30 replies to this topic

[bill007]

Alexander Litvinenko: Russian KGB agent turned author. Assassinated in the U.K.

This is the world Ian Fleming once existed in, and became an author to tell us about it with his character, James Bond.

Litvinenko wrote about the true apsects of his experiences, and paid for it with his life.

My intent is not to put a damper on the forums here, but to place attention to the fact that there are people out there who live this world for real.

Edited by bill007, 01 December 2006 - 06:31 PM.

[Mr.Kiss Kiss Bang Bang]

to place attention to the fact that there are people out there who live this world for reel.

Of course there are!
And it's not all that ecxiting & glamourous as we see on the screen!

[bill007]

Yes. Considerably.

Although 'Tricycle' had a pretty good time of it.

[ComplimentsOfSharky]

Quite a lttle drama this Litvinenko incident has turned into though. It went under my radar at first (I wasn't too surprised that the Sovi- er, I mean, Russians would be involved in something like this) but now it just keeps blowing up more every day.

Makes you think, as messy as it could be, a man with a gun is much more efficient than some whacked out radiation poisoning scheme.

[bill007]

And it continues. The Daily Mail:

"Mario Scaramella, the Italian academic who met Alexander Litvinenko on the day he was allegedly poisoned, has tested positive for Polonium 210, it was disclosed today. "

[FlemingBond]

And notice how James Bond's name is evoked when this stuff happens

[bonds_walther]

The whole thing is very Fleming-esque.

[bill007]

Art imitating life? Or vice-versa?

Notice this, too: Scaramella vs. Scaramanga.

ComplimentsOfSharky has a good point: "a man with a gun is much more efficient...."

Edited by bill007, 01 December 2006 - 06:13 PM.

[DLibrasnow]

Wasn't there a true life incident when a Bulgarian (I think that was the country but could be wrong) was assassinated in London when he was stuck by the point of an umbrella that fired a lethal poison into him.

[bill007]

Yes.

Georgi Markov
"The Umbrella Assassination"

http://www.portfolio...p12/georgie.htm

[DLibrasnow]

Excellent find bill007. I knew I had heard about that. So it was actually a poison pellet that the umbrella had fired into him. A true-life incident certainly worthy of James Bond:

"Georgi Markov was a Bulgarian writer who lived in his home country until 1969, when at the age of 40 he defected to the west. Living in London, he worked as a broadcast journalist for the BBC, radio free Europe, and the German Deutsche Welle. (Bernard Knight, 1979)

He had a large audience in Bulgaria, and his outspoken views against the ruling communist party were seen as the inspiration for Bulgarian dissident movements. The leader of the Bulgarian communist party, Zhivkov Todor, decided in June 1977 that he wanted Markov silenced, and informed a politburo meeting of his wishes. The job was given to the interior minister Dimiter Stoyanov, who requested KGB assistance. The KGB chairman Yuri Andropov agreed provided there would be no trail left to the Soviet Union. (Richard Cummings, 1996)

There were three attempts on Markovs' life. During a dinner party given by friends at radio free Europe, someone slipped a toxin into his drink, this and another attempt on his life in Sardinia failed. The successful attempt took place in London on September 7th, Zhivkov's birthday.

Markov worked a double shift at the BBC, and after working the early morning shift, returned home to rest. On returning to work he parked his car South of Waterloo Bridge and made his way to the bus stop to catch the bus to the BBC headquarters. As he neared the people queuing for the bus he felt a stabbing pain in his right thigh, he turned to see a man facing away from him stoop and pick up an umbrella. The man apologised in a foreign accent and departed hurriedly in a taxi. Markov latter described the man as thick set and about 40 years old. In pain Markov boarded the bus for work, where he told colleagues what had happened. He noticed a spot of blood on his jeans, and showed a friend a pimple like red swelling on his thigh. When he returned home he became very sick, with a high fever.(Bernard Knight, 1979)

The next day Markov was admitted to St James's hospital, Balham. Examination of hi right thigh showed a central puncture wound of about 2mm diameter, and a circular are of inflammation. A diagnosis of septicaemia was made at the time, due to the very high leukocyte count, 33 000 per cubic mm. Mr Markov died on the third day after the injury was inflicted.

During the post-mortem a single metal sphere the size of a pinhead was excised from the wound. It was 1.52 mm in diameter and composed of 90% platinum and 10% iridium. It had two holes bored through it, with diameters of 0.35mm, leaving 0.28 cubic mm available for toxin retention. (Richard Cummings, 1996)

Dr David Gall at the government chemical defence establishment Porton Down, hypothesised that ricin could be the only possible toxin used, owing to the exceptionally small dose and the symptoms.

After the fall of the Soviet Union it was revealed that ricin was used in an umbrella mechanism for injecting poison spheres into a victim, which was developed in the secret KGB laboratory "the Chamber". Two former KGB officers Oleg Kalugin and Oleg Gordievsky publicly admitted to Soviet involvement. It was reported that the Bulgarians used a low-level Italian criminal to carry out the murder. The man was located in Denmark but questioning remained inconclusive; he then fled to Hungary and the Czech republic. His whereabouts are unknown. (Richard Cummings, 1996)"

[james st.john smythe]

Death to spys! Nobody ever leaves the K.G.B

[Mamadou]

I had exactly the same feeling two years ago when Victor Yushchenko was poisoned with dioxin, and it was connected to the head of the Ukraine Security Service. If you go online to find pictures of him before and after the poisoning, it's just astonishing.

But this thing with Litvinenko has really snowballed. At least Yushchenko is still alive.

[Pam Bouvier]

I have to admit, when I was listening to the upadate of this story on NPR today, I thought: This has the makings of a 007 fan fiction story or even a 007 film screen play.

Very fightening, very sinister, very much in the tradition of Flemings SMERSH.

[Loomis]

Hard not to think of this news story while watching the poisoning scene in CR, something that will doubtless be noted in a future edition of JAMES BOND: THE LEGACY as proof of the films' eternal ripped-from-the-headlines topicality.

[bill007]

I have to admit, when I was listening to the upadate of this story on NPR today, I thought: This has the makings of a 007 fan fiction story or even a 007 film screen play.

Very fightening, very sinister, very much in the tradition of Flemings SMERSH.

It seems that the Russian FSB "wanted to send a message," by giving Litvinenko a rather slow and agonizing death.

[Johnboy007]

Governments change, the tactics (and lies) stay the same.

The Bear has never been so cuddly.

One might say this affair is a bit like a security camera catching James Bond blowing up an embassy.

[bill007]

ehmmm, maybe.

I think it was a deliberate measure of the FSB to openly do this elemination.

The Russians are beginning to show their hand..."Don't mess with us. We have a long reach."

Of course, I just hope that Salman Rushdi is still packed away neatly....

Edited by bill007, 02 December 2006 - 06:37 AM.

[Monkeyfoahead]

From Russia With Love? ------- Hardly

[Icephoenix]

Excellent find bill007. I knew I had heard about that. So it was actually a poison pellet that the umbrella had fired into him. A true-life incident certainly worthy of James Bond:

Indeed it is, I do believe the same method was used by an Assasin in Benson's The Facts Of Death to kill M's lover. Bond notices the connection between that incident and Georgi Markov.

[Byron]

Governments change, the tactics (and lies) stay the same.

The Bear has never been so cuddly.

One might say this affair is a bit like a security camera catching James Bond blowing up an embassy.

I wonder what the CIA has been up to the last 50 years or so?

Just heard that Scaramella is also very sick and is not expected to make it.

Even scarier is the fact that Polonium was found on 2 British airways jets.

At the end of the day i don't feel sorry for those Russian oligarchs, they stole all they could from Russia and its people, so good riddance i say. That is one thing i admire Putin for, his decision and decisive action to strip these s of the assets they stole in the economic chaos of the early 90's.

[Roebuck]

I think it was a deliberate measure of the FSB to openly do this elemination.

The Russians are beginning to show their hand..."Don't mess with us. We have a long reach."

One of Scaramella's more fantastical claims is that a special taskforce was put together in 2002 with the sole purpose of eliminating LitvinenkoIf. If that were true then the FSB must be rubbish if it's taken them four years to come up with a pretty unsubtle method for disposing of one unimportant man. Frankly, I don't imagine Putin or anyone else in the Russian government thinking LitvinenkoIf was worth all the aggravation.

My impression of both Scaramella and LitvinenkoIf is they're dodgy characters with connections to international criminal cartels and former intelligence agents. Gut feeling is that this is retribution for crossing someone in a business deal.

[simone007]

I have to admit, when I was listening to the upadate of this story on NPR today, I thought: This has the makings of a 007 fan fiction story or even a 007 film screen play.

Very fightening, very sinister, very much in the tradition of Flemings SMERSH.

Dude, we were probably listening to the very same broadcast because I immediately thought how this story has the markings of a future plot for Craig's James Bond, and not a remake.

I read Alexander's letter to Putin via the media and it's a screenplay in the making.

[ComplimentsOfSharky]

The Bear has never been so cuddly.

Meh...maybe in about '95 you could say that...if you really pay attention to what's been going on in the past couple of years, the new coat of fur is as mangy as it ever was. It's not much of a surprise.

[bill007]

I think it was a deliberate measure of the FSB to openly do this elemination.

The Russians are beginning to show their hand..."Don't mess with us. We have a long reach."

....My impression of both Scaramella and LitvinenkoIf is they're dodgy characters with connections to international criminal cartels and former intelligence agents. Gut feeling is that this is retribution for crossing someone in a business deal.

Interesting point Roebuck. And very plausable. I hadn't thought of it in that way.

[ACE]

Litvinenko and Scaramella are positively Fleming-esque names.

People in glass houses: the British and American governments are certainly not above extra-judicial assassination and torture.

Governments change, the lies stay the same.

[RivenWinner]

yeah, i've been following this story for a good while now. very interesting indeed and it reminds me much of the intrigue that the Cold War had. the same thing goes with the Ukrainian election scandle of a few years back when that poor guy was poisoned.

[deth]

an article saying the same things you guys are saying...... we're not the only ones to have noticed!

http://ca.news.yahoo...d_spy_mystery_1

[capungo]

What interests me is that it seemed as though the FSB killed Litvinenko to try and keep people away from whatever that news reporter who also died suspiciously was digging up. If so, then why did they use Polonium, a specialized chemical that, from what I read, likely could only come from a government institution.

I guess what I'm saying is, this seems to only draw even more attention to the journalist's death, and seems only to further point the finger back at them. What the hell's going on?

[steve234]

What interests me is that it seemed as though the FSB killed Litvinenko to try and keep people away from whatever that news reporter who also died suspiciously was digging up. If so, then why did they use Polonium, a specialized chemical that, from what I read, likely could only come from a government institution.

I guess what I'm saying is, this seems to only draw even more attention to the journalist's death, and seems only to further point the finger back at them. What the hell's going on?

What makes all you people experts and how do you know it was the FSB?? Have they stated this on a website?

Why kill someone in London using radaition poisoning? Isn't that rather too loud,too obvious. This guy was a nobody. Think about it.Who looks worst out of this ? Who is the finger being pointed at ? Is someone trying to set someone up? If they wanted him dead why not drop a brick on him or run him down . To use Polonium 210, an exotic and difficult to obtain isotope , was done for a reason. The impilcations for those in charge of Russia isn't good and relations with the UK are now strained. Who gains and who loses. Think billoinaires .Think Yeltsin. Who did he put in charge and why? Look at the money. Look at Ukraine.

Also...

What is all this rubbish about Litvinenko having a Fleminesque name? Jesus wept . This is real not some silly movie. Make a distinction for christ sake.