4. Assassinated By The KGB
James Bond is a man's man. He's a glamourous fellow, and he really should watch his heart with the copious amounts of rumpy pumpy (I love that phrase. I might try and slide it in again at some point) he insists on having. The reality of being a state sponsored assassin, however, is rather different. The KGB (or FSB as it is now) doesn't mess about. There are no witty one-liners or dossing about in dinner jackets. Killing is their business, and business is on a definite upswing. The FSB has always been pretty ruthless when it comes to those who are vociferous in their criticism of the government. Russia's parliament passed a law, introduced by Putin, to permit the assassination of "enemies of the Russian regime" abroad, and the bodies have been piling up ever since. Alexander Litvinenko was an ex-KGB agent and on November 1st 2006 he fell ill. On November 3rd, his condition deteriorated and he was rushed to Barnet General Hospital in London. He died three weeks later from acute radiation syndrome due to exposure to polonium-210. Litvinenko was poisoned by a cup of tea in his hotel room. In 2003 the journalist and reformist politician Yuri Shchekochikhin was murdered in Russia. It was obvious from the way his "illness" developed that he was poisoned. Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist - seeing a pattern yet? - was shot after an attempt to poison her had failed... Just to be on the safe side I've started supporting Chelsea FC.