There was enormous indignation by groups,such as the Federation of American Scientists,when the Bush administration declined to become a signatory to the most recent "bioweapons" treaty.(It would have banned ANY research in this area-including defensive research.Other countries-notably Russia-had developed huge stockpiles of nasty stuff-despite being signatories to the first ban.)
Most of the FAS people are sincere-if somewhat leftist-but there are a few genuine extremists in the organization: a few of whom might have assisted a small group of students and other young people in setting up and carrying out a "misguided" plot to call attention to their cause.
The organizers would be people with "academic credentials"-who might view something as horrible as 9/11 as perfect cover for their plot.(They could never afford to have their names linked to the anthrax attack !)
I have some questions on this theory:
1. Why would they have sent anthrax to Leahy and Daschle? Leahy especially is one of the best friends such people have in the US government.
2. How would someone like that have had the connections to obtain weaponized anthrax from clandestine military sources or clandestine intelligence sources?
3. Wouldn't a bioterror attack be expected to result in a resumption or resurgence of biological warfare research, and isn't this the precise opposite of what these people wanted to achieve?