News:
According to a report by Britain’s TimesOnline, officials from the Scotland Yard have come to the conclusion that the Polonium used to kill former KGB Agent Alexander Litvinenko cost more than $10,000,000. This staggering amount was actually more than ten times the lethal dose, and make it look more and more like the Russian Government was either involved or at least had some knowledge of the plot.

While the $10 million price tag could easily be footed by a unscrupulous businessman or organized terrorist organization, it would be very difficult for any entity not connected to, or at least allied with, a government or government official to obtain. As one British source put it: “You can?t buy this much off the internet or steal it from a laboratory without raising an alarm so the only two plausible explanations for the source are that it was obtained from a nuclear reactor or very well connected black market smugglers.”

Although little information is being released, mostly for diplomatic reasons, it also seems that there are heavy suspicions on two Russian businessmen, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun, who met with Litvinenko in the weeks leading up to his death. Perhaps most incriminating of all, traces of Polonium have been found in places that they visited as early as October 16th, before the poisoning ever occurred.

Views:
If I were Vladimir Putin, I’d be sweating bullets right about now. I don’t care what the official explanations turn out to be: there is some connection to wither thew Russian Government or high ranking Russian officials, and perhaps the Russian President himself.

With the KGB being as scary, ominous, and corrupt an organization as it was back in the days of the Soviet Union, I am truly amazed that someone like Putin - former head of the KGB - could have ever been elected in the first place. Russia is a corrupt country, no doubt, but when you have former spy and secret police officials in positions of great power, problems are bound to occur - whether they mean to or not.

Surely, SOMEONE in the Russian administration must have known about or supported the plot. I simply don’t see how someone or some group acting without the help of an official could have pulled of such a dangerous.

The other question that this whole incident raises in my mind is just how safe and secure the United Kingdom’s borders are. I want to know how the Polonium was smuggled in and why nothing was done to stop it. Could this be the beginning of truly extensive use of radiation detectors? I don’t know, only time will tell.

What I really think this comes down to is the fact that there are going to have to be some major shakeups in Moscow. I’m not expecting Putin to step down or anything like that, but I have a gut feeling that someone is going to loose either his or his life over this whole fiasco. If it turns out to be the former, we’re going to get real answers; if its the later, than I’m not sure there’s ever going to be an answer.

Common Sense:
If you’re a Government official or prosperous businessman, stay out of assassinations and other terrorist-like operations: there is no good that can come out of it. If you’re a former spy for a corrupt former superpower, be extremely careful with what you say and do if you value your life.