things to Know About New Chemical Found in Skripal Sample

Discovered in 1951
Powerful Hallucinogen
Tested By (and On) US Troops
Weaponized in 1962
Not Stocked by the Soviets

https://sputniknews.com/military/201804151063590931-bz-chemical-top-5/
Vierotchka on April 15, 2018 · at 4:57 pm EST/EDT

According to the Spiez website, there is no doubt about the British assessment, check their website:

“In der Krise um den Giftanschlag von Salisbury greift Moskau die Glaubwürdigkeit des britischen Befunds an. Der Fachbereich Chemie des Labor Spiez hat jedoch keine Zweifel daran, dass die Briten den eingesetzten Kampfstoff richtig identifizierten und es sich um den Nervenkampfstoff Nowitschok handelt.”

https://www.labor-spiez.ch/de/akt/index.htm

Translation:

Novichok in Salisbury
In the crisis surrounding the Salisbury poison attack, Moscow attacks the credibility of the British findings. The Chemistry Department of the Spiez Laboratory, however, has no doubt that the British correctly identified the agent used and that it is Nowichok, the nerve agent.

https://www.nzz.ch/international/kein-zweifel-am-nowitschok-resultat-ld.1374775

https://www.nzz.ch/international/russland-greift-die-skripal-untersuchung-frontal-an-ld.1377578

From the second article in nzz.ch linked above (translated):

“The Swiss experts discovered not only the substance A-234, which belongs to the group of Soviet Nowitschok poisons, BUT ALSO THE WARFARE AGENT BZ (3-quinuclidinylbenzilate), which has been proven during the Cold War IN THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS ARSENALS OF THE UNITED STATES camped, but apparently NOT IN RUSSIA.” (Caps, mine)

Additionally: “At the same time he [Lavrov] criticized that this information in the OPCW communication from last Thursday to Salisbury findings HAD BEEN COMPLETELY UNMENTIONED.” (Caps mine)

And more: “Could it be that the Salisbury attack was actually committed with BZ? Labor Spiez does not comment on this question.”

But all that, of course, does not rule out the highly likely (sorry!) possibility of the A-234 having been added to the samples to mask the BZ.
- Anonymous on April 16, 2018 · at 12:19 am EST/EDT
  
  14.04.2018
  Embassy Press Officer comments on the findings of the Swiss experts regarding the Salisbury incident
  
  Q. Is there any new information regarding the findings of experts from Switzerland in connection with the Salisbury poisoning?
  
  A. According to information from the Swiss Federal Institute for NBC-protection in Spiez, its experts received samples collected in Salisbury by the OPCW specialists and finished testing them on 27 March.
  
  The experts of the Institute discovered traces of toxic chemical called “BZ” and its precursors. It is a Schedule 2 substance under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
  
  “BZ” is a chemical agent, which is used to temporary incapacitate people. The desired psychotoxic effect is reached in 30-60 minutes after application of the agent and lasts up to four days. According to the information the Russian Federation possesses, this agent was used in the armed forces of the USA, United Kingdom and several others NATO member states. No stocks of such substance ever existed either in the Soviet Union or in the Russian Federation.
  
  In addition, the Swiss specialists discovered strong concentration of traces of the nerve agent of A-234 type in its initial states as well as its decomposition products.
  
  In view of the experts, such concentration of the A-234 agent would result in inevitable fatal outcome of its administration. Moreover, considering its high volatility, the detection of this substance in its initial state (pure form and high concentration) is extremely suspicious as the samples have been taken several weeks since the poisoning.
  
  It looks highly likely that the “BZ” nerve agent was used in Salisbury. The fact that Yulia Skripal and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey have already been discharged from hospital, and Sergei Skripal is on his way to recovery, only supports such conclusion.
  
  All this information was not mentioned in the final OPCW report at all.
  
  Considering the above, we have numerous serious questions to all interested parties, including the OPCW.
  
  https://www.rusemb.org.uk/fnapr/6486
Dailyshocker.news. on August 08, 2018 · at 3:45 am EST/EDT

Observation 13 is wrong. That is an old photo of the skripals in the same restaurant before it became zizzi. The face in the mirror is the now dead son. Look up his photo, it’s the same guy.