Russia and the World Cup

[upthemaggies]

"“Here is the killer question that was not asked by anybody in parliament either on Monday or Wednesday, if this Novichok is exclusively Russian, why would Russia choose that weapon to mount a terrorist attack on the streets of Salisbury? They may as well be leaving a pair of boots covered with snow and painting ‘Vladimir Putin was here’ on the nearest wall.
It's absolutely absurd that Russia would actually put its signature on a crime like this if they had carried it out. I have an absolute conviction that this is exactly the same kind of canard that led us to the disaster of the Iraq war, In any list of suspects, Russia must be near the bottom because, self-evidently, it has not and cannot benefit from this crime in any way."
Says George Galloway.

Meanwhile the defence secretary announces that £48 million is now going to be spent on the chemical weapons defense center 8 miles from the attack.

[drillerpie]

"“Here is the killer question that was not asked by anybody in parliament either on Monday or Wednesday, if this Novichok is exclusively Russian, why would Russia choose that weapon to mount a terrorist attack on the streets of Salisbury? They may as well be leaving a pair of boots covered with snow and painting ‘Vladimir Putin was here’ on the nearest wall.
It's absolutely absurd that Russia would actually put its signature on a crime like this if they had carried it out. I have an absolute conviction that this is exactly the same kind of canard that led us to the disaster of the Iraq war, In any list of suspects, Russia must be near the bottom because, self-evidently, it has not and cannot benefit from this crime in any way."
Says George Galloway.

Meanwhile the defence secretary announces that £48 million is now going to be spent on the chemical weapons defense center 8 miles from the attack.

Because Russia gets to deny everything using precisely this argument, while letting everyone know it was them. As usual.

If you're someone thinking of testifying in the Russia collusion inquiry, what is going through your mind right now?

[sidders]

I will be going for some of Englands games in Russia, you always have to be careful when watching England especially in Russia but looking forward to it already paid a lot of money for flights , hotels ,tickets etc so will be going unless stopped by the foreign office look out for our Calverton Notts County flag

Well done, Calvo, for sticking to the original post. Are you nervous? have you 'done' Russia before? Are you alone or with mates? Will you be staying on after England are knocked out (i.e. end of group stage)? |Can you speak de lingo at all?

[LaxtonLad]

Because Russia gets to deny everything using precisely this argument, while letting everyone know it was them. As usual.

Russia, or should I say Putin, has shown his attitude to world opinion with his invasion of Ukraine, smirking while denying state sponsored drug taking by Russian athletes and his proud boast of Russian thugs attacking the English football fans. Apart from a few token "sanctions" no action was taken for the invasion and FIFA looked the other way when confronted with the hooligan element, nothing iffy about Russian bribes for hosting the world cup either, then? No, of course not, Sepp Blatter has gone, so, nothing to see here, all fixed, lets move on to nice and sunny Qutar and the next bung. Oops! Sorry! Already bunged.

[BigFatPie]

"“Here is the killer question that was not asked by anybody in parliament either on Monday or Wednesday, if this Novichok is exclusively Russian, why would Russia choose that weapon to mount a terrorist attack on the streets of Salisbury? They may as well be leaving a pair of boots covered with snow and painting ‘Vladimir Putin was here’ on the nearest wall.
It's absolutely absurd that Russia would actually put its signature on a crime like this if they had carried it out. I have an absolute conviction that this is exactly the same kind of canard that led us to the disaster of the Iraq war, In any list of suspects, Russia must be near the bottom because, self-evidently, it has not and cannot benefit from this crime in any way."
Says George Galloway.

Meanwhile the defence secretary announces that £48 million is now going to be spent on the chemical weapons defense center 8 miles from the attack.

I’m suprised he didn’t call him the “indefatigable” Vladimir Putin.

[andy6025]

I'd say France so far has it right: show the evidence and then react accordingly.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.mirr...e-12190501.amp

[SwalePie]

I'd say France so far has it right: show the evidence and then react accordingly.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.mirr...e-12190501.amp

...and fortunately they have today reacted by backing Mrs May, alongside Germany and the USA.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...oint-statement

[Old_pie]

"“Here is the killer question that was not asked by anybody in parliament either on Monday or Wednesday, if this Novichok is exclusively Russian, why would Russia choose that weapon to mount a terrorist attack on the streets of Salisbury? They may as well be leaving a pair of boots covered with snow and painting ‘Vladimir Putin was here’ on the nearest wall.
It's absolutely absurd that Russia would actually put its signature on a crime like this if they had carried it out. I have an absolute conviction that this is exactly the same kind of canard that led us to the disaster of the Iraq war, In any list of suspects, Russia must be near the bottom because, self-evidently, it has not and cannot benefit from this crime in any way."
Says George Galloway.

Meanwhile the defence secretary announces that £48 million is now going to be spent on the chemical weapons defense center 8 miles from the attack.

And assuming it is Russian Novichok how come anyone else has got their hands on it?

It is absolutely absurb that something else was used and then blame Russia for it. Russia simply doesn't care what anybody thinks - they are now too big and too powerful to control. Their ships and submarines hover around looking for an opportunity to disrupt our underwater infrastructure eg communications, oil, gas and electricity as well as cyber threats.

Don't think for a minute that this country bears any resemblance to the days of the Gorbachov regime. They are international thugs who shoot planes down and invade countries in a way that make the US of A look meek.

Give them an inch and they'll take a mile

[andy6025]

...and fortunately they have today reacted by backing Mrs May, alongside Germany and the USA.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...oint-statement

Apparently the UK has shown France the supposed evidence (they've been 'thoroughly briefed'). And in their short press release they simply say that they believe Russia did it (their strongest claim being that there are no other plausible explanations) and that they 'stand with the uk'... whatever that means.

Being from Missouri, I like to see the 'evidence' handed over to a neutral 3rd party for independent assessment before being confident that the conclusions are correct, after all, we've known the 'intelligence' to be wrong before and the mistake cost a lot more lives than the threat to a Russian double agent, his daughter and a local copper.

Unfortunately though, there's no mention in the joint statement of whether footy-fan citizens of those countries should or shouldn't go to the world cup... or any other retaliatory measures.

[tarquinbeech]

OK.....let us be sensible here......personally I think the Ruskies did the deed.....maybe not Putin but someone close to him looking for revenge.

This chemical can be knocked up by anyone with a GCE in Chemistry......the formulae is on the internet ffs.......and as for "invading Ukraine and Crimea", some of you are having a laugh.....the areas "INVADED" were Russian speaking and historically Russian for zillions of years, Putin is a tough guy and he wanted his territory back.....simple as......he did not "invade" Skeggy which is why the UN are holding back.

The weapon that shot down the airliner is freely available on the black market and was antiquated ie it was not able to differentiate between an airliner and a warplane.

Having said all of the above, Putin is a tough guy as I have already stated, BUT what does he have to gain from killing an ex~spy that spilled his guts years ago?