On Killing Defectors…
(a) Killing defectors is defensive measure against further defection
(b) Not killing imprisoned defectors is merely preserving an asset for future exchange.
(c) Trading defectors you will later kill is simply buying the exchange for free.
(d) Letting people have false hope and live in fear is more valuable than rapidly executing them.
I detest conspiracy theories. People act according to rational incentives.
However, Seth Rich and Skripal hold a remote possibility of implicating Russian involvement at a time when we are sensitive to (endemic) russian, chinese, jewish, manipulation of our polity. The jewish are most successful at political interference. The chinese most successful at technological theft. The Russian most successful at undermining power in general.
Russian, Jewish, Chinese, and American involvement in intelligence gathering and shaming by publication of undesirable information is endemic, and has been since the advent of the soviets.The soviets mastered propaganda from the French, then competed with the fascists for supremacy. Americans being anglo were late to develop the technique since we have a high trust society and these kinds of actions were resisted.
As far as I know – and I am fairly certain of this – the collusion story is just that – an excuse to cover the failings of the democratic party in putting forward such an undesirable candidate in a time of divisiveness.
Intelligence work on the american side is tediously boring really. The russians on the other hand use disaffected intellectuals (particularly on the left) to do their work for them at pennies on our dollar. And they always have done so. Americans are rather overt about our interference.
Wikileaks has done us a profound favor and I only wish them a future even brighter.