JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE SKRIPAL AFFAIR DRAMATICALLY RETURNS WITH SUPPOSED SURVEILLANCE PHOTOS OF THE WOULD-BE ASSASSINS - JUST ONE VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH A PAIR OF THE PHOTOS: THEY APPEAR TO BE FRAUDS - REVIEW OF THE MANY QUESTIONS IN THE CASE AND GOVERNMENT ASSERTIONS MADE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF

John Chuckman


COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY CRAIG MURRAY IN RUSSIA INSIDER



“UK Releases IMPOSSIBLE Photo of Supposed Russian Suspects in Skripal Case

“Hilarious. You'd think the British gov't could have produced a photo that is not an obvious fake”

https://russia-insider.com/en/uk-releases-impossible-photo-supposed-russian-suspects-skripal-case/ri24682



Great point raised, and truly an important one.

But even were we to accept the photos of the two men, what do they prove?

Nothing, and certainly nothing about the Skripal Affair.

Britain has gone far beyond the photos, too, identifying them as GRU.

Where's the evidence for that?

But even if we were to accept what Britain asserts, what does it prove?

Still nothing relative to the Skripal Affair.

As with almost everything about the Skripal affair, despite months of publicity, investigations, and charges, we know almost nothing, nothing worth knowing, that is.

We have no explanation for the time sequence of the attack, so very great a length of time between presumed exposure and the pair's being stricken. That is not the way nerve agents work.

We have no explanation for how it is that an antidote delivered so very late possibly could be effective. These agents require the antidotes to be administered within minutes.

We have no explanation for how doctors and authorities even knew which antidote to administer.

And no explanation for how the substance was identified at the time. Nor where it was identified. Hospital labs couldn’t even attempt such a task.

To my knowledge, you can only make a positive identification with such chemicals if you have a sample. So where did that come from?

And it is not an easy task to identify something like nerve agent, starting from scratch, and not even any evidence to warrant a particular suspicion. Who would ever think of nerve agent to begin with?

And no explanation for where the antidote was obtained.

We have no explanation of events around the discovery of the sick pair on a bench.

A woman doctor said she worked with them for half an hour at the bench location. She noticed nothing that might be a chemical agent, and she herself was not affected although she handled them extensively. And the same for someone else who assisted her, there being two sick people.

The emergency response crew at the bench location suspected a fentanyl overdose, a fairly common event in the town.

We have no explanation for why authorities took so long in warning the town’s people. Or for why the town wasn’t sealed off.

We have no explanation for why the father and daughter have been prevented from seeing reporters, except for that one brief, extremely controlled appearance and statement by the daughter.

We have no explanation for the clear fact that the daughter wasn’t even told what the British government is charging, that the Russian government is being held responsible. The daughter spoke of returning to Russia.

We have no explanation for why a relative has been denied a visa to visit.

We have no explanation for the treatment of the home. The government is buying it.

No explanation about pets in the home. Two Guinea pigs were found dead and a ”distressed” cat (after, euthanized), facts which could be explained simply by their lack of water in a police-sealed house.

We have no explanation for why Theresa May’s government behaved as it did. Again, lacking any real evidence, it made impossibly strong public accusations against another government and started a serious international diplomatic row.

We have no explanation for the British government’s complete lack of cooperation with Russia despite numerous offers of cooperation.

Theresa May has set a new international standard of inappropriate behavior through the entire matter, and British newspapers have done little but run stories around every government assertion as though it were fact. There has been absolutely no investigative reporting despite many possible lines to pursue.

Again, as I've said before, I would embrace any outcome of the case which is proven. I completely reject claims made and extreme actions taken without proof. I do confess to a bias for facts.