Jonathan Cook, journalist
The following points raised by
former British ambassador Craig Murray – and expanded on in his post –
look pretty devastating to the British government's claim that it is
sure Russia was behind the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal:
1) Porton Down has acknowledged in publications it has never seen any
Russian “novichoks”. The UK government has absolutely no “fingerprint”
information that can safely attribute this substance to Russia.
2) Until now, neither Porton Down nor the world’s experts at the
Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were
convinced “Novichoks” even exist.
3) The UK is refusing to provide a sample to the OPCW.
4) “Novichoks” were specifically designed to be able to be manufactured
from common ingredients on any scientific bench. The Americans
dismantled and studied the facility that allegedly developed them. It is
completely untrue only the Russians could make them, if anybody can.
5) The “Novichok” programme was in Uzbekistan not in Russia. Its legacy
was inherited by the Americans during their alliance with Karimov, not
by the Russians.
