UK scientists unable to prove Russia made nerve agent

[FarCenter]

The head of the British military facility analysing the Novichok nerve agent used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter said Tuesday it has "not identified the precise source" of the substance.
Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Porton Down defence laboratory, told Britain's Sky News that analysts had identified it as military-grade Novichok, but they had not proved it was made in Russia.

"We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions," he said.

"It is our job to provide the scientific evidence of what this particular nerve agent is. We identified that it is from this particular family and that it is a military grade, but it is not our job to say where it was manufactured."

Aitkenhead added that "extremely sophisticated methods" were needed to create the nerve agent, and that was "something only in the capabilities of a state actor".

http://www.france24.com/en/20180403-uk-skripal-salisbury-russia-nerve-agent-novichok-porton-down

[bettyellen]

1. So they never do ID the source- and headline is misleading

[FarCenter]

3. I would think that they would have if they could.

By, for example, knowledge of contaminants or residues from the reactions used to create precursors, etc.

[bettyellen]

4. Quoted: it is not our job to say where it was manufactured. This OP is propaganda.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. The headline is accurate - they cannot *prove* the source

It's not that surprising. Sometimes you can prove amazing things, thanks to, say, isotope analysis of teeth and bones that show the area a person whose skeleton has been found grew up in. But you can't guarantee that kind of finding. That kind of detail would probably need plenty of samples of what you're examining from several sources. With a substance that is not well documented, there was always a significant likelihood they couldn't track it down that precisely.

[bettyellen]

7. They say they never prove the source- so why is it a headline in this case? They also say...

was "something only in the capabilities of a state actor".

Wouldn’t that be a better headline? Hmmmmmm.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Because "something only in the capabilities of a state actor" had already been the general thought?

The headline in a news story is the most significant new development.

[bettyellen]

9. That they are not doing something they never do? How is that news?

They literally say they never name a source, so what’s new or news here? Not their job.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. I cannot understand what you are saying (nt)

[bettyellen]

18. Its not that they are unable to prove their source- its literally not their mandate to. Thats

What the article says. They only provide the scientific evidence- and are not there to make conclusions. That’s the government’s job to do.

[blake2012]

2. There you go again

[bettyellen]

5. Quote: was "something only in the capabilities of a state actor".

“Aitkenhead added that "extremely sophisticated methods" were needed to create the nerve agent, and that was "something only in the capabilities of a state actor".“

[FarCenter]

13. Given the resources available to some of the Russian oligarchs, I don't buy it.

What is the benchmark for "capabilities of a state actor"?

Suppose a non-state actor has $1,000,000,000 to spend?

[Raster]

14. All of the Russian oligarchs ARE STATE ACTORS...

...and serve as billionaires at the pleasure and with the permission of the Russian head of state.

[FarCenter]

15. Not really, especially the ones in the UK, Europe, Ukraine and Israel.

[bettyellen]

17. So then this group concluded its not someone acting independently of the state....

Yet you seem to be insisting it is? Yeah, this is twisted. Bad headline, when you read past it. And twisted OP.

[bettyellen]

16. The oligarchs are empowered by Putin, and could be destroyed by him

In the blink of an eye. This is like Putin pretending the troll farms are not state sponsored.

[FarCenter]

19. Putin has managed to kill a few, like Boris Berezovsky, but others are alive and well.

You have an overly simplistic view of power structures within and outside of autocratic states.

[bettyellen]

20. And you are selectively misreading what the article in the OP says to defend Russia. Twistedz

[samir.g]

11. must have been elves

or djinn

[BannonsLiver]

12. Santa Claus did it.