REMEMBER ANTHRAX?

New York Post ^ | 4/29/02 | DAVID TELL

[kattracks]

April 29, 2002 -- SINCE early last November, the FBI has indicated that it believes that a single American scientist is behind the anthrax attacks.

The FBI has guarded whatever hard evidence it has accumulated with understandably intense jealousy. So media attempts to substantiate the FBI's conviction have necessarily been based almost exclusively on the speculation of outside "experts."

[piasa]

FYI

[Dales]

The Miss Marple of SUNY/Purchase does no better when it comes to divining an overarching motive for last fall's bacteriological assaults. The deed was done by a Pentagon budget hawk who "must have realized in advance that the anthrax attack would result in the strengthening of U.S. defense and response capabilities," Rosenberg conjectures. "This is not likely to have been a goal of anti-American terrorists."

Troublemaker ;-)

[Miss Marple]

Man, do I resent someone stealing my moniker!!

You know, what no one ever says is that "domestic source" doesn't rule out an immigrant mailing the stuff here in the USA. A lot of the assumptions of the media are based on the idea that "domestic" means native-born. Au contraire.

[livius]

The Miss Marple of SUNY/Purchase...

LOL! But seriously, this article is one of the least hysterical and most sensible debunkings of the "official" theory that I have read.

I have always been particularly intrigued by the letters, and I never understood why the obvious - that they were written by a foreigner - was immediately rejected.

I had not noticed the fact that there was an attempt to capitalize nouns, and this is certainly interesting. In addition, another thing that occurred to me regarding the use of block lettering is the fact that people who routinely fill out various "official" papers are encouraged to use such lettering, for the sake of legibility. Official papers such as flight plans and other aviation related forms, for example....

[bvw]

Thanks for the article.

The Trenton Mail Processing Facility is srill full of hot spots, it is very unlikely to ever open again. Currently the Powers That Be seem to be in plan and action disbursing the Trenton workers to other facilities, rather than re-opening or moving that facility into another place. This, of course, ignores the promises flying after the Anthrax attacks were identified and the Trenton facility closed.

The postal workers who came down with the forms of anthrax are now suffering long-term symptoms of various but consistent form.

[Grut]

...whose unfortunate history of alcoholism has lately reduced him to working in a Milwaukee-area bowling alley. Which bowling alley has no known ties to the CIA's Directorate of Operations.

Aha! NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[xdem]

Could the same evidence not suggest that they were initial attacks by foreigners to test American defenses?

[aculeus]

I never understood why the obvious - that they were written by a foreigner - was immediately rejected.

Most American residents upon hearing the sound of hooves would think "horses". A meager few would think "zebras". It makes them special. Wrong. Terribly wrong. But special.

[Vladiator]

I don't really understand what you mean by that, but I like the imagery!

[Cincinatus]

Barbara Hatch Rosenberg's theory is crackpot.

A "What-screen-name-does-she-post-under-here-at-FR?" bump!

[aculeus]

I don't really understand what you mean by that, but I like the imagery!

Meaning: They had to really stretch (imagine Zebras in America) to conclude it was a domestic terrorist "pretending" to be a foreigner.

(The metaphor is not original with me.)

[Travis McGee]

The "domestic source" story is a red herring, the only question is why?

[My Identity]

ping

[My Identity]

domestic source

The source of the Anthrax is commonly reported in the news as "domestic." This is so vague as to constitute a true lie. This could be a "spin" of "we haven't linked it to a foreign source" or "we don't want to link it to a foreign source" or "it is the Ames, Iowa strain" or "it was mailed from within the US."

The issue of spin by this administration and the FBI is quite worrisome. Is the White House concerned about widespread panic? Certainly the spinners tend to rush to the microphones quickly to proclaim that some accident wasn't a terror attack. Is the FBI carrying water for the White House, or does it truly see "domestic terror" as the prime culprit? Given the last 10 years of foul-ups by the FBI on the domestic terror front, I suspect the later.

[livius]

Most American residents upon hearing the sound of hooves would think "horses". A meager few would think "zebras".

LOL. What a great way of putting it! You've given me a whole new way of viewing people who reject the obvious!

[My Identity]

Here is the thread on the long Remember Anthrax? article in the Weekly Standard

[The Great Satan]

The "domestic source" story is a red herring, the only question is why?

It is protection for Saddam to have biological and chemical weapons, because, in the final analysis, if pressed, if he is surrounded in Baghdad, he will threaten to use them. He's capable of that. This is a sort of Samson complex--if you push me too hard, I'll bring the house down, on myself and on everyone else. Washington realizes that this is a possibility. For obvious reasons, it's not talked about openly. No one in Washington wants to tell the American people that Saddam is still capable of blackmailing us. They're acting as if he is capable of blackmailing them, but they are not going to admit it openly.

Interview with Said Aburish, PBS Frontline

[Mitchell]

Who turns out to be a former Ohio laboratory technician who has never done bacteriological research of any kind - and whose unfortunate history of alcoholism has lately reduced him to working in a Milwaukee-area bowling alley.

This person was a research chemist in explosive ordnance systems. I looked into this a bit when the story first came out, and, as far as I could tell, he has no background in biological weapons or related subjects, just as this article says.

[Mitchell]

The postal workers who came down with the forms of anthrax are now suffering long-term symptoms of various but consistent form.

The symptoms that the survivors are experiencing are very much like the symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome. See this FR post. I wonder if the anthrax powder has been tested for chemical weapons in addition to anthrax, perhaps the cholinesterase inhibitors that are suspected of causing Gulf War Syndrome.