Theresa May ups the Anxiety Inducing Theatrics in Britain as everybody sits on the edge of their seats, because Moscow has been given 24, or maybe 48 hours, "to respond".....Oh what will they say?! I can just imagine what it's like in telly land? The not knowing. This over the top drama, apparent from the get go, now requires you to wait for the next episode before knowing the outcome. Was just talking to hubby, discussing with him, that I see the whole 24 hour ultimatum as still more theatrics. If someone, like a neighbour, broke into my house or car, it's inconceivable to me that I'd wait 24 hours to get an explanation from them why they'd busted into my property! Particularly if I was certain of the identity of the perpetrator! So, we are in psyop land as far as the May ultimatum.I'm of the mind, and still am, that it was Britain that desired this pretext.
From yesterday: Britain to Support US Style Magnitsky Sanctions Against Russia??
I'm of the opinion that Britian wanted the sanctions anyway- hence the alleged poisoning serves as a perfect pretext for the desired actions.
Was this the pretext? About that Alleged Poisoning of Sergei SkripalOnto the latest: Sydney Morning Herald:
London: It is highly likely (but not certain) that Russia poisoned former double agent Sergei Skripal with a military-grade nerve agent, British Prime Minister Theresa May says – and she has given the Kremlin 24 hours to rebut the claim before she takes “extensive measures” in response.“Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian State against the United Kingdom,” May said.
So an attack on the UK ?
"Though she did not outline what her response would be, May’s words suggest she would invoke NATO’s principle of collective defence, in which an attack against one ally is considered an attack against all"
"Either this was a direct act by the Russian State against our country, or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others"
"The Russian ambassador was summoned to the British Foreign Office and asked to explain how a Russian-produced nerve agent could have been deployed in Salisbury"
Theresa May gave no out to Russia by suggesting Russia lost control of the nerve agent.She started a new thread in the narrative- Will Theresa May Invoke Article 5:
" Mr Speaker, on Wednesday we will consider in detail the response from the Russian State. Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian State against the United Kingdom. And I will come back to this House and set out the full range of measures that we will take in response."
This is quite something. It suggests the government is treating this as far more than a murder attempt on a former spy that happened to take place on UK soil. Unless the Russian ambassador can come up with a convincing alibi (e.g. the terrifying possibility that Russia has lost control of its chemical weapons stock), it will treat the poisoning as a state-sponsored attack on the UK as a whole. This is far stronger language than used, for instance, by John Reid in the wake of Alexander Litvinenko’s death, even after the authorities had established it was the result of polonium poisoning.
The PM’s statement was interesting for two other reasons. First, she emphasised that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with ‘a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia’. In other words, this was a kind of military attack rather than a civilian or ordinary criminal one.
So this raises the question: might May invoke Nato’s Article 5 on collective defence? That article, from the original 1949 treaty, states that ‘the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all’ and that they should work together to ‘restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area’. It has only been invoked once in Nato’s history – by the USA after September 11th – so this would be the strongest possible option open to her.
There will be no "credible" response that Russia can make to Britain. Nothing that will be deemed to be "credible", that is. Britain is looking for a confrontation of some sort.To explain the confrontation idea:-May wants to appear leaderish.-Smear Putin prior to elections-Maybe a boycott of World Cup?- A strike on Syria- because ya know... Russia "bears responsibility" for alleged chemical weapons use- Most importantly to enact the Magnitsky style sanctions, which are a form of Economic Warfare, enabling May to sell them as a response attack.
SMH continues "This attempted murder using a weapons-grade nerve agent in a British town was not just a crime against the Skripals," May said."It was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the United Kingdom, putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk."May will also take her case to the United Nations, she said.She also suggested the government may drop its opposition to a proposed new law applying visa bans and asset seizures against corrupt Russians who have laundered money through London real estate.
See post from yesterday linked at the top regarding Magnitsky style sanctionsHuffington Post
Novichok, the fourth generation of poison gas, was made with agrochemicals so that offensive weapons production could more readily be hidden within a legitimate commercial industry, according to US chemical weapons expert Amy Smithson. The group of “military-grade” chemical agents was positively identified at the UK government’s Porton Down laboratories
Moscow is not believed to have ever declared Novichok or its ingredients to the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which oversees a treaty banning their use. There are no known previous uses of the substance.It was designed as a “binary weapon” - meaning they are made up of two relatively harmless ingredients that only become deadly when mixed together.
This is, allegedly, a cold war weapon.It's made with agrochemicals. I'm figuring based on my reading this is based on phosophorous/phosphine fumigant type stuff, weaponized?If anyone knows for certain, chime in?! Also notice that this chemical weapon meme is continuously recurring?What about Syria?