Posted on 07/04/2004 6:08:42 AM PDT by TrebleRebel
Distinct signature found in ’01 anthrax Discovery raises hope that source can be traced By Scott Shane Sun National Staff Originally published July 4, 2004 In a possible break for the FBI's investigation of the anthrax letters of 2001, scientists have discovered that the mailed anthrax was a mix of two slightly different samples, giving the bacteria a distinct signature that might make it easier to match with a source, according to two non-government experts who have been told of the finding. The discovery that bacteria taken from the letters all grew in the double pattern was made at least a year ago, and it is not known whether the FBI's hunt for a matching sample has succeeded.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Interesting. But if that's true, what does it have to do with Steven Hatfill's lawsuit and the necessity of delaying it (yet again) until October?
how do you think the Kathy Nguyen death fits into this? has contamination from the mail been ruled out for her case? she lived/worked in Manhattan as I recall.
U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports tell us the information showing a terrorist link to the anthrax-filled letters sent by mail in the weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks is not conclusive. But it is persuasive.
What is known in the public record, to date, certainly constitutes persuasive, if circumstantial, evidence that the anthrax letters were part of the larger 9/11 plot perpetrated by the same group.
I think the judge already ruled for delay to October, and this current matter might be akin to a progress report.
I don't know.
has contamination from the mail been ruled out for her case?
It's hard to prove a negative, but there's no specific evidence that I'm aware of that it was due to cross-contamination. It's probably tentatively characterized as cross-contamination in the absence of any other known delivery method for the spores that infected her, but that's hardly proof or even evidence.
All I know is that this is the one anomalous case. If I were at the FBI, that's where I would start looking. But I'm not, so it's moot.
If the Bureau is anywhere NEAR being able to file a criminal case,I'm sure they would be anxious to avoid revealing the details in an open forum (for a change !)before arrests are made.
re #100
You post anything about Plum Island on another FR thread? I'd like to read it. Thanks.
"how do you think the Kathy Nguyen death fits into this?"
For me it was very suspect she worked in a medical/biological facility. But then, many people do.
Don't forget the old woman in Connecticut who got it. To me that's more anomalous, geograhically. Some mail cross-contamination theory seems more plausible for Nguyen, being she worked in Manhattan where some of the letters were sent.
No, I didn't. I was going to write up a book review today,BUT,the book was due back,and I had to go get my rv at the shop,and go to MV inspection.......
You know how it goes !
Sometimes it seems I'm working harder since I retired than I used to on the job.
I live on long island, but on the south shore. Plum is controversial out here.
I think Nguyen is the real anomaly, not Lundgren.
Lundgren was a frail 94-year-old woman. It's no surprise that a small number of spores might be sufficient to overcome her immune system. And, although they didn't find the actual piece of her mail that had contained anthrax, they did find that the USPS letter-processing machines that processed her mail were heavily contaminated. I think they also found some anthrax spores on a piece of mail at one of her neighbor's.
In contrast, Nguyen was only 61 years old, still healthy and working. Yet she succumbed so quickly that she was unable to speak with investigators at all. There were no anthrax spores at all found in her neighborhood or in the places she frequented, in spite of being scoured for evidence.
Another contrast is that Lundgren had led an ordinary life, while Nguyen had a colorful background.
I think Lundgren was just a very unfortunate old lady, while Nguyen's case is truly an anomaly. And any anomaly is a clue.
I am still living down the time years ago when I ordered a hundred pounds of it. It showed up in cardboard barrels.
Interesting, if true.
Hmm... I gotta check with Gallileo.
Then I remembered Uday's cryptic comments about biowar in early March 2003.
...We have to raise Arab officials, even if they do not want so, to the level of their historical responsibility. In front of our Arab people. We have to put terms before we accept. There should be no acceptance of the resolution unless it will be under the Arab tent. If not the Arab tent, then the Arab League. There should be Arab technicians and supervisors who understand Nuclear, Chemical and Biological aspects, and if it possible to get those from the UN, even if they are officers in Arab armies i.e. Arab technicians, Supervisors and Army officers. The second point is that we have to let our enemy understand – for he said openly, that the UN resolution does not mean stopping him militarily, for he is able to attack militarily any time and or any reason that can be considered a breach of the contract without going back to the Security Council. We, in turn, have to prepare, so if we discover that a certain parasite or disease is in the air, we take our care and prepare our medications and the suitable reaction for each action...http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/860029/posts
If what you're saying is really true Khan, then this is yet more circumstantial evidence that Iraq was somehow involved with the anthrax attacks.
Wasn't this also the time of the orange alert when Tom Ridge (or was it John Ashcroft?) told us all to buy duct tape? Is it possible that this is what that heightened terrorism alert was about?
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