Gennady Gudkov, member of the State Duma
Photo: Ilya Pitalev
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The Pot Calls the Kettle a Killer
// The price of the question
At first I thought that reports of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko were unreliable. But when it was revealed that thallium salts were found in his blood, I understood that the case is serious and a genuine attempt on his life. But to say that Litvinenko could expose Russian authorities' involvement in the Anna Politkovskaya case is purely non-science fiction. He is not a political figure. Can it really be suggested that he was poisoned to protect the state interests of Russia?
Berezovsky is in London and meets with everybody – Russian journalists and Russian businessmen. Meeting Berezovsky and shaking his hand with one coated with thallium would be no problem. Or take Zakaev. But no attempts were made against them. I understand about Yandarbiev. That is explainable. But Litvinenko does not figure on a scale that would drive the authorities to lower themselves to such a petty settling of accounts. If we suggest hypothetically that Russian authorities would undertake such actions, it would orient its agents toward primary figures, not tertiary.
It seems to me that a battle is taking place between people who are not very concerned by moral values and not constrained by any code of honor, that is, a battle for control of the finances that the oligarch dishes out right and left to create the illusion of his importance. Politkovskaya, special services and so on are garnish that is served with the usual helpings of infighting around Berezovsky – fighting for his money.
Finally, thallium is a banal, primitive method of assassination. Everyone knows about it, even schoolchildren! If the special services had done it, they would have thought up something more original and sophisticated. It was just convenient to drag the FSB into it. They say former KGB agents. We are all now former KGB agents. The president is a former KGB agent, his opposition are former KGB agents. Look at who was the first to leave the United Russia faction and challenge it. Anatoly Ermolin, former foreign intelligence worker. Then Putin's former intelligence colleague Igor Morozov left United Russia. Now affiliation with the KGB means nothing. Various people served in it, tens of thousands of them, and all with views of their own.
The attention paid by Western newspapers t the case reflects only their attitude toward Russia. The reason my be, for instance, dissatisfaction with Russian energy policies. In the United States, the Democratic Party may be interested as well now that it is coming to power and trying to make Russia a worse problem. or the Americans, any method to settle the Iran issue and make Russia more loyal is a good one. Therefore, any scandal may serve the interests of the Democratic Party and U.S. policy, which have specific goals and always reach them using any means available, even questionable ones.
Gennady Gudkov, State Duma member, FSB colonel in reserve
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 22, 2006
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