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Read other letters about this article
You are quite right; looking back at what I wrote, it was a little unfair. Your letter, at least, was straightforward and analytical in tone, even though I might disagree with some of the substance. I apologize for any offense given or taken.
When I wrote the letter you refer to I was mainly reacting to an entire series of letters (previous to yours) that were chockful of uninformed charges and outright errors (Like the one I discussed in my 2:30pm, Sat. letter, "Labcoat Pundits", on p6).
My remark about folks getting a "rush" from hammering Large might well have been ill-considered but was not intended as a cheap shot. The phenomenon of "piling on" is just a part of "human nature". Whenever I think I get a whiff of it, I feel like being the foil, the devil's advocate! Again, I apologize for any offense.
May I suggest that the principle of parsimony that you so eloquently recommend be employed with respect to the political aspect of this affair?
I believe there is a strong resistance, from a number of sources, to charging the Putin Regime with this crime. It would in fact be premature to do so; the facts aren't in yet. But it would make a difference whether or not Putin were just an autocrat with basically good intentions, on the one hand, or a megalo-maniac who murders his political opponents, on the other hand. How would G.W. Bush, for one, feel about facing this reality about the man whose eyes he had looked into and caught a glimpse of the soul of a man he could trust?
Alternatively, the possibility of a plot of the sort discussed by Patricia Schwarz in her posts must be considered. The psychology of terrorism involved in the employment of such a bizarre means of execution might well be common to both an autocratic regime and a cabal of dispossessed oligarchs with a point to make. The thundering silence of the Putin Regime thus far is also an interesting feature of this affair.
It is depressing to think that Putin might think that he could do something like this with impunity. But that might well prove to be the case.
At this very moment analyses are going forward. Sample masses will be determined to femto-gram precision. Relative proportions of isotopes will be determined. Then, both the relatively rare beta gamma emissions and the far more representative alpha emissions will be monitored over time. The "DNA" of the material will be precisely determined. Then, it will just be a matter of how much classified knowledge our intelligence agencies possess of the kinds of facilities that may have produced the material in such quantity (let's remember, the stuff seems to be scattered all over the place; there was evidently an incredible amount of it). (On a side-note, was the leakage accidental? If so, as seems likely-- think of a fluoride gas or very finely divided powder with compromised containment-- one wonders about the conditions of the agent or agents involved!)
Call me a cynic but, after all that anyalysis and investigation, we never find out who did it, then we'll know for sure who did it.
