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They “failed” in poisoning him first. Then they let Navalny “flee” to Germany. And then they “confessed” to said failed poisoning attempt. The Russians have be

They “failed” in poisoning him first. Then they let Navalny “flee” to Germany. And then they “confessed” to said failed poisoning attempt. The Russians have become either: a) an incompetent joke given their historical track record of assassinations and coverups (too many to list) b) Navalny is seeking to be in the limelight and faking all or part of this for some manufactured consent This would not have been a subplot in a Le Carre novel. This is the perfect monkey wrench “plot” to dismantle the Nord Stream pipeline: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream For those who would want to watch a dark comedy on Soviet political machinations I highly recommend “The Death of Stalin.” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4686844/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4686844/

mc32 6y ago
Given how much Germany wants NordStream to happen, I don't think this will derail it. I don't think Biden will give a rat's arse about the whole episode. So given those two things, NordStream will happen.
- HillRat 6y ago
  Oh, I think we’ll see Biden add a whole bunch of names to the Magnitsky Act sanctions list, recommit to NATO, and look for additional punitive economic sanctions — probably via third countries — to squeeze the siloviki at the center of Russian power. But I agree that Nord Stream 2’s a done deal, despite strong and unusually-bipartisan US opposition. Don’t know how long it’ll take Russia to finish the work, but looks like they’re headed for the home stretch.
credit_guy 6y ago
> This would not have been a subplot in a Le Carre novel. Not sure I understand what you're trying to say. Are you claiming your (b) is more likely than your (a)? And it is so because of something to do with the Nord Stream pipeline? That's quite some conspiracy theory. I don't find this likely. Why? I watched the youtube clip where Navalny dupes one of the members of the team assigned to assassinate him. And what struck me is how charismatic Navalny is. He is a formidable political opponent to Putin. I can certainly see Putin preferring to live in a Navalny-less world. Aside from his charisma, is it possible that everything Navalny puts on Youtube is fabrication? How difficult can it be to get a prop to answer a phone call and read some lines emailed to him ahead of time? It probably wouldn't be, but you'd see people pointing at various inconsistencies. I just found an older youtube documentary created by Navalny about Medvedev [1]. Could it also be a fabrication? I seriously doubt that: New York Times covered this, as well as other prestigious publications, and they don't suspect any shenanigans. [1] https://www.youtube.com/embed/qrwlk7_GF9g?hl=en&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=1 https://www.youtube.com/embed/qrwlk7_GF9g?hl=en&cc_lang_pref...

mc32 6y ago

Given how much Germany wants NordStream to happen, I don't think this will derail it. I don't think Biden will give a rat's arse about the whole episode. So given those two things, NordStream will happen.

HillRat 6y ago
Oh, I think we’ll see Biden add a whole bunch of names to the Magnitsky Act sanctions list, recommit to NATO, and look for additional punitive economic sanctions — probably via third countries — to squeeze the siloviki at the center of Russian power. But I agree that Nord Stream 2’s a done deal, despite strong and unusually-bipartisan US opposition. Don’t know how long it’ll take Russia to finish the work, but looks like they’re headed for the home stretch.

credit_guy 6y ago

> This would not have been a subplot in a Le Carre novel. Not sure I understand what you're trying to say. Are you claiming your (b) is more likely than your (a)? And it is so because of something to do with the Nord Stream pipeline? That's quite some conspiracy theory. I don't find this likely. Why? I watched the youtube clip where Navalny dupes one of the members of the team assigned to assassinate him. And what struck me is how charismatic Navalny is. He is a formidable political opponent to Putin. I can certainly see Putin preferring to live in a Navalny-less world. Aside from his charisma, is it possible that everything Navalny puts on Youtube is fabrication? How difficult can it be to get a prop to answer a phone call and read some lines emailed to him ahead of time? It probably wouldn't be, but you'd see people pointing at various inconsistencies. I just found an older youtube documentary created by Navalny about Medvedev [1]. Could it also be a fabrication? I seriously doubt that: New York Times covered this, as well as other prestigious publications, and they don't suspect any shenanigans. [1] https://www.youtube.com/embed/qrwlk7_GF9g?hl=en&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=1 https://www.youtube.com/embed/qrwlk7_GF9g?hl=en&cc_lang_pref...