The Next Polonium Victim

Mario Scaramella has been contaminated with significant amounts of Polonium 210. He would be the second person to be so-contaminated. Alexander Litvinenko was the first and he's now dead. Firedoglake wonders just what kind of form was used in the poisoning and goes into the physiological reactions and wonders whether Litvinenko was injected with the polonium rather than consuming or inhaling it. Her reasoning is pretty persuasive based on the amounts of radioactive material used and the fact that polonium 210 is primarily an alpha emitter.

So, who exactly was behind this? Putin and/or rogue elements within the Russian government are leading contenders, and this could be a very public way of sending messages to opponents of the Russian government.

AJ Strata and Pajamas Media are on top of the situation with analysis and updates.

UPDATE:
The Guardian says that Scaramella does not show any signs of radiation poisoning.

The Italian academic, who met the ex-KGB man on the day he was allegedly poisoned, tested positive yesterday for a "significant quantity" of the radioactive substance, polonium-210, which is believed to have killed Mr Litvinenko.

But doctors at London's University College Hospital said today that preliminary test results carried out on him showed no sign of radiation toxicity.

Curious. Very curious.

Technorati: Litvinenko, polonium 210, Alexander Litvinenko, kgb, poisoning, politics, Mario Scaramella.