Posted on 04/13/2008 8:20:52 AM PDT by ZacandPook
A new Al Qaeda tape will call for use of WMDs on civilians.
“Al Qaeda Tape to Call for Use of WMDs,” ABCNews, May 27, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=4941724
For the reasons explained by the former emir of the Egyptian Islamic Group in links posted yesterday, use of WMDs against civilians will send them to eternal damnation.
But it really would behoove the FBI to show it has been successful in thwarting the anthrax threat at least insofar it was manifested in the Fall 2001 anthrax mailings.
Certainly, fear of civil liability should not factor into the equation at all. It’s never the crime as much as the cover-up. GMU’s failure to have anything approaching candor or transparency on these issues does not weigh in its favor. It would not have intruded on the former student’s privacy to say: “Oops. We had inadequate biosecurity protocols in place.”
It’s never too late to do the right thing.
On July 1, 2005, Dr. Alibek testified before the Committee on House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack:
“Though the threat of terrorist groups developing genetically engineered pathogens may not be immediate, it is important to recognize that it could be a threat in the future. We must diligently monitor the situation and be on the look out for possible changes in the field that could increase the availability of this technology to terrorist groups so that we can be best prepared for possible bioterrorism attacks involving genetically engineered pathogens.”
Comment:
Sigh. Let’s take care of old business, Ken, before giving Ayman any new ideas.
One of my favorite interviews is Dr. Alibek’s interview on October 19, 2001 on CBS News’ “48 Hours.” It was titled “Deadly intent; how easy it is for the wrong people to get anthrax spores.”
“Dr. ALIBEK: When I was born, it was 1950. The United States was the main enemy of the Soviet Union.
(Footage of Soviet Union-era military parade; vintage photos of Alibek; footage of people placing containers in ground)
MORIARTY: (Voiceover) It was the Cold War. Alibek, then Alibekov, was a young army doctor who turned anthrax and other bacteria and viruses into deadly weapons that were also drug resistant.
Dr. ALIBEK: I did something I should have not done.
(Footage of Alibek talking with man; anthrax letter sent to Tom Brokaw; postmark; Dr. Alibek in his office; World Trade Center site)
MORIARTY: (Voiceover) Today, Dr. Alibek works for the Americans, finding ways to defend against the same weapons. In the case of the letters, while DNA tests will be needed to pinpoint exactly where the anthrax came from, Dr. Alibek suspects they’re connected in some way to the September 11th attacks and the people who planned them.
Dr. ALIBEK: In my opinion, what we see now is the second wave.
Mr. RICHARD SPERTZEL: Clearly, biological weapons was part of the training manual that was used by the Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida network.
(Footage of Spertzel; airplane; photos of hijackers; footage of crop-dusting planes; apartment building; streets of Prague)
MORIARTY: (Voiceover) According to former UN weapons inspector Richard Spertzel, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the same men who participated in last month’s attacks had interest in biological weapons as well; reports that key hijacker Mohamed Atta inquired about the purchase of a crop-duster; the biowarfare manuals and booklets found in a New Jersey apartment of suspects in custody ***
Mr. SPERTZEL:*** The initial seed material would be a very, very small quantity of that and could be contained in a vial as small as your little finger.
(Footage of lab setting)
MORIARTY: (Voiceover) But the fact is you don’t need Iraq or other foreign sources to obtain a strain of anthrax. The bacteria can be found in our own labs in the US.
***
Dr. ALIBEK: The Soviet Union spent billions and billions to develop these techniques, this production. Now this information is available for the cost of a translator.
(Footage of Soviet Union-era military parade; vintage photo of Soviet scientists)”
Comment: Or perhaps the cost of tuition. (Though, note, Ali beginning January 2002 was paid $70,000 a year).
“Dr. ALIBEK: You can imagine if—if somebody comes to you and says ‘OK, OK, let’s have a deal. I’ll give you $10,000 or $20,000, and the only thing for you to do, to write the procedure. Then you forget me and I’ll forget you.’ Temptation.
(Footage of petri dish; organisms under microscope; aerial footage of islands; Moriarty and Dr. Alibek; letter addressed to Senator Daschle; armed guard checking ID at airport)
MORIARTY: (Voiceover) Underemployed rogue scientists, easily available viruses, contaminated weapon burial grounds. These are warnings that Dr. Alibek has been giving Congress for years. What once seemed like just a scientist’s theory has become America’s reality that can no longer be ignored.”
Comment: Yet, the public and media has ignored the reality of the infiltration that was allowed to happen here for 7 years. Even Ken now ignores it. He will claim, if some reporter is able to contact him, that the FBI suspects someone other than Al-Timimi. (But he can’t tell). Wrong. Although the FBI does not suspect Ali of being the processor or mailer, they suspect he accessed (and stole) the biochemistry information. Tell me: what credibility will those GMU Center for Biodefense threat assessment people have to the extent they continue to be clueless about Al-Timimi?
And let’s not forget that one of Al Qaeda’s charity front was known by the FBI to have clipped a news article reporting on Ken’s threats about the country being unprepared for anthrax.
October 24, 2001 Wednesday
SHOW: THE MONEY GANG
Biological Warfare Analysis, CNNfn
GUESTS: Dr. Kenneth Alibek
***
“ALIBEK: Well, unfortunately, we discussed this issue several years ago and - but at that time, not many people paid attention.”
ALIBEK: In my opinion, it’s not very hard. Again, for many years, it was a great deal of discussion, whether or not it was possible to get portions (ph) and traces as an agent, whether or not it’s difficult to manufacture anthrax biological weapons or substances, whether or not it was difficult to deploy. Unfortunately, now we see it’s not a very big problem. People with some sort of knowledge, some knowledge can do this. ***
KIERNAN: Dr. Kenneth Alibek is president of Advanced Biosystems and he’s joined us from Washington.”
Comment: The FBI, upon regular dumpster diving at a Illinois-based charity found an article by Ken talking about the anthrax threat. So someone was paying attention. Ayman and his supporters were.
ABC News
April 4, 2002 Thursday
SHOW:World News Tonight (6:30 PM ET) - ABC
Federal investigators fear anthrax letters sent by FBI scientist
ANCHORS:PETER JENNINGS
BYLINE:BRIAN ROSS
***
BRIAN ROSS reporting:
“Peter, six months into it, federal investigators say they have few clues and no suspects. But what they do have is a fear that the person responsible could be one of the very scientists they have relied on for help and a concern that the US military is not telling them everything they know about secret anthrax research programs.
(VO) The FBI asked for the help of Dr. Ken Alibek almost immediately because no one in the world has made more weapons-grade anthrax than he has. Until he defected 10 years ago, Alibek ran the secret Soviet anthrax program and says he has the expertise to make the material that was sent in the American anthrax letters.
Dr. KEN ALIBEK: Yes, it would be easy for me.
ROSS: (VO) Now, Alibek tells ABC News he and a number of other scientists were told last month they must take lie detector tests if they want to continue to help the FBI.
And you passed the test?
Dr. ALIBEK: Yes, I did.
ROSS: So they’re concerned that whoever is helping them could, in fact, be the person responsible?
Dr. ALIBEK: I think so.
ROSS: (VO) Federal investigators say Alibek is one of at least a dozen individuals, many who worked in the bioweapons research program at Fort Detrick, Maryland, who have been given and passed lie detector tests.”
Comment: Years ago, when I emailed Dr. Alibek, he said the FBI suspected Ali. It was only after the overbroad FoxNews report, that he told me different. Dr. A and Dr. B at GMU would not in any way be suspected of having been complicitous. Only Ali and his Salafist-Jihadi friends.
In mid-October 2001, he was interviewed by John Gibson of FoxNews and touched on this question of intelligence analysis:
ALIBEK: John, as I said before, the probability that they got anthrax from Iraq is high. But in order to say for sure whether or not it was the case, we need to do some additional study. This study would include some intelligence study by some of our intelligence agencies and some I would say scientific technical study. Unfortunately, I have not been involved in the study, but a lot of information could be obtained even from some preliminary or thorough analysis of this samples.
“Interview With Kenneth Alibek,” FoxNews, October 19, 2001
GUESTS:Kenneth Alibek, Catherine Herridge
Comment:
A couple years later Ken told me he knew Ali was a hardliner but didn’t know any details about his charity work. Why not? Why didn’t he and have his numerous assistants make it a point to learn? The mission of the Center for Biodefense included threat assessment. Entire PhD theses are written on the subject.
The new unofficial tape ends with a code.
“Video Urges Nuclear Jihad Against US,” May 27, 2008
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/192837.php
In the movie Andromeda, that aired on A&E in two parts yesterday and today, the code pointed to the US DOD sample.
As in Andromeda, fear of public embarrassment prevented the truth from coming out.
“Al Qaeda Intent on WMD Attack Against Americans,” May 27, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/al-qaeda-intent-on-wmd-attack-against-americans/78718/
The tape referred to in the report was made by supporters of al-Qaeda and released May 26, titled ``Nuclear Jihad, The Ultimate Terror,’’ IntelCenter, based in Alexandria, Virginia, said in an e-mailed statement today.
``The material in these types of videos does not qualify as an official message from al-Qaeda or any other group,’’ said IntelCenter, which provides counterterrorism intelligence support to the U.S., British, Australian and Canadian armed forces. ``Considering them so would be the equivalent of considering a 10-year-old’s homemade fan video of his favorite sports team to be an official team message.’’
“U.S. Intelligence Group Dismisses Report of Al-Qaeda WMD Tape,
Bloomberg, May 28, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=azMBEkl_3hCk&refer=us
Ben Venzke, chief executive officer of IntelCenter, a group that monitors terrorist communications on the Web, downplayed the importance of such videos.
“Supporter videos are made by fans or supporters who may not have ever had any contact with a real terrorist,” Venzke said.
FBI warns of new al-Qaida threats
Published: May 28, 2008 at 3:51 AM
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/28/fbi_warns_of_new_al-qaida_threats/5409/
May 28, 2008 - I've finally completed the first version of a new supplementary web page titled "Van Der Waals Forces & Static Electricity: How They Affect Bacillus Spores".
The page is very detailed, so I may find ways to shorten it. Or I may find that I need to expand upon it -- particularly with additional illustrations. But, for now, I'm putting it out there for comments. I hope that anyone who sees any errors in this new web page will contact me and explain what those errors are so that I can make corrections.
The new web page shows why the article in Science Magazine titled "Anthrax Powder: State Of The Art?" is totally invalid and nothing but a conspiracy theory disguised as a scientific article. It answers the questions posed by other scientific articles, such as the article in Aerosol Science and Technology, and it verifies that any article which claims that anthrax spores must be "weaponized" with a coating of silica before they can cause inhalation anthax or disperse as a deadly aerosol is total nonsense.
Ed, could you list your sources on your webpage in support of the individual statements? Thanks. Your discussion does not square with the literature. (I don’t see the point in your BSing about the science.) If experience is a guide, you haven’t researched the literature.
See, e.g., Chen, Gang; Strevett, Keith A., Microbial Deposition in Porous Media: A Surface Thermodynamic Investigation, Environmental Engineering Science v. 20 no. 3 (May/June 2003) p. 237-48 (A microbial transport study of Bacillus subtilis through a model medium of silica gel demonstrated that bacterial deposition in porous media was determined by interfacial interactions between bacteria and the medium as well as interfacial interactions between deposited and suspended bacterial cells). Jucker, Barbara A.; Zehnder, Alexander J. B.; Harms, Hauke, “Quantification of polymer interactions in bacterial adhesion,” Environmental Science & Technology v. 32 no. 19 (October 1 1998) p. 2909-15 (Adhesion of bacteria to solids is governed by van der Waals, electrostatic, and acid-base (hydrophobic) interactions, which are combined in an extended DLVO model (DLVO-AB) and by interactions of bacterial surface polymers with the solid surfaces) ; Gao, Baoyu; Zhu, Xiaobiao; Xu, Chunhua,”Influence of extracellular polymeric substances on microbial activity and cell hydrophobicity in biofilms,” Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology v. 83 no. 3 (March 2008) p. 227-32
The links are included in the text. Just click on the links. If there is something specific that you do not accept, let me know and I'll provide the link.
What is on my new page is basic science. There's nothing revolutionary in it.
What you cite (without providing any link) doesn't contradict anything.
Adhesion of bacteria to solids is governed by van der Waals, electrostatic, and acid-base (hydrophobic) interactions
If a wet bacteria clings to a surface, that is the result of van der Waals forces. I describe in the page how damp spores will cling to each other due to the van der Waals forces in the water molecules.
But the subject of my new web page is DRY SPORES, not wet bacteria. The spores in the senate letters were DRY.
You do the same thing as TrebelRebel. You take a sentence out of context and try to make it prove your beliefs. All you are proving is that you do not understand what is being said.
My discussion squares with the literature. It many not square with your interpretation of the literature, but I can't do anything about that.
My discussion is about the basic science of how spores are affected by van der Waals forces and by static electricity.
Your and TrebelRebel's arguments are always about how you INTERPRET what you read somewhere.
If you want to discuss my new web page, you have to discuss the science. Discussing YOUR INTERPRETATION of some article you found doesn't solve anything. Taking some sentence out of context doesn't solve anything. Spinning some erroneous statement to make if fit your beliefs doesn't solve anything. That's what you and TrebelRebel have been doing for years and years. It's time to discuss science, not your interpretations of science.
TrebleRebel,
In this month’s “Evaluation of sampling tools for environmental sampling of bacterial endospores from porous and nonporous surfaces,” J Appl Microbiol. 2008 May 20, an ink jet aerosol generator was used at PNNL to apply Bacillus subtilis endospores to five porous and nonporous surfaces.
Nyet, Ed,
You haven’t read the literature any more than you’ve read the recent “Electrokinetic properties of [Bt] spores and the peculiarities of bentonite” in the journal Mikrobial Z. It addressed the use of bentonite in the production of granular biopesticide. You probably don’t even read Russian journal articles.
I haven't read "War And Peace" or "Horton Hears a Who," either. They would be just about as relevant.
There's nothing about basic science that's going to be changed by some article in a Russian science journal.
Sometimes your comments are so totally bizarre that they seem .... insane. This one is about as crazy as your suggestion that the person who is the most confident in his beliefs is the one who is right.
Ed, I wasn’t suggesting that the person most confident is most likely to be right. I was just stating factually Ken’s assessment of his Jdey theory and your assessment of your First Grader theory. You said you estimated, as I recall, that there was about a 95% probability that a First Grader wrote the letters. That statistic goes squarely to whether anyone would want to discuss basic science with you. But you do a great job at organizing the docket and making documents available and so keep up the good work.
That was some status hearing today, eh? Email for a copy.
05/29/2008 Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Reggie B. Walton: Status Conference held on 5/29/2008. (Court Reporter Phyllis Merana.) (mpt, ) (Entered: 05/29/2008)
While your first grader theory is the silliest I’ve heard, Ken Dillon’s Jdey theory is hard to argue against given that he was part of the 911 planning and in a cell with Adnan El-Shukijumah (apparently) (aka Jafar the Pilot). Personally, it is not the mailer theory I favor and I don’t know what to make of sightings in Turkey (and alternatively Avon, Colorado). But I find it fascinating we know so little about Jdey given his biological training and travel. I wish we knew his past day jobs and other known associates (besides Boussara).
Nothing happened today at the status conference. Judge Walton had intended to take up argument on a motion, but no one was prepared for that because it had been calendared as a status conference. He asked the parties if their position had changed on the need for Stewart’s testimony, and we told him our position was unchanged. That’s really it. A non-event.
The reports on the study on the effectiveness of the mailed anthrax in the Canadian experiment was reported in private briefings in Spring and Summer of 2001. An insider thus was not dependent on the published report later that Fall. (The date on the formal report is September 10, 2001).
Thought question: Dr. Charles Bailey for DIA wrote extensively on the the biothreat posed by other countries (and presumably terrorists). He shared a fax number with Al-Timimi. What came over that fax line in Spring and Summer of 2001? At some point, Dr. Al-Timimi, Dr. Alibek and Dr. Bailey also shared the same maildrop. It certainly would not be surprising that the two directors who headed the DARPA-funded Center for Biodefense — and had received the biggest defense award in history for work with Delta Ames under a contract with USAMRIID — would have been briefed on the threat of mailed anthrax. The 1999 short report by William Patrick to Hatfill at SAIC on the general subject was far less important given that it did not relate to actual experimental findings.
Plus, it is common sense that while someone might use as a model something they had surreptitiously learned of — they would not use as a model something in a memo that they had commissioned. Thus, it was rather misdirected to focus on the 1999 SAIC report commissioned by Dr. Hatfill rather than the 2001 Canadian report. The Canadian report related to the anthrax threat sent regarding the detention of Vanguards of Conquest #2 Mahjoub in Canada. Mahjoub had worked with al-Hawsawi in Sudan (the fellow with anthrax spraydrying documents on his laptop). The anthrax threat in late January prompted the still-classified PDB in early February 2001 to President Bush on the subject.
Source: “Diffuse Security Threats, Information on U.S. Domestic Anthrax Attacks,” Statement for the Record by Keith Rhodes, Chief Technologist, GAO, December 10, 2002, at p. 5 (”DRES officials provided a schedule of briefings that were conducted through the spring and summer of 2001, when the results of the study were discussed.”)
In July 2004, Director Mueller gave the FBI an October 1, 2004 deadline for an indictment in Amerithrax (then Al-Timimi was indicted in late September on charges that were easier to prove and did not raise such problematic national security issues). At the time, authorities were working to arrange the deportation of a GMU security expert in pressuring him to provide information. The FBI is using whatever charges they can to neutralize the perceived threat.
Former USAMRIID Deputy Commander and Acting Commander Ames strain anthrax researcher Charles Bailey, in Rm 156B, was given a Gateway desktop computer in mid-March 2001 (upon his arrival) — serial number 0227315480. It was like the one Dr. Alibek would get the next year in 156D. One way to think of proximity analysis — a form of true crime analysis — is the number of feet or inches between 154B and 156B/156D. Another way is to think of it is in terms of the number of feet or inches to the hard drives. You can judge the distance for yourself from a First Floor plan that is available online, clicking upon 154-156 area to enlarge.
Indeed, the December 2007 biodefense PhD thesis (supervised by a DOD biothreat person) explains:
“Although computers are password protected, anyone can access the computers located throughout the labs. Research results can be recorded on lab computers. Someone wanting to access research results would first have to understand what the numbers meant. Research results are also kept in a lab notebook that is kept in the lab or office. This enables other students to repeat what was already done or to see results.”
The FBI is not unaware of the vulnerability of unauthorized access to computers.
U.S. Investigates Laptop Spying Suspicions,” May 30, 2008
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinajournal/2008/05/30/us-investigates-laptop-spying-suspicions/?mod=googlenews_wsj
Another example of a computer security expert they sought to deport was in the State of Washington. He was the son of a Bin Laden charity front based in London.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002133716_majid29m.html
Saudi with notorious father fights deportation
By Maureen O’Hagan and Mike Carter
Seattle Times staff reporters
To his co-workers at the University of Washington School of Nursing, Majid al-Massari was a happy guy who bounced down the halls and seemed like a “big teddy bear.”
What his friends didn’t know about the burly, bearded 34-year-old computer-security specialist was that he had helped set up a Web site for a group linked to al-Qaida, quoted Osama bin Laden in his own Internet postings, lashed out against American policies on his father’s London-based radio show and had landed in the sights of U.S. terrorism investigators.
Now the Saudi national is being targeted for deportation, but immigration officials say it’s not because he’s a terrorist. Instead, they cite a nearly 2-year-old misdemeanor drug conviction that, under immigration law, is considered an “aggravated felony” and the basis for deportation.”
It is a difficult time to be a supporter of the Salafist-Jihadis. For example, an imam helping out at Jaballah’s school recently was so fed up with close scrutiny by investigators that he turned over his laptop only to be charged with having underaged children inappropriatetly pictured on his laptop. (Jaballah was in touch with both Ayman Zawahiri (by satellite phone) and Shehata, head of Egyptian Islamic Jihad special operations, who was his brother-in-law. Jaballah also kept in touch with the EIJ military commander.
‘None of it matches my life, my whole life’
Globe and Mail, Canada - May 22, 2008
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20080522.wbanan22%2FBNStory%2FNational%2Fhome&ord=134927989&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true
“An Islamic preacher long suspected of being one of the world’s top jihadi propagandists and so weary of attention from federal security officials that he handed over his laptop to authorities in a bid to clear his name has ended up facing charges of possessing child pornography.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.