81–90 of 371 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not easy to obtain or synthesize. Terrorists prefer simpler approaches.
> Terrorists prefer simpler approaches. that is a very dangerous assumption to make.
This guy has gotta be one of the bravest and most principled people out there. Almost anyone else would have determined that fighting this fight has no practical utility, since nothing short of a massive popular uprising could unseat Putin at this point, and Russians apparently have no appetite for such an uprising today. Hard enough to risk your life for something that might have a good outcome. To me, it's almost i…
Anyone with such a cynical attitude like yours is inevitably doomed to failure. I’m not picking on you, specifically, just pointing out why these powers can hold such a firm grasp. Hope is really scarce these days.
Maybe I'm too skeptical, but this seems a bit too obvious to me. Why would you try to poison someone with no real threat to you and risk him becoming a martyr, using a method that immediately brings you to mind, with a nerve agent that is also strongly linked to you?
They're Russian. They work differently...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Merkel of Germany has been chancellor since 2005 (15 years) Putin has been president since 2000 with 4 years break (16 years). So technically he is not THAT bad in comparison.
> 4 years break Right...
Maybe I'm too skeptical, but this seems a bit too obvious to me. Why would you try to poison someone with no real threat to you and risk him becoming a martyr, using a method that immediately brings you to mind, with a nerve agent that is also strongly linked to you?
Russia knows no one is going to do anything about it. This method lets people know what tools they are willing to use on an adversary. And it’s also a signature “we did it” so you don’t have to guess who’s after you. It serves as a warning to any upstarts as well. It’s not all that different from the Ndraghetta bombings up and down Italy in the late XX cent.
This is the second time they've done this, IIRC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Skripal It's pretty much the ultimate flex, no? "We can kill anyone we want in any country, and you can't do shit about it."
This is the second time they've done this, IIRC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Skripal It's pretty much the ultimate flex, no? "We can kill anyone we want in any country, and you can't do shit about it."
This guy has gotta be one of the bravest and most principled people out there. Almost anyone else would have determined that fighting this fight has no practical utility, since nothing short of a massive popular uprising could unseat Putin at this point, and Russians apparently have no appetite for such an uprising today. Hard enough to risk your life for something that might have a good outcome. To me, it's almost i…
In some cases, it happened literally in a revolution. In other cases, it was because a popular figure was assassinated.
Since a revolution is impossible against a major military power, it's likely that the latter is one of the only ways to inspire popular action (other than total collapse of the economy, of course).
So this is as confirmed as Iraq WMD and Russia collusion where the entire establishment and media comes together but ultimately this is fake? Or there is some actual proof?
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I wouldn't be so quick to point the finger at Putin or a government conspiracy personally. There are a lot of powerful billionaires in Russia who exist thanks to Putin and it seems plausible that one of them, given their vested interest in keeping their patron in charge, might have poisoned the man.
And that billionaire just happens to have access to a Russian Military Chemical Weapon?
Putin's grip isn't as tight as you think.
I'm not denying that Navalny was poisoned with Novichok. The question is who ordered it. I'm not convinced it was Putin.