(I just couldn't resist. Not with
an opening line like that!-YD)
Posted on 03/21/2005 10:54:21 AM PST by Gene Vidocq
WASHINGTON -- Anthrax has been confirmed in samples collected from the two Pentagon mail facilities that were at first closed last week and then declared free of the pathogen, United Press International has learned.
The head of the company that was accused of contaminating the samples sent from those facilities -- a detached building on the Pentagon grounds in Arlington, Va., and the other in Falls Church, Va. -- said the presence of anthrax was detected independently by two government laboratories.
Robert B. Harris, president and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. in Richmond, Va., also said the anthrax found was the same genetic strain used in the 2001 attacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at wpherald.com ...
Mark for later
What???
We REALLy need to work on our response to Bio Terrorism...this sends a message to AQ look! were confused and Discombobulated!
Hmmm... a major story.
Not good news - at all. Praying the good guys can track down the perps this time.
So there was real Anthrax in the latest mail order Anthrax scare?
Ping
Scare?
I've had all my Anthrax shots and I still find the idea of biological warfare pretty scary. But that's just me.
This is a big story. the anthrax killer is back.
Now, has anyone been keeping any eye on that scientist guy, Stephen Hatfill?
FYI........ping
Thanks for the ping.
ping
So, it's not just one private contractor, but through two before the tests get to the proper federal authorities? Talk about Terror-budget pork barrel abuse!
"Same strain"
I suppose the prudent question is, "Was it the same strain you used to test the equipment?"
The contractor is in mass CYA mode.
"This is a big story. the anthrax killer is back."
Doubt it. Reads like spin from the contractor alleged to have been sloppy.
Homeland Security seems much more interested in political correctness and shaking down granny than in boosting its ability to respond to real threats.
"This is a big story. the anthrax killer is back."
"Doubt it."
Really?
"Homeland Security seems much more interested in political correctness and shaking down granny than in boosting its ability to respond to real threats."
Homeland Security may be out of the anthrax loop and the FBI is playing it's cards very close to the chest.
Not sure what you mean. Because they've identified the same strain of anthrax that killed a handful of people in 2001 passed through three separate government facilities and an air force base, it means the contractor was sloppy?
"Really?"
Didn't the earlier stories say the problem was caused by the very same contractor who's being interviewed in this article, yet doesn't directly rebut?
Ya gotta love anthrax threads. Resurrection, multiple personality disorder, the works.
"Didn't the earlier stories say the problem was caused by the very same contractor who's being interviewed in this article, yet doesn't directly rebut?"
One must look at the BIG picture, Shermy.
"s this the same strain as the "dark angel" or "fallen angel"...whoever that one was? I think he claimed to be a truck driver and he sent anthrax to the airport post office in Greenville SC"
You're thinking RICIN. This also has not been solved.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45125-2005Mar17.html?nav=rss_nation/nationalsecurity
"The stockpile question arose as the Pentagon postponed the reopening of its Remote Delivery Facility until today. The center was closed Monday after a laboratory in Richmond, Consolidated Biotechnologies Inc., confirmed a positive anthrax result from a sensor filter, a finding since discredited by senior military officials as a likely result of lab contamination."
Now the current article has the accused contractor invoking the "same strain" verbiage to elicit excitement. Simple question: is that the strain they calibrate with? Since he soen't say anything, the answer is probably "yes."
I think it's a bureaucracy blunder, nothing to do with 2001. Could be proven wrong, naturally.
Dang! You're right! Man! I'm getting my terrorism all mixed up!!
You forgot numerological obsession with calendar dates in history.
;-)
Hey, this is just like that other thing! Boy, those terrorists are mighty crafty, I tell ya...
#28 was for you.
I'll add the reporter might not be up on all the details. I thought the most shocking thing was that the tests went through not one but two private contractors until the Feds were notified. ON the face that doesn't sound good to me.
(I just couldn't resist. Not with
an opening line like that!-YD)
Thanks for the ping!
I'm not sure this is spin. I don't think the CEO of this company would make such a strong statement unless he was 100% certain that his facility did not contaminate the sample. He has too much to lose. Perhaps his facility doesn't even hold Ames - if that's the case then it's a certainty his facility did not contaminate the sample.
?.......the Islamic-French Labs have got to test it FIRST?
:-(
"Dang! You're right! Man! I'm getting my terrorism all mixed up!!"
Perhaps not. Different attack substances do not necessarily rule out a single "terrorist".
LOL!:)
I'm confused.
"I'll add the reporter might not be up on all the details."
Divis is not exactly a cub reporter.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Dee+Ann+Divis&btnG=Google+Search
"I'm not sure this is spin."
Concur.
Hmm...I caught myself in an assumption the govt. is right...ponds...turtle traps...
I'll keep an open mind on this one.
"Perhaps his facility doesn't even hold Ames"
If it doesn't...then that's big news.
I thought this was a double negative. We really do need a reliable blogger over at the Pentagon.
There were four "automated alerts" at four different mail facilities. Those 4 alerts were direct from sensors, not from contractor tests (which came later).
Those 4 alerts followed the path of the Pentagon's mail system (i.e. what one would expect from cross-contamination of mail as it passed through post offices).
Your point about contractor contamination only comes into play with the sample swabs that were taken and handled later, long *after* the initial automated alerts had been sounded.
What triggered the automated sensors, however, was *clearly* something in the mail, as the four different sensors at 4 different sites were triggered in order with the mail flow.
This is some HEAVY SH#*!
Interesting. I'll keep an open mind.
Yup, that's what we really need to know. Hope someone will ask him soon.
This is just speculation, but perhaps that's the reason this CEO felt confident enough to make the rather bold statement he made today. When he found out it was Ames, he knew he had to be off the hook. Of course, I could be wrong.
Oh the tradegy/commedy mixed with a monstrous helping of terrible irony!!!
WARNING: GOVERNMENT MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!
AVOID INHALING LIKE EX-POTUS CLINTON DID!!!
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