Suspicions Cast on Russia After Poisoning

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=4&u=/ap/20041214/ap_on_re_eu/russia_poison_problem

In the bloodstained post-Soviet period, feuds over money and power have often been solved by bullets or bombs. But confirmation that Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was disfigured by dioxin draws attention to suspicious cases in Russia in which poison may have been used to silence political foes and settle business scores.

As Yushchenko's supporters suggest Russian involvement in the attempt to hurt or kill him, critics of the Kremlin say poisoning is a Soviet-era practice that seems to have reappeared since ex-KGB officer Vladimir Putin became president and put many of his colleagues from the spy agency into positions of power.

"The list is rather long, and since Putin assumed power in Russia, poisoning has been one of the preferred political tools used by the Kremlin," said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent Russian military affairs analyst.

Yuri Shchekochikhin, a liberal Russian lawmaker and journalist who crusaded against corruption, died in July 2003 after apparently suffering a severe allergic reaction. Colleagues suspect he was poisoned, probably in connection with his reports on a case involving customs officials and allegations that a furniture store evaded millions of dollars in import duties.

"Professionals" arent going to bumble an assassination by poisoning and disfigure and create a martyr instead.

Just make him very ugly so he either would quit or he wouldn't able to be elected. Honestly, I don't think a president could win in the US if he looked like he did.

legend because of his ability to survive repeated poisonings, etc. Yeltsin's drinking but he always bounced back. There are stories that possibly Stalin was poisoned. Of course, Trotsky was hunted down in Mexico

If this poor man would happen to die from this poisoning, as I would imagine cancer is highly likely, those wounds or his martyrdom will remind everyone of the sinister nature of the conservatives. I do hope they can help him overcome the dioxin somehow. Yes his face is ugly now, but everyone knows why and that really says alot; the man is very brave.

...smacks of Putin's hand.

Why? Well, 'cause the Busholinis sucked up to Putin, big time.

This leadership's sudden about-face,...makes me suspicious.

After all, Putin's only doing in fast-forward what this administration is doing in "play" (with more wiley and deceptive tactics like 'puter voting and recalls and psy-ops).

Intelligence officials bungle things all the time. Our recent experience with 9/11 and Iraq show as much. Not to mention previous disasters like the various failed assassination plots against Castro. Is it unreasonable to conclude the KGB may be as incompetent as the CIA?
I don't know who is behind the poisoning, but the KGB is as good of a suspect as any. They obviously have a motive.

If someone wanted to assassinate him, and was actually in a position to successfully put poison into his food, he'd be dead now. That simple.

But that isn't what happened.

Instead, he's very much alive -- and with all his faculties fully intact, I might add -- but his appearance is altered such that nobody can look at him without suspecting his opponents of a terrible crime.

Now, I can't for the life of me figure out why an opponent would actually *do* something like that (it doesn't even make Macchiavellian sense). But I can certainly see why his (western) backers might. Especially considering that those western backers are actively trying to re-colonize the Middle East (and seize control of the critical resources there), and Russia is one of the few powers that could represent a genuine threat to their designs.


MDN

How did his appearance change and why did they find the toxin in his blood? Are you suggesting he deliberately took it himself?

The question is : by whom?

I doubt anyone would do such a thing to himself, especially a rising political star with national ambitions. But that doesn't mean his western backers wouldn't do it if they felt it would advance their interests in the region. Don't forget, by the way, that these are the same interests that aggressively lied OUR nation into a war in Iraq, and have clear designs on the rest of the region. Weakening Russian influence and alliances is certainly in their interest, because their expansionary wars are taking place right on Russia's doorstep (and in a resource-area where Russia has a critical interest). Of course, I'm only talking about my own suspicions here, so let's be clear on that. If it turns out that my suspicions are off-base, then fine. I'm just saying that the narrative we're getting in the domestic press is more than a little questionable, and given the international players involved other explanations should also be given at least a reasonable consideration before they are dismissed out of hand.

OTOH, it's not really a huge issue with me, so call it however you like. This is just my personal opinion, and I represent it as nothing more.


MDN

Who has the most to gain: his opponent (couldn't begin to spell it). I don't see the West in this one. It's too convoluted and they have other priorities.
Maybe we'll find out some day.

His western backers, on the other hand, very much did. And there's nothing any more "convoluted" about this than about an actual assassination attempt. The fact is, someone poisoned him in a manner that disfigured him, but that didn't kill him or incapacitate him or even stop him from campaigning, and that made it appear that his opponents were guilty of terrible acts. His backers quickly declared his election loss to be illegitimate, and are now circulating this poisoning story in the western and international press as proof of the declared winner's ill intent. Notably, the declared winner is the candidate backed by the Russian government, at a time when the western interests are engaged in an international war of aggression, launched under false pretenses, on the doorstep of that particular rival. To question this situation, under these circumstances, is simply common sense.


MDN

which would be a definite gain for his opponent.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Yushchenko-Poison.html?oref=login&oref=login

Doesn't look to me like the perpetrator wanted him to live.

he aged twenty years in the span of two. To put it bluntly he looks like shit now.

The act that he lived stand as evidence to the timely and appropriate medical care he received. Also his own physical condition and stamina had to be factored in. It in no way eliminates a possible assassin.

They can't hire or tell the Bulgarians to do their hits any more. Maybe the homegrown team fumbled the ball

it to give less than a fatal dose?? I very much doubt this...

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1067351


The inquiry is expected to focus on allegations that the chemical contaminant was given to Mr Yushchenko, possibly in his soup, at a dinner with top officials from the Ukrainian Security Service, the SBU, the night before he fell sick in September.

And they only give enough to make him OBVIOUSLY poisoned?? Very suspicious...ever hear of the sympathy vote???

The tests took longer to finish then the election was supposed to last. So, the public didn't know he was disfigured intentionally when they voted.

And, it is not like being disfigured often wins people votes.

There are alot possibilities in this case, if I had to give a top three I would say.

They didn't want to kill him, instead they just wanted him to look really ugly so he would lose votes.

They wanted to kill him, but he didn't drink that much of his soup so he survived.

They wanted to kill him, and he drunk it all, but he was strong enough and had good enough medical care to pull through.

:nuke:

Yushchenko was reported to have 1000 times normal level, which was said to be about 1 ppt (part per trillion), so he presumably had about 1000 ppt. Two other cases of very high doses of dioxin received accidentally were Russian women, one with 27000 ppt and another with 144000 ppt. Both recovered, the former with a fairly mild case of chloracne and the latter with a case at least as serious as Yushchenko's. So, there is not a lot of science on how the human body responds to this stuff at high levels - given that these women survived with much higher doses, and one had much less severe symptoms, the severity of Yushchenko's symptoms is somewhat surprising.