US to sanction Russia over nerve agent poisoning

I agree with Freeborn we have not seen any evidence of who committed the attack. It was all a dodgy deal right from the off. Lift a gun? lol only cowboys need a gun

originally posted by: Sublimecraft
a reply to: gortex

America has come to the same conclusion as Britain

Of course they have, this reminds me of Iraq circa 2003.

a reply to: Metallicus

How exactly is this risking nuclear war?

originally posted by: illuminnaughty
I agree with Freeborn we have not seen any evidence of who committed the attack. It was all a dodgy deal right from the off. Lift a gun? lol only cowboys need a gun

You won't see evidence until a trial or inquest, that's how justice works. But things have clearly been shared with UKs allies to motivate them to take action against Russia, but just because this has not been made public does not mean it does not exist. For example, we now know the UK have asked Russian for access to two Russian citizens.

Russia remains the prime suspect. Motive, means and method. And they have assassinated people abroad in the UK before using unusual methods, so hardly atypical.

a reply to: Metallicus

So Russia should be given carte blanche to do whatever they want with no fear of repercussions?

a reply to: paraphi


Here is an interesting article from the BBC:

Will Russian Suspects Face Trial


We will not know what the evidence actually is at this stage but as in the Litvinenko case there will probably be a Public Inquiry which will set out the evidence for all to see:

"A third option is to do what ultimately happened in the Litvinenko case, and hold a public inquiry in which as much as possible of the evidence is laid out for everyone to see."

It is a very open process. Quite frankly, those that doubt that Russia is to blame must be living in cloud cuckoo land.

I don't think that Trump has tweeted about this which seems odd. Am I right in thinking that the decision to impose these sanctions was not his?

a reply to: gortex

Shame no one sanctions the USA over the depleted uranium poisoning of citizens in Iraq. Babies are still being born like balls of jelly and eyes.

a reply to: oldcarpy

Quite frankly, those that doubt that Russia is to blame must be living in cloud cuckoo land.

Of course Russia is the most likely suspect....but we haven't seen any EVIDENCE at all - one of the most basic principles of the British judicial system is 'Innocent until proven guilty' and no-one can be found guilty without the presentation of evidence.
We've been deceived and lied to far too many times for us to accept anything our government says without seeing evidence.

But more to the point, as I previously stated; if Russia is guilty of this attack, either directly or by some proxy, then it is the UK that should be taking the required retaliatory or punitive actions.

Was Trump's decision to unilaterally punish Russia over this incident driven by his personal desire to be seen to be righting all the world's ills on his own or was it as a result of the UK governments apparent inaction, or maybe something else?

I'm a bit confused over this and really don't understand Trump's actions prior to any real and substantial action by Theresa May's government.

originally posted by: Xcalibur254
a reply to: Metallicus

So Russia should be given carte blanche to do whatever they want with no fear of repercussions?

You make stuff up. The attack happened a few miles away from the biggest stock pile of chemical wepons in Europe. The UK recently said it was not the Russians and the US blames them. Do you really buy this main stream propaganda Russia frenzy.

As I said if you want to blame people for things you actually have proof for. Look at the depleted uranium attacks in Iraq. Look at the images of babies being born with heads of jelly.

The difference is thats a real crime

a reply to: Freeborn

The only thing Russia is guilty of is not towing the line of the capitalist west and kicking out the bankers. Thats why Russia gets blamed, because they have different political views.

a reply to: Freeborn


You are not going to see any evidence at this stage of the investigation. That comes out either at a trial or a Public Inquiry - that is how our justice system works. It is not trial by public opinion.

a reply to: purplemer


When did the UK say it was not the Russians?

This happened in my home city. So Porton Down is nearby, so what? This plays well for Russia as shown by all the gullible idiots on here who scream that virtually everything is a false flag.

Former Russian spy viewed by Russia as a traitor poisoned with a Russian nerve agent and Russian suspects identified on CCTV footage and Russia has form for similar assassinations and attempts on British soil?

Honestly, if you came here to Salisbury and tried to tell the locals that it wasn't the Russians they would laugh at you. Get real.

a reply to: purplemer


Putin, probably one of the richest men in the world is not a capitalist? I see.....

Never heard of Russian oligarchs?

a reply to: oldcarpy

Russia has won the anti west online conspiracy war its has successfully orchestrated for a few years.

Members on this site used to comment about Putins expensive watch collection that his salary would never be able to afford but now Russian corruption is ignored

wouldn’t surprise me if some of that is Far Right and white like White Russians 👌🏻

a reply to: Whereismypassword


True. There seems to be a lot of pro-Russian posters on ATS these days who seem suspicious. It's a shame that so many posters seem to lap up their propoganda whilst hating their own countries. Talk about gullible!

a reply to: purplemer

Russia is no paragon of virtue neither are they the devil incarnate.

To be fair, Russia gets blamed because Russia has past history in carrying out these type of attacks.

To absolve them of all responsibility or guilt without seeing any evidence suggests either a naivety of enormous proportions or a predetermined disposition either for Russia or against 'The West'.

a reply to: oldcarpy

You are not going to see any evidence at this stage of the investigation. That comes out either at a trial or a Public Inquiry - that is how our justice system works. It is not trial by public opinion.

If this was some domestic incident then that would be obvious.

An incident that is having international repercussions including the USA placing sanctions on Russia is slightly different.

Far too often are decisions taken in our name without any evidence.
How many times have these decisions been found to be unsound and without grounds?
This can not continue and I for one expect a damn sight more transparency from our spineless and amoral 'leaders'.

Trump's actions have made the UK look toothless and lacking any sort of willingness to take action against the perpetrators of this attack.

We should know why he felt he needed to act like he did before and independent of the UK.

reply to: Freeborn


It is an ongoing Police murder investigation. My understanding is that the State Department was obliged under US law to impose these sanctions, see here:

CNN Article

So, maybe not Trump at all but I am not all that up on how things work in the USA. Seems odd he is a bit quiet about this - has he tweeted yet?

Interesting read here about the GRU's activities. Worth reading the whole thing - quite long - but there is some interesting stuff about the Skripals at the end:

CNN Article