Russian Chemical Weapon attack in Salisbury

[Robin-H]

Ooops! I must defer to your superior knowledge, as you appear to have' inside' information...

 

What must I have inside information about?

 

I am just saying facts. These are easily found online, and can be checked by yourself.

[melthebell]

What must I have inside information about?

 

I am just saying facts. These are easily found online, and can be checked by yourself.

LOL hes spat the dummy out

[Anna B]

I heard a throwaway line on Radio 4 saying that the terrible nerve gas used in Salisbury attack is (did they say 'only' or 'originally') made at the Porton Down military facility in south of England.

 

Did I hear right? What are we doing making this stuff? I remember when Britain assumed the moral high ground and wouldn't even trade with countries who dealt in weapons like this.

[Robin-H]

I heard a throwaway line on Radio 4 saying that the terrible nerve gas used in Salisbury attack is (did they say 'only' or 'originally') made at the Porton Down military facility in south of England.

 

Did I hear right? What are we doing making this stuff? I remember when Britain assumed the moral high ground and wouldn't even trade with countries who dealt in weapons like this.

 

Do we knowingly deal with countries that trade in chemical weapons now?

[Anna B]

Do we knowingly deal with countries that trade in chemical weapons now?

 

Back in the 60s when the disarmament groups like CND were active, we were lead to believe we didn't have anything to do with countries that dealt in pretty much any sort of weapon, and perish the thought that we would ever do such a thing as buy and sell them ourselves, let alone make them...

 

There were all sorts of treaties in operation to stop weapons proliferation and unacceptable weapons being used. Heaven knows when they quietly broke down, and we became one of the biggest weapons manufacturers in the world.

 

Remember all the fuss and denials when Sheffield (I think it was forgemasters,) were accused of making part of a massive gun that was going to the middle east? That doesn't seem all that long ago. Compare that to Cameron touting a delegation of arms manufacturers to China round about 2010.

[Phanerothyme]

Yeah - the Matrix Churchill scandal. Where the bad old Customs & Excise put the directors of Matrix Churchill in the dock for selling arms and expertise to Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

 

The trial dramatically collapsed when it emerged that Matrix Churchill had been given advice by H.M Government on how to game the dual use rules and successfully export their goods to Iraq.

 

...including parts for Gerard Bull's insane supergun, some of which were manufactured by Forgemasters in Sheffield.

[truman]

I heard a throwaway line on Radio 4 saying that the terrible nerve gas used in Salisbury attack is (did they say 'only' or 'originally') made at the Porton Down military facility in south of England.

 

Did I hear right? What are we doing making this stuff? I remember when Britain assumed the moral high ground and wouldn't even trade with countries who dealt in weapons like this.

 

Nope... Novichok is a Russian made agent...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent

[catpus]

Nope... Novichok is a Russian made agent...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent

 

Wrong: Novichoks (New Boys) were 'designed' in Russia...

 

The whistle-blower Russian chemist Vil Mizayanov published reports in the Russian press describing its existence and nature in the early 1990’s.

He was charged as a traitor by Russia, though his trial later collapsed... and he relocated to the USA, where he released a 1995 report describing the state of Russian chemical weapons, including a discussion on Novichoks.

In 2008, he published a book on his story. This book, 'State Secrets,' published the actual chemical formulae of the Novichok nerve agents to an English-speaking audience.

 

Giving his thoughts on the Salisbury attack in an interview with Voice of America, Mirzayanov said "The Soviet Union collapsed 27 years ago, and if somewhere in the republics there was pure Novichok, it has long since decomposed and is not suitable as a weapon."

 

So I think it is safe to say that EVERY country in the world now has the formula and has been capable of making these Novichoks... since 2008...

 

And the question I ask myself is WHY haven't Russia silenced him?

 

All that was missing from the Salisbury scene was the assassins Passport a copy of how to mix the formula written in Russian, and an I love Putin poster.

 

I think that might just have convinced me...

[alchresearch]

What are we doing making this stuff?

 

Its made so we can study the effects and how to combat it.

[chalga]

Wrong: Novichoks (New Boys) were 'designed' in Russia...

 

The whistle-blower Russian chemist Vil Mizayanov published reports in the Russian press describing its existence and nature in the early 1990’s.

He was charged as a traitor by Russia, though his trial later collapsed... and he relocated to the USA, where he released a 1995 report describing the state of Russian chemical weapons, including a discussion on Novichoks.

In 2008, he published a book on his story. This book, 'State Secrets,' published the actual chemical formulae of the Novichok nerve agents to an English-speaking audience.

 

Giving his thoughts on the Salisbury attack in an interview with Voice of America, Mirzayanov said "The Soviet Union collapsed 27 years ago, and if somewhere in the republics there was pure Novichok, it has long since decomposed and is not suitable as a weapon."

 

So I think it is safe to say that EVERY country in the world now has the formula and has been capable of making these Novichoks... since 2008...

 

And the question I ask myself is WHY haven't Russia silenced him?

 

All that was missing from the Salisbury scene was the assassins Passport a copy of how to mix the formula written in Russian, and an I love Putin poster.

 

I think that might just have convinced me...

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/23/nerve-agent-was-used-in-1995-claims-former-soviet-scientist

 

 

 

 

 

Nevertheless, he speculated it could remain potent for some time. “If properly stored, I imagine it could poison someone even 50 years later,” he wrote.

 

Vladimir Uglev.

 

Uglev worked in the State Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology in the city of Shikhany, Saratov region, from 1972 until 1993. He said he handled foliant nerve agents for the last time in 1990. They were not on the list of chemical weapons submitted by Russia as part of the Chemical Weapons Convention signed in 1993.

 

In follow-up remarks to the Guardian, Uglev said he knew of three people who had died as a result of accidents while developing novichok: a scientist named Andrei Zheleznyakov and “two officers who held tests on our testing range”.