David Tell in the articles quoted by Ed above states:
“There is one known exception to this rule. Four months ago the Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Nevada confirmed that in recent years it has conducted occasional, limited experiments with fully pathogenic anthrax powders—reportedly to test prophylactic measures against a frightening, vaccine-resistant strain of the bacterium thought to have been cooked up by Russian geneticists during the early 1990s. Here’s the thing, though: The Army is mum on the question, but there is no reason to think that Dugway’s virulent aerosols (every speck of them fully accounted for, laboratory officials insist) were prepared with silica, according to the rumored 1960s recipe. ***
So whoever was responsible for last fall’s bioterrorism wouldn’t have needed to add silica to his anthrax powder at all. But he—or she, or they—might have had use for it while manufacturing that powder to begin with.”
Gentlemen,
I think there is a reconciliation of views revealed by the David Tell article quoted by Ed.
First, TrebleRebel is correct, under the article cited by Ed, that Dugway historically has used silica.
TrebleRebel is also correct that the AFIP detected the presence of silica.
But Ed is correct that Dr. A and Professor M. did not see silica on the SEMS. There is just no reason not to credit their report as the same SEMS were available for government experts to observe.
This article points to a reconciliation — where silica was not used in the manner historically used by Dugway but nonetheless would lead to silica being detected on the SEMS. Professor M’s broad authority about the tendency of the exosporium to absorb silicon actually provides support that silica could have been used (and absorbed) as part of an earlier step in the manufacture.
Dr. A for a long while thought a spraydryer was used. He later came to think a fluidized bed dryer was used. He explains this in a chapter of BIOHAZARD 2.
As noted above, the hijackers had gone to Paterson, NJ. David Tell also addresses Paterson, NJ and the food mixer that was delivered there 1 mile from the hijackers.
Paterson is in the news this week where the imam told the FBI in 2005 that he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He faces deportation because he failed to disclose that he had been detained for 3 months for admitting he was a member of Hamas. The military’s interrogation tactics were later banned by a 1999 Israeli supreme court ruling that equated them with torture.
Imam’s defense: He was tortured into ‘confessing’ he joined Hamas
Deportation trial under way for respected Passaic cleric, Star-Ledger, May 10, 2008
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-10/121030776169890.xml&coll=1