BREAKING: British-US Toxin, Not Novichok used in Salisbury Attack

Swiss lab says ‘BZ toxin’ used in Salisbury, not produced in Russia, was in US & UK service.

The substance used on Sergei Skripal was an agent called BZ, according to Swiss state Spiez lab, the Russian foreign minister said. The toxin was never produced in Russia, but was in service in the US, UK, and other NATO states.

Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with an incapacitating toxin known as 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate or BZ, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, citing the results of the examination conducted by a Swiss chemical lab that worked with the samples that London handed over to the Organisation for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The Swiss center sent the results to the OPCW. However, the UN chemical watchdog limited itself only to confirming the formula of the substance used to poison the Skripals in its final report without mentioning anything about the other facts presented in the Swiss document, the Russian foreign minister added. He went on to say that Moscow would ask the OPCW about its decision to not include any other information provided by the Swiss in its report.

The Swiss center mentioned by Lavrov is the Spiez Laboratory controlled by the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection and ultimately by the country’s defense minister. The lab is also an internationally recognized center of excellence in the field of the nuclear, biological, and chemical protection and is one of the five centers permanently authorized by the OPCW.

The Russian foreign minister said that London refused to answer dozens of “very specific” questions asked by Moscow about the Salisbury case, as well as to provide any substantial evidence that could shed light on the incident. Instead, the UK accused Russia of failing to answer its own questions, he said, adding that, in fact, London did not ask any questions but wanted Moscow to admit that it was responsible for the delivery of the chemical agent to the UK.

The scandal erupted in early March, when former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found in critical condition in the town of Salisbury. Top UK officials almost immediately pinned the blame on Russia.

Moscow believes that the entire Skripal case lacks transparency and that the UK is in fact not interested in an independent inquiry. “We get the impression that the British government is deliberately pursuing the policy of destroying all possible evidence, classifying all remaining materials and making a transparent investigation impossible,” the Russian ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, said during a press conference on Friday.

Read more at rightedition.com

 

Comments (32)

  • Avatar

    Joseph Olson

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    Nuclear Armageddon is a subject all scientists must be concerned about, as the potential for planet wide destruction is possible and avoidable.

    Assad did not gas Syrians…. Putin did not gas Skripal…. Russians killed thousands of ISIS….

    “We killed hundreds of Russians” ~ rabid Mike Pompeo in senate

    Earth is ruled by lying, genocidal warlords and must be freed.

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    Sam

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    Bullcrap, NEVER believe a Russian!

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      John O'Sullivan

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      Sam, I would agree it would be unwise to just take the word of any Russian government appointee in such a serious matter. However, the Russians claim their source is the highly-respected Swiss Spiez laboratory. They officially tested the samples from Salisbury submitted to them by Organisation for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Unless/until Spiez Lab deny the Russian claim, then it is reasonable to accept this latest revelation as credible.

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        Brian Coss

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        There is the issue of establishing chain of custody of the sample.

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        Sam

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        Always verify, the Russians always lie, and the lab could be compromised. Makes no sense for the Brits to do that and blame the Russians, or did a Russian operative in the British government do it to misdirect? Perhaps, the gassing was concocted by the DNC and Robert Mueller to get the President and May in a collision. (LOL) Speculation, but the Ruskies have always had that MO.

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          Derek sarath

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          And you know that the Russians lie because? you don’t think Britain doesn’t lie? do you remember weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? forgot about that have you? says everything about you.

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      Frances

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      Never believe the US or UK, remember Bush and Blair re weapons of mass destruction Iraq.

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    John O'Sullivan

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    I have been checking up 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate or BZ and it fits to the Skripals’ symptoms to a tee:
    “a hallucinogenic and incapacitating chemical warfare agent. BZ is disseminated as an aerosol, through the respiratory system. BZ affects both peripheral and central nervous systems.
    … signs of disorientation, agitation, tremor, ataxia, stupor, coma, and seizures may occur. BZ is disseminated as a small particle aerosol and so may be present on clothing, which is removed and sealed in a plastic bag, or skin, which is washed with water. If severe delirium and agitation occur, then the patient may require sedation with a benzodiazepine.”
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/3-quinuclidinyl-benzilate
    British Police asked the people who were in contact with the Skripals to wash their clothes or throw them away in sealed bags. Both father and daughter were kept under heavy sedation for at least three weeks. Yulia said that she feels disoriented. QED

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    Sam

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    Biological effects. Nerve agents attack the nervous system of the human body. All such agents function the same way resulting in cholinergic crisis: they inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which is responsible for the breakdown of acetylcholine (ACh) in the synapses between nerves that control muscle contraction. However, nerve agents are much more potent than organophosphate pesticides. Sarin originally was developed in 1938 in Germany as a pesticide. Sarin is a clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid that has no odor in its pure form. However, sarin can evaporate into a vapor (gas) and spread into the environment. Often the most important first step in treating nerve agent exposure is to decontaminate the patient. This is normally done by removing contaminated clothing, thoroughly washing body and hair with soap and water, and flushing eyes with large amounts of water or saline solution. Contaminated clothing should be double-bagged after removal to prevent further exposure. It is important that anyone treating a contaminated person should wear appropriate personal protective equipment to avoid exposure.

    Nerve agent poisoning can be treated with the antidotes atropine and pralidoxime chloride (2-PAM chloride). Atropine has anticholinergic properties that are particularly effective at peripheral muscarinic sites, but are less effective at nicotinic sites. 2-PAM chloride cleaves the nerve agent from the cholinesterase enzyme and restores the enzyme’s activity. In contrast to atropine’s action, the effects of 2-PAM chloride are most noticeable at tissues with nicotinic receptors; muscarinic effects are not observably altered. The efficacy of 2-PAM chloride for treating patients decreases as time elapses due to the strengthening or “aging” of the nerve agent-enzyme bond. This so-called “aging” occurs most rapidly with soman, and 2-PAM chloride may be ineffective for exposures to soman unless administered within several minutes of exposure. Repeated administration of both atropine and 2-PAM chloride may be needed to reverse the effects of nerve agents on patients. Benzodiazepine administration may also be necessary to control seizures, and phentolamine may be needed to treat 2-PAM chloride-induced hypertension.

    Both atropine and 2-PAM chloride are available to medical professionals as spring-loaded auto-injector syringes for intramuscular administration. Mark I kits consist of one syringe containing 2 mg atropine and another containing 600 mg 2-PAM chloride. The doses provided by the Mark I kits are designed for adults and these kits have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use of children. Atropine alone in auto-injector form is available as the AtroPen in amounts of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg. 2-PAM chloride alone is available in auto-injector form as the 600 mg ComboPen.

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    John O'Sullivan

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    In addition:

    BZ is also known as “Buzz”
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-Quinuclidinyl_benzilate

    BZ was invented by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffman-LaRoche in 1951.[2] The company was investigating anti-spasmodic agents, similar to tropine, for treating gastrointestinal ailments when the chemical was discovered.[2] It was then investigated for possible use in ulcer treatment, but was found unsuitable. At this time the United States military investigated it along with a wide range of possible nonlethal, psychoactive incapacitating agents including psychedelic drugs such as LSD and THC, dissociative drugs such as ketamine and phencyclidine, potent opioids such as fentanyl, as well as several glycolate anticholinergics.[3][4] By 1959 the United States Army showed significant interest in deploying it as a chemical warfare agent.[2] It was originally designated “TK”, but when it was standardized by the Army in 1961 it received the NATO code name “BZ”.[2] The agent commonly became known as “Buzz” because of this abbreviation and the effects it had on the mental state of the human volunteers intoxicated with it in research studies at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland.[2] As described in retired Army psychiatrist James Ketchum’s autobiographical book Chemical Warfare: Secrets Almost Forgotten (2006), work proceeded in 1964 when a general envisioned a scheme to incapacitate an entire trawler with aerosolized BZ; this effort was dubbed Project DORK.[5] BZ was ultimately weaponized for delivery in the M44 generator cluster and the M43 cluster bomb, until all such stocks were destroyed in 1989 as part of a general downsizing of the US chemical warfare program.

    http://pages.uoregon.edu/munno/OregonCourses/REL253F12/REL253Notes/BZStory.htm

    Finally, In 1994, The Committee On Veterans Affairs Of The United States Senate confirmed the involvement of the Army and CIA in covert operations involving the testing of BZ:

    “Is Military Research Hazardous To Veterans’ Health? Lessons Spanning Half A Century” 3A Staff Report Prepared For The Committee On Veterans Affairs United States Senate, December 8, 1994
    For at least 50 years, DOD [Department of Defese] has knowingly exposed military personnel to potentially dangerous substances, often in secret. The U.S. General Accounting Office issued a report on September 28, 1994, which stated that between 1940 and 1974, DOD and other national security agencies studied hundreds of thousands of human subjects in tests and experiments involving hazardous substances. GAO stated that some tests and experiments were conducted in secret. Medical research involving the testing of nerve agents, nerve agent antidotes, psychochemicals and irritants was often classified. Additionally, some work conducted for DOD by contractors still remains classified today. For example, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has not released the names of 15 of the approximately 80 organizations that conducted experiments under the MKULTRA program, which gave psychochemical drugs to an undetermined number of people without their knowledge or consent. According to the GAO report, the CIA has not released this information because the organizations do not want to be identified. . . . (underline mine).

    Hallucinogens

    Working with the CIA the Department of Defense gave hallucinogenic drugs to thousands of “volunteer” soldiers in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In addition to LSD, the Army also tested quinuclidinyl benzilate, a hallucinogen code-named BZ. Many of these tests were conducted under the so-called MKULTRA program, established to counter perceived Soviet and Chinese advances in brainwashing techniques. Between 1953 and 1964, the program consisted of 149 projects involving drug testing and other studies on unwitting human subjects. Although many human subjects were not informed or protected, Dr. Gottlieb defended those actions by stating “…harsh as it may seem in retrospect, it was felt that in an issue where national survival might be concerned, such a procedure and such a risk was a reasonable one to take.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgewood_Arsenal_human_experiments

    The formulation has probably been updated somewhat but still..makes one think what was actually going on with the Skripals..

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    Sam

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    I am fully aware of what the CIA did in the 50s and the 60s. Still, I am very skeptical of the “Soviets,” especially V. Putin and his Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti background, which lends itself to obfuscation and misdirection.
    I am enjoying this repartee with you, John.

  • Avatar

    Gary Mullennix

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    Gee, why would anyone blame Russia? Or Putin? They’ve always been above reproach. They have a diligent, free and active activist press who would alert the world in a moment if any untoward psyops activity was fomented by either. Right?

  • Avatar

    John O'Sullivan

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    I am no fan of Putin or his regime. But I speak as I find. In 2010 rt.com invited myself and Piers Corbyn (weatheraction.com) to appear live on prime time news to make our points about the great global warming scam and we were fairly treated. See link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24aEw7f1Xuc
    I am also aware that Larry King, Max Keiser among many other US citizens have prominent and uncensored shows on Russian tv. Indeed, it is thanks to rt.com that anyone online can hear the superb expert opinion of British Major-General Jonathan Shaw, formerly one of the British Army’s most senior officers, exposing the UK’s nonsense narrative on the alleged Syrian government gas attack in Douma. General Shaw was cut off in mid sentence when interviewed on UK’s Sky News exposing this false flag crap:
    https://www.rt.com/news/424078-sky-news-general-shaw/
    So, yes, never take on face value anything said by the Russian govt, but be aware that quite often they can be of use in helping us get to the truth of a story.

  • Avatar

    Sam

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    The WMD was moved by 50 Russian Trucks driven by Spetzna special forces from Iraq to Syria and stored in the Bakka Valley.

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    John Harrison

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    It seems there are a fair number of Russian patsies subscribing and commenting here. Useful idiots to the Kremlin in spreading their ludicrous attempts at disinformation. Spiez, it appears have issued no such report and neither would they. I just cannot understand why anybody in their right mind would believe anything Putin would have to say in this matter. Some of the most idiotic claims have been made by the Kremlin, most of them way beyond belief except to those with “sucker” stamped on their forehead. These ridiculous claims being made demonstrate just how desperate are the Kremlin to try and shake off accusations of this appalling crime. The Russian disinformation department have always operated on the principal that the more unbelievable the story the more likely some idiots will believe, particularly the conspiracy theorist brigade, that there must be some truth in what is being spouted. Heaven preserve us from these gullible morons.

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    John Harrison

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    Please do us all a favour, check your facts before aiding Russian misinformation by spreading such drivel. You are scientists and isn’t that supposed to be what scientists do? You are quick enough to complain about such behaviour from climate alarmists. Wise up.

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    John O'Sullivan

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    John, By your logic, I guess Putin and the Russians are lying when they say man-made global warming is a fraud, too! http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/29/russias-putin-says-global-warming-is-a-fraud/
    Reacting to the Russian claim that the Swiss lab found BZ and Novichek in samples from Salisbury the Swiss lab issued a very bizarre statement that did not refute the Russian claim that BZ was found in the sample. Instead the Swiss were careful only to refer to Novichok.
    The statement reads: “Only OPCW can comment this assertion. But we can repeat what we stated 10 days ago: We have no doubt that Porton Down has identified Novichock.” The story is reported here:
    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/no-swiss-lab-hasnt-cast-12367077

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    John Harrison

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    Hi. I’m afraid your logical deductions lack proper logic. I use common sense and proper investigation before adopting a point of view. That viewpoint is subject to moderation at any time in the light of new and trustworthy evidence. Do I trust the Kremlin’s ideas on the subject of the Skripal’s poisoning? Silly question. Who in their right mind would place any trust in a man like Putin?

    • Avatar

      John O'Sullivan

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      John, You miss the point. I am relying only on Sunday’s response from the Swiss lab. Please read my prior comment carefully. The Swiss lab’s press release conspicuously avoids all mention of the BZ nerve agent. I am sure you can appreciate that a failure to deny is equivalent to an admission.
      Now look at other facts, scientific and circumstantial that undermine the official story. Yesterday I posted standard chemical analysis of the symptoms of BZ poisoning – they exactly match the symptoms exhibited by the Skripals. Moreover, novichok is rated “one of the deadliest nerve agents.” By contrast, BZ is known to be non-fatal, even in high doses. We know that of the three reported cases (2 Skripals, 1 police detective) there are zero fatalities.
      Don’t you think it is odd that the first responder to the Skripal’s emergency call was a detective sergeant? I have been married to a police officer. Detectives are NEVER first responders. Moreover, emergency service personnel at the scene were not wearing hazmat protective clothing, etc, Don’t you smell something fishy at all?

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        John Harrison

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        Look John, no matter what I say it would not sway your pre-conceived and more than vaguely odd ideas. So carry on.

  • Avatar

    Sam

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    Hear! Hear!

  • Avatar

    Sam

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    Using Climate Change and Putin!! John, you are better than that!

  • Avatar

    John O'Sullivan

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    Sam, Go check for yourself and verify that the Swiss lab’s response to the Russian claim that BZ was also in the Salisbury sample was to ignore the issue and simply refer to Novichok.
    The lab was at pains to carefully word their statement. So why did they not mention BZ?
    Their statement Sunday afternoon reads: “Only OPCW can comment this assertion. But we can repeat what we stated 10 days ago: We have no doubt that Porton Down has identified Novichock.”

  • Avatar

    Sam

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    Okay, John, I will. Have a blessed Sunday.

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    Jim

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    The UK government regularly used false flags against Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland in fact Theresa May acted to prevent the prosecution of British soldiers accused of e.g. using Catholic children as human shields, assassinations and bombings to incriminate the IRA. The UK government has been using this anti-Russian race hatred as policy before Donald Trump and in terms of Yulia Skripal she has been ‘disappeared.’ This in order to continue this fiction. The Skripals were found on the bench in Salisbury waving their arms, shouting. In fact the early news reports suggested they had used fentanyl. Only later did news reports change to where we are now. A-234 would have killed them especially in that pure form. Few of us in Britain accept this government’s story and it’s truly disturbing that a Russian citizen can be held hostage in this manner in Britain.

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    db

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    Arguing the veracity of the Russians vs the US & their ‘joined at the hip’ allies is equivalent to arguing the veracity of the Republicans vs the Democrats, the US Administration vs the US Congress, et al…

    And those who only subscribe to one side, typically w/ no drilling down into as many reasonable sources as possible, are as likely to be misled as not…

    As illustrated by some of the respondents to this thread…

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      John O'Sullivan

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      Db, You are dead right. The police investigation into the events in Salisbury is also still ongoing, but the government did not wait for any conclusion from them before insisting that it was “highly likely” that Russia was to blame for targeting the Skripals. But today we learn the British delegation to the OPCW has admitted that international chemical weapons inspectors did NOT confirm the origin of the nerve agent used in the Salisbury attack. So the UK had ZERO official proof before hanging Russia. This is how world wars get started.

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    db

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    .
    And more to the point… Using common sense…

    Re: Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons to secure the last vestages of a rebel held area they were ALREADY assured of having full control of within hours…

    Even FOX’s Tucker Carlson can exhibit critical, non-propaganda thinking on occasion…

    WHO has the LEAST to gain by using gas at this point…

    vs…

    WHO has the MOST to gain…

    Pretty obvious to any open minded free thinker…

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