Britain’s Sharp Rebuke of Russia Over Poisoning

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/opinion/britain-russia-spy-poisoning.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Britain Expels 23 Russians. That’s the Easy Part” (front page, March 15):

The rapid endorsement by its European and North American allies of Britain’s assessment and retaliatory actions in relation to the Salisbury nerve agent attack is to be welcomed. However, we have yet to see exactly what actions will be taken by France, Germany, the United States and Canada in response to the attack.

A number of key European Union countries are dependent on Russian gas and may be reluctant to provoke Vladimir Putin beyond words.

Many are warning that Britain’s actions alone, or even in concert with others, will have no impact on Mr. Putin’s international misbehavior and will only serve to increase tensions and build his domestic support.

Then there are others, myself included, who ask, “What if we had done nothing?” We’d effectively be saying to a bully, “Come on in and use the U.K. as your playground — we’ll turn a blind eye.” Game over.

When deciding what action to take, it is not always enough to ask what might come of it. We should also ask what bad may result from inaction. As Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

PAUL WENMANABINGDON, ENGLAND

To the Editor:

What was the purpose of this poisoning of a former Russian spy, apparently by the Russian state? The spy, Sergei Skripal, had ceased to be an active threat to its interests. The method pointed clearly to its source.

A British inquiry’s finding of probable Russian state involvement in the 2006 fatal poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, an opponent of Vladimir Putin, made the Skripal poisoning particularly likely to draw a significant British reaction.

It seems likely that Russia wished to send a clear message to other Russian nationals that any betrayal of Mr. Putin would be at the risk of his or her life. And what is the current subject of investigation that is arguably the most consequential to Russian interests? The Mueller investigation of Russian involvement in United States elections — and in particular any collusion by President Trump and Russian leverage over Mr. Trump — must be at the top of that list.

CHRISTOPHER FOURNIERCHELSEA, QUEBEC