Do we need to start treating Vladamir Putin like a thug? A former KGB agent was poisoned in England this week, while he was investigating the killing of Russian journalist Anna Polikovskaya, which is thought to be government related.
Earlier on Monday, Goldfarb told British Broadcasting Corp. radio that the former agent was poisoned because of his opposition to the Russian regime.
"It's very difficult to imagine the president's ordered the killing, it's true, and nobody's saying that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin personally ordered it, though it's very likely," Goldfarb said.
If this is true, and recent events inside Russia make this likely, and Putin’s thuggery stretches outside his own country, then he becomes an international criminal and menace and should be dealt with harshly. However, I doubt anything significant will be done in the U.N. or in Europe.
Russia is still looking more and more Autocratic, with Putin accused of gangster style murders and vote fraud over the past few years. This just adds another arrow in the quiver for us to treat them as something other than the democracy we hoped they’d turn into.
Incidentally, check out the description of the poison used.
Thallium is frequently referred to as the poison of choice: Only a gram of the colorless, odorless, water-soluble heavy metal can kill. It is as toxic as arsenic, and even more so than lead.
“What you do not smell is called Iocane powder. It is odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and is among the more deadly poisons known to man.”
“Because iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.”
“I spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder.”
“Iocane powder. I’d bet my life on it.”
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