News:
British Television Station Sky News is reporting that a former Russian spy killed in the United Kingdom is the victim of Polonium 210 poisoning. Alexander Litvinenko, who died Thursday night, had met with two other Russians shortly before falling ill.
British authorities have been searching many areas for radiation, and have so far found it in Litvinenko’s home, a Sushi bar in which he ate, and at the hotel where he met with the other Russian men. Although no one has taken responsibility, the general consensus of friends and family seems to be that it was a assassin working for Vladimir Putin and the Russian Government.
According to the victim’s father, who blames the Russian President for the death: “You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilized men and women.” Whether the claims turnout to be true or not, this could prove to be troublesome for the administration.http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13553599,00.html
Thanks to Captain Ed, we have some additional insight into the poisoning:
The use of polonium strongly indicts the Russian government in this murder. One does not find polonium just laying around somewhere; it’s rather rare, and difficult to produce in any quantity. However, small quantities are all that are needed for poisoning someone, as the maximum safe ingested dose is 0.03 microcurie. It’s 25 billion times more poisonous than hydrocyanic acid. Anyone who attempted to deploy this as an assassin’s weapon has to have a lot of expertise in handling polonium — which again strongly indicates a government assassin at work. It practically convicts Putin by its use.http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/008567.php
Views:
If the suspicions that seem to be present are true, I suspect that the administration in Russia is going to face some very tough questions. I see no reason that this would be terrorism, it is way too targeted, and Captain Ed’s insight (which is also available in Wikipedia’s Polonium article) seems quite convincing.
At the same time, however, I would not be surprised if this is a far more common event to have occur inside Russia and the news simply never makes it out. I realize that they have changed a great deal since the fall of the Soviet leadership, but there is still something a little strange with them, at least in my mind.
Common Sense:
If you’re a former Russian spy, watch out for your life. If you’re a Russian government assassin, be very careful and don’t use such unusual methods of poisoning.
Thanks to HotAir.com for the original story