The poisoning of Skripal and the campaign against Russia
28 March 2018
Washington’s expulsion of 60 Russian diplomatic personnel Monday, and the coordinated actions of Britain, France, Germany, and over 20 other countries, each ordering the departure of a relative handful of Russian diplomats, is a provocative escalation of the unrelenting campaign of NATO powers against Russia.
The stated pretext for this action is the murky affair involving the poisoning of the former Russian spy and British double agent Sergei Skripal and his adult daughter on a park bench in the southern British city of Salisbury on March 4.
The government of Tory Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly stated over the past two weeks that it is “highly likely” that Moscow was behind the attack, which has left Skripal and his daughter hospitalized in critical condition. Britain’s Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has gone further, adding that it is “overwhelmingly likely” that Vladimir Putin personally ordered the attack, going so far as to compare the Russian president to Adolf Hitler.
There are just two things missing to support these allegations: 1) any verifiable evidence, and 2) any plausible motive for the Russian government to carry out such a crime.
Several governments that joined Washington and London in expelling diplomats—in most cases ordering between one and four Russians to leave the country, with what Moscow has reported as quiet apologies—candidly admit that they have been shown no evidence whatsoever.
For its part, the British government has given less time for its supposed investigation of the poisonings to uncover the actual perpetrator than would be customary for an average street crime.
Unsupported by any evidence, the allegations made by Britain and the United States…