[gridlock]

Well, heck, rwb, I'm not absolutely sure that the Sun will come up tomorrow. But based on my experience in the past and my understanding of planetary dynamics, I'm reasonably sure that it will.

At some point, you have to look at the evidence and draw the inescapable conclusion. To wit:

1. 19 middle eastern men associated with the Al Queda network blew up two skyscapers in NYC.
2. Two days prior to that, somebody sent a letter containing Anthrax spores to a government official in Nairobi, Kenya.
3. The Al Queda network previously blew up the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
4. There had been no other mailings similar to the one to Kenya in recent memory

Based on the above, it is the inescapable conclusion that the WTC destruction and the Anthrax letter to Kenya are coordinated attacks. Given that the WTC and Nairobi Embassy bombings are strongly tied to Al Queda, then the inescapable conclusion is that this first Anthrax mailing was coordinated by Al Queda.

Moving right along, for the post September 11 attacks

1. Two of the Al Queda hijackers rented an apartment from the dead employee at the Sun.
2. There has been Anthrax found at this apartment.

Given these two facts, it is the inescapable conclusion that the two Al Queda hijackers sent the second Anthrax letter to the Sun.

Now, at this point, you have to conclude that if an entity is traceably sending out Anthrax letters to some people, and other people also get Anthrax letters, that they are related parts of a larger campaign. I can't prove that to you, of course. But then I can't prove that the Sun will rise in the morning, either.

Fortunately, I don't give a hoot whether the NBC/Senate mailings are related to the previous mailings. We already have all the justification that we need to do what we need to do. And prudence suggests caution whenever anybody is sending Anthrax in the mail.

The harm comes when people who should know better, like Ritter, start advancing wild-a@@ guesses instead of sound judgement. We should not be wasting our time and efforts doing bug hunts in Idaho. It is clear what is going on, and we should deal with the difficult problem at hand, instead of making it more difficult by chasing down impossible scenarios.

[rwb]

You make some good points, but my guiding principle is that (as Mark Twain said): "... if you find yourself agreeing with the majority (the mob) you'd better step back and take another look.. ". (Or something to that effect).

I agree that suspicion for the mailings points to the usual suspects. But it's suspicion, not evidence.

And as far as basing logic on past trends goes, I bet you thought Mid-Easterners attacked the OK building. But that's alright, practically everybody else thought so too.