-Analysis-
When a hit has been ordered, the chosen method for assassination is ultimately of secondary importance. A "successful" car bomb, stabbing or long-distance rifle shot all have the same final result for the intended victim. Still, there's something about poisoning. The Shakespearean plotting and preparation required to secure and administer the fatal potion give an extra icy chill to premeditated murder at its most devious.
Details are still emerging of Monday's fatal poisoning of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. What we know is that Kim Jong-nam, a sometimes critic of the Pyongyang regime and the oldest sibling of its current leader, was attacked with some substance by at least two women at the Kuala Lumpur airport. The 45-year-old died shortly after, with an autopsy expected today in the Malaysian capital. There is also little doubt that the order came from the highest ranks of the North Korean leadership, meaning that this would be a case of both poisoning and fratricide. Shakespearean indeed, and another reminder of just how sinister and dangerous this nuclear-equipped regime can be.
Perhaps the most high-profile fatal poisoning in recent memory comes by way of another troubling regime in the news: Vladimir Putin's Russia. British investigators believe Putin himself gave the go-ahead to the polonium-210 attack at a London sushi bar of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Moscow spy who had been granted political asylum in the UK. The 2006 case is often cited by those worried about the Russian links of some of those in the new Trump administration, which has led to the abrupt resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn this week.
Donald Trump, who has never held public office before, has stepped into the middle of a very dangerous world. A clear example came this past weekend when that same North Korean regime conducted its latest nuclear missile test, timed with the U.S. visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Some have noted that the two leaders may have breached security by openly discussing the nuclear test at Trump's country club restaurant in Florida. Dine with care, gentlemen, dine with care.
