'Ex-Russian PM Poisoned'

[ECH1969]

Doctors treating a former Russian Prime Minister for a serious illness believe he was poisoned, an aide has revealed.

Yegor Gaidar is fighting for his life in a Moscow hospital after becoming unwell on a trip to Ireland a week ago.

"Doctors don't see a natural reason for the poisoning," said aide Valery Natarov.

"They have not been able to detect any natural substance known to them in Gaidar's body. "So obviously we're talking about poisoning (and) it was not natural poisoning."

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1242600,00.html

[Tight_rope]

1. Damn...better watch what we eat!

[hippiechick]

9. Nah, just don't fly British Air or meet with any Russians

:shrug:

[Ellis Wyatt]

2. so I guess

Bush & co. aren't the most evil administration out there.

[T_i_B]

3. This is becoming a worrying trend

First Alexander Litvinenko, now this.

The Litvinenko poisoning is causing all sorts of trouble over here what with BA planes being grounded and all.

[lindisfarne]

8. One has to wonder who is behind it. It's possible that terrorists want to destabilize world politics

and are using this (these?) poisoning(s) in an attempt to do so. That being said, this is just as likely to be something being carried out either by Russian government organizations (FSB (=former KGB)) or even powerful, organized crime figures. Anyone who thinks radioactive materials are well-secured in the former Soviet Union doesn't understand the reality: anyone with enough money and the motivation can get their hands on this stuff. The US has attempted to help secure the more dangerous of these materials but there is a long way to go before this is accomplished.

[frylock]

15. if by terrorists you mean former kgb agents turned prime minister..

then you may be onto something.

[lindisfarne]

28. "Former KGB agent turned prime minister" falls under my discussion about

Russian sources (who could also be classified as "terrorists", in this day of using that work liberally; so could Bush!).

Just as equally possible is that non-Russian sources are trying to create a conflict.

[aquart]

4. It's all so interesting and creative. James Bondian.

Practicaly guaranteed to get the maximum amount of press coverage.

Why is that?

[John Gauger]

23. Fear

Putin wants everyone to know that you can't cross him. If you do, you die. He is untouchable, living in his fortress. He is murdering his enemies with impunity.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Reminds one of the two American generals who got food poisoning together,

at dinner in a Washington D.C. restaurant recently. These men had expressed a difference of opinion with the _Bush administration's prosecution of the war.

It was discussed at D.U. at that time. I can't remember their names. One was in the hospital for 4 days, or more.

Of course it's pointless to remind people of the anthrax which was sent to prominent Democratic politicians during _Bush's early pResidency.

[ECH1969]

6. Major General Casey the commander of CENTCOM was out with his friend

And, got ecoli poisoning which gave them diaria for a few days.

Thats a weeee bit different then eating Polonium 210

[Judi Lynn]

18. As DU'er Garbo 2004 provided in another thread:

From AP story:

Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Gen. John Abizaid, the top commander for Iraq, Afghanistan and the entire region, fell ill after dining out near the capital last week.

The pair ate at a local restaurant on Sept. 20 and some hours later both were not feeling well, officials said.

Eikenberry soon recovered, said Lt. Col. John Paradis, a spokesman in Kabul.

But Abizaid felt increasingly sick last Thursday and decided to go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He spent three nights there before being released Sunday morning, Maj. Matthew McLaughlin at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, said Wednesday.
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Sep27/0,4670,GeneralsSick,00.html

Next Time, He'll Try Ted's Salmon

Fans-and there are lots of them-of Ted's Montana Grill might want to try their Bison Burger on the medium-well side next time they visit the restaurant chain started by Ted Turner of CNN fame. Y'all see, Gen.John Abizaid, head of Central Command, had one the same night he fell ill with food poisoning, finishing the night at the hospital during a recent visit to Washington. The Pentagon thinks the burger did it, but the Atlanta-based chain says the fault lies elsewhere.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biz/interstitials/int.php?title=Washington%20Whispers&pageURL=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/articles/061008/16whisplead_2.htm

Don't need the attempt at condescention.

[elehhhhna]

7. Cheney was in Ireland last week...and he's supertoxic.

[Eurobabe]

10. He's walking yellow cake!

LOL

[applegrove]

11. Gosh I hope they find out who is responsible. Putin..the russian mobsters ???

[Jack Rabbit]

12. Russians who don't like Putin getting poisoned

It looks like an epidemic.

Did Putin think that the sudden case of lead poisoning given to Anna Politkovskaya in the elevator of her apartment house was a little messy?

[Vidar]

13. Putin as Borgia.

[mc jazz]

14. it's not Putin

because this is inept and botched, who would kill someone slowly by radiation, when the FSB could do it quickly and make it look natural. Are the FSB f****g amateurs? No, this is a set-up so obviously. I don't think this is Putin but who it is, I do not know. If the PTB blame him then its a jump of logic to think he would embaress himself by a botched killing. The FSB would do it quickly and without fuss I think this is a set-up

[SquireJons]

16. I don't agree

Your main assertion is that Putin isn't behind this because it's so heavy handed. But nothing in his past suggests subtlety. When confronted with civilian hostages, he has quickly killed them, even a school full of children. Executives and others have been getting killed left right and center. War rages, atrocities are exposed and nothing happens. He simply doesn't care, because his power base is secure.

I think the poisoning of Gaidar along with the reporter and the spy represent a new chapter in Russian foreign and domestic policy. This is a challenge to the west and to any domestic opposition. Opposition means death now. Even if you have really good Kremlin connections, like Gaidar did.

The next step will be for Putin to attempt to influence third world countries with targeted assassinations. Putin is becoming a monster.

[Pachamama]

24. Bush saw his soulmate in Putin's eyes....

So, who do think is the bigger monster? :shrug:

All I know is that I think Putin and Bush are both incredibly dangerous and I think they are both sociopaths capable of doing much evil without a iota of concern or regret on its effects on anyone but themselves.

I believe that Putin may very well be behind the murders of both Anna Politivskoyo (sp?) and of Alexander Litivenko (sp?) I think Putin is trying to send a message to anyone who thinks of crossing him. Bush is just sending the message to the world in his speeches that he is completely delusional and "mad".

[SquireJons]

26. Good post.

Hard to find fault with anything you said.

[mc jazz]

25. hmmmm

If this is true Putin has moved to a war footing, yes if this was his work it represents the new heavy handed approach you speak of.
Is this really true?

I have always believed Putin/Russia play chess and this is just so blatant I question it. Russia doesn't need crude assasinations to weild influence, sureky it can do this through energy, or military deals. Behind the scenes I believe Putin is up to a lot of stuff serving to consolidate Russia's power and forging alternatives to US influence, so he is a target

Why would he politically depose himself in the west through stuff like this? It makes no sense unless the 'Putin monster' theory is correct. Well, there's a lot of monsters out there then aren't there, just one more to add to the list

I immediately saw on Faux news the case has already been solved, it's Putin. This is trial by media and I am bloody mad that we 'the public' are supposed to 'just believe' and condemn a world leader (even if we condemned him privately before that's beside the point).

Lets all be sheep, lets all be told what to think!!!

[SquireJons]

27. Well first of all... you watch Faux Newz?

... and believe anything they say? I'm going to assume that you are somewhat joking. But it does make your comments suspect.

Second, Russia and Putin are already on a war footing. They have been since Putin was elected. The war in Chechnya is as bad as the one in Iraq with no end in sight. So, in the minds of the Kremlin, the gloves are off.

Third, we know that Russia does use it's military and energy position to intimidate other countries. Look at Georgia for instance. They completely cut off natural gas in the dead of winter last year. So he is using those tools already. There is no reason to think he won't pull more levers and push more buttons. Political assassination is standard practice in the intelligence community.

I think it makes perfect sense. Putin is starting with Russians, but if there are no serious consequences, I expect that he will expand operations into area's that Russia wants to influence. Lebanon, for instance.

Personally, I don't watch TV at all, so I am not influenced by what the MSM says. I read all the articles I can and draw my own conclusions. Plus, I have a pretty good instinct for Russia. I was taking a graduate class in Soviet Politics when Chernenko died, and I was the only one in the class who predicted Andropov would be selected next. Then, in 2001, I took a class in contemporary world events and we spent a good amount of time on the Soviet Union. I was predicting back then that Putin would try to roll back democratic reforms and usher in a new totalitarian state while my prof argued that Putin just wanted stability. Guess who appears more correct now?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

30. Don't assume that just because it doesn't look like FSB work...

...doesn't mean it's Putin (or one of his allies.)

[mikelgb]

17. brazen

[daleo]

19. What about the U.S. anthrax attacks?

I would still like to know who was behind that.

[Judi Lynn]

21. The timing was important, as it "set" a certain threat in place at the very beginning

of the _Bush seizure of the Presidency. It left a sinister tone which undoubtedly served to check any passionate opposition to his administration.

[tom_paine]

20. Looks like Russia has achieved full BushPutinism

Guess we can be happy our own BushPutinist Cabal didn't try doing stuff like that.

Of course, the Bushies knew and know that if they took such drastic measures here, that people would see through it and they would have some kind of resistance, at the very least the nonviolent kind and possibly worse.

Some days it's so damned good to be an American. And how nice it is that we regained the 'c' in our name.

In the end, the System bent severely (and we are still not out of the danger yet) but apparently didn't break.

And the American People rose up and flipped power, showing perhaps things are not as bad as they seem when it's darkest.

[Matilda]

22. Alexander Litvinenko, who died last week,

was a former bodyguard to Gaidar.

I have no idea what it's all about, but this is one coincidence too many.

[mc jazz]

29. why I'm not buying it

until the proof is found I'm not blaming Putin, here's why. Because wasn't it very common in the 19th century for assasinations to be a pretext for war? I thought that's how WW1 kicked off

These deaths we see (the spy, Hariri, and the recent lebanese politician) are all being used to beat the war drum as important as they may be, I'm deeply suspicious of the use being made out of them for advancing agendas. Even more suspicious when I see everyone buying into it with no proof. In this climates there is no truth, no objectivity. This is how wars begin

My prediction is that MI5 will eventually find the real group behind it was not connected to Putin. Think about it, we are expected to believe Putin has let off a dirty bomb in London? This is not a normal assasination and it makes me feel gullible to swallow the same line of reasoning I saw on Faux news (which is, hey, it's Putin folks)

I stand by my first reaction that this is too brazen and what has Putin gained? World condemnation and not much else, maybe scared a few critics who were no real threat

Where is the logic to all this?
I remember reading the Sun newspaper which had a scary little map of Iraq and all the places it could reach with it's WMD missiles. There's no proof yet and too many groups to gain from this to make a firm judgement. If it turns out to be Putin I'll be the first to admit I was wrong and you guys can suggest a forfeit (how about drinking a bottle of vodka!)