Defense News: UK officials want to rethink deterrence after alleged Russian chemical attack
WASHINGTON – Russia’s alleged use of a chemical weapon on British soil is a sign that the United Kingdom and its allies must rethink what deterrence looks like in the 21st century, two senior British defense officials said Tuesday.
Stephen Lovegrove, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Defence, called the attack a criminal act of “attempted murder” and one that requires such a response to deter leaders in Moscow from further attempts.
“It’s not spy on spy. This is an egregious breach of international law and the chemical weapons convention, [an] unlawful use of force by the Russian federation on British soil against a British citizen,” Lovegrove said.
But the bigger issue may be that the attack was “merely a grotesque and outrageous continuation of the type of behavior that Russia has been conducting against any number of countries,” whether through cyber assaults or propaganda, he added.
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WNU Editor: The old rules and understandings are not working and/or being followed. In the past .... if the Soviet Union had launched a nerve agent attack in the heart of the U.K. to kill an ex-spy .... we would be at Defcon 2 and at the brink of war. Today .... diplomats are told to leave.
