Glowing planes

[AtW]

In other words extremely difficult to administer.

It is possible (strange as it may sound I am not expert on radioactive materials, this course was optional in the Kiev's Military Academy), some experts say that death was too quick - they suggest some other bits were added to polonium to achieve this effect, so it is very much custom made poison designed with specific task in mind. And made up recently as half-life is pretty short, this stuff is not a left over from cold war.

[Cliphead]

Why use a radioactive substance anyway, there are lots of subtle poisons out there?

[Emperor Dalek]

I was in Finland when Chernobyl went up and the radioactive cloud passed right overhead. Didn't do me any harm.

Well, excepting the fact that I am now a hideous mutant totally dependent on my travel machine for survival.

[Paddy]

I don't think airplane explosions work anymore - even 9/11 terrorists used them differently to achieve terror effect.

The issue with Polonium is that IF it is not KGB, but some people who obtained quantities of it on black market (Russian no doubt), then it seems easy to bring in it here and put it into water supply, something that won't be detected until it is too late: now that's scary thought!

Anyway so far I am pleased to see that Scotland Yard is doing much better than it was shown in stories about Mr Holmes...

The KGB was disbanded in the 1990s and the FSB was setup largly by ex KGB members. The FSB was renamed on July 14th 2004 The Ministry of State Security.

The KGB still exists in Belarus. AtW you sound so anti Russian you must be from on of the old Soviet Satellite States

[AtW]

KGB has never been disbanded, unlike Gestapo and SS. Before it was called KGB it had other names, but what difference does the name make? Nothing at all.

KGB had special research units that were dedicated to finding out exotic untraceable poisons - it seems pretty logical to use polonium since no one will look for alpha radiation, even here at this age and in this country it took long time for them to find out what exactly poisoned him).

So, I don't think KGB really wanted this stuff to be found out - now that they realised that polonium left traces that must have been thought to be undetectable (which was probably true 20 years ago, but perhaps now with fast chips better analysis is possible?), but now the trace lead to airplanes - 2 of them, if it is close to seats where same passenger was coming in and out of UK, then that's the kind of result that KGB certainly did not expect.

It is good stuff because you can bet they won't use polonium again for a long time, if anything future victims will suffer less.

FSB is the current name by the way, and now they merged back almost all units that were made independent when KGB was split: their fate should have been the same as that of Gestapo and SS.

[Paddy]

FSB Home Page

[AtW]

AtW you sound so anti Russian you must be from on of the old Soviet Satellite States

I resent accusation that being pro-freedom and against opressive secret service, authoritarian scum that fraudlently took office and killed scores of his own people: this is not anti-Russian, even though they sure want to present it as such.

[Paddy]

I resent accusation that being pro-freedom and against opressive secret service, authoritarian scum that fraudlently took office and killed scores of his own people: this is not anti-Russian, even though they sure want to present it as such.

*In Jeremy Paxman mode* …but with respect, you haven’t answered my question. Are you from one of the ex-Soviet satellite states?

[AtW]

Are you from one of the ex-Soviet satellite states?

No, I am from Siberia: not everyone who happens to be "core" citizen of the Empire agrees with the injustice that the Empire was causing, not just to satellite states, but to the core citizens to begin with.

[shaunbhoy]

No, I am from Siberia

But unlike the tigers that hail from there, sadly nowhere near extinction yet!