A chemical weapon was unleashed on the United Kingdom this week.
21 people were hospitalized after being exposed to an unspecified nerve agent. Three of the victims are still in the hospital. Two are still in critical condition and one --- a police officer --- is expected to pull through.
One of the victims in critical condition has revealed what this attack was all about and who may be responsible, but let’s back up a bit.
At the end of the Cold War up until the early 2000s, Sergei Skripal was a Russian intelligence officer serving two masters. The Russians thought he was a loyal undercover operative spying on the British, but what he was really doing was leaking information to MI6 (British Intelligence).
Russia caught onto his treason in 2004 and put him in prison for seven years until he was released in a high profile spy trade. All seemed fine until four days ago. Sergei and his daughter were found unconscious on a park bench, victims of an unprecedented assassination on UK soil.
Scotland Yard has stunningly revealed that the poison used in the attack was a nerve agent. That means a nation-state was most probably behind this.
We know who did this.
The entire world knows who ordered this assassination, but Russia has fallen in line with their usual playbook: deny, deny deny. The ridiculousness of Russian bravado is so insane.
Not only does Russia have the only clear motive, but only a country with stockpiles of chemical weapons could have pulled this off. It’s not like you can pick up Sarin or VX gas down at the local 7/11. The British know who did this, we know who did this and Russia knows --- and doesn't care --- that we know it was them.
Think about the ramifications of what might happen next. What happens if the UK finds definitive proof and traces this back to the Kremlin?
This attack goes way beyond an attempted assassination of a Russian traitor... 21 UK citizens were hospitalized because of a CHEMICAL WEAPON.
This was an act of war.
There’s no other way to describe it. This was a terror attack on UK soil possibly carried out by the Russian government. Put another way... THIS WAS AN ACT OF WAR.
Russian aggression has reached near suicidal activity. Where this goes from here is anyone’s guess. It all comes down to whether the British can prove who is ultimately culpable.
With the seriousness of this attack, and knowing the global ramifications if Russia is publicly outed --- I gotta admit we might be better off never finding out the truth.