Comments by "Nigel Johnson" (@nigeljohnson9820) on "Russia: This is a very serious provocation" video.

  1. A chemical weapon attack on UK soil is not serious provocation???!!!!! Either Russia is guilty or it is being framed. If the latter, you would think they would be very keen to know by whom.
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  2. Darlene Sjostrom maybe you would like to share your insight into the machinations of the espionage community. It is difficult to believe that such an operation would be motivated by symbolism or the wish to manipulate public opinion, given its inherent vagaries. Given the risks involved, the motive for the operation must have a more certain outcome. I would not be surprised if this has more to do with huge amounts of money than it does politics.
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  3. Darlene Sjostrom what you regard as glaringly obvious may be the result of fevered paranoia. I do not have sufficient evidence to draw any real conclusions, I am speculating based on the published information and the political history. This generates many possible scenarios of different probabilities. I was reluctant to concede that this could be a false flag operation because: A) the risks of such an action backfiring were too high. B) the outcomes were to unpredictable to be of value. C) the potential gains for a third party were so small. On thinking about it, the UK military and espionage services could potentially gain from such an operation, with a reasonable chance of success. There funding has been cut to the bone in recient budgets, this is a potential fund raiser. Such an operation could not be sanctioned by the government, as they are the ones authorising the cuts, so this would need to be organised deep in the security services. Given the departmental organisation of government this plot would have serious difficulties to overcome, not least the procurement of the poison agent used. There is little doubt it is a version of the Russian nerve agent, as for the plot to work those investigating the event would need to have no knowledge of the plot itself and be convinced of its origin in ruesia.. One reason for obstructing the supply of samples of the agent to russia might be because it's chemical structure differs from that of the genuine Russian WMD. It is reported that Western experts know the basic structure of the poison but not the details of the Russian compound. Their are variants and the poison may well work with different side chain chemicals attached, maybe as a result of the manufacturing process or engineered to facilitate delivery or stability. The Russians would be able to identify such differences and know if they made it. There is the arguement that they would deny manufacture no matter what, making the supply of samples pointless. The UK might also argue that it gives too much information away about their detection capability. I note the comment about the proximity to Porton Down being suspiciously convenient. But Porton is highly regulated and open to international inspection, making it unlikely to be the place for manufacture in such a plot. However, it could be argued it is an ideal investigator. I suggest this plot scenario, not because I believe it, but because I am willing to admit it's possibility. The UK being a small country, I do not think its security/espionage departments are sufficiently large to contain a hidden sub group with the caperbilities to carry out such a plot. Appling Occam's razor, Russian still seems the most likely culprit.
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