Clinton FBI Fingers "Right-Wing Hate Groups" in Anthrax Probe

Saturday Oct. 27, 2001; 2:31 p.m. EDT

Clintonized FBI Fingers 'Right-Wing Hate Groups' in Anthrax Probe

In a move reminiscent of the botched FBI investigations of the Clinton era, the bureau is actively pursuing weak leads suggesting "right-wing hate groups" are involved in the recent wave of anthrax attacks on the U.S.

Meanwhile clear circumstantial evidence pointing to Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden appears to have been placed on the back burner.

Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 the U.S. hadn't suffered a single case of inhalation anthrax since 1976.

Still probers continue to insist they see no connection between the events of that day and the anthrax-laden letters sent out the next week to every branch of the U.S. government, the CIA, the big three network news divisions and the headquarters prominent newspapers from New York to Florida.

"Everything seems to lean toward a domestic source," one senior FBI official told the Washington Post Saturday. "Nothing seems to fit with an overseas terrorist type operation."

For some victims, such a claim seems more than a little absurd.

Steve Coz, for instance, whose National Enquirer headquarters in Florida was the first to be hit with an anthrax attack, complained two weeks ago that al Qaeda terror kamikaze pilot Mohamed Atta had been spotted in a local drugstore with reddened hands -- a condition he thought could be a symptom of cutenacious anthrax.

Another detail the FBI seems anxious to overlook: The widely reported visits by Atta and his coconspirators to Florida airfields where they inquired about renting cropdusters and the size of the chemical loads the planes could disperse.

The bureau seems none too interested in other potential evidence that could tie Atta to the anthrax assault.

"In Florida, agents haven't tested cars or residences used by some of the hijackers, including those of Mohamed Atta," reported the Wall Street Journal Thursday. "FBI officials said testing isn't a priority, because they assume that by now, the hijackers' cars and apartments would have been cleaned, removing any trace of anthrax."

Ken Alibek, who headed up the Soviet Union's biological weapons program said the FBI's "assumption" is wrong. He told the Journal that investigators should be conducting extensive testing for anthrax traces in vehicles used by suspects and in all places that a suspect resided.

Alibek's advice notwithstanding, Special Agent Rene Salinas told the paper, "At this time, there are no plans to go back and check (Atta's car and apartment) for traces of anthrax."

The FBI's belief that so-called domestic terror groups are behind the bioterror scourge is also belied by Friday's reports that anthrax found in a letter sent to Sen. Tom Daschle contained bentonite, a substance weapons experts say is Iraq's signature.

While some analysts point out that bentonite was also used in U.S. anthrax production, the Journal reported Friday that those stocks "were destroyed in the 1960's."

Dr. Khidhir Hamza, a former top official in Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, also disagrees with the FBI's domestic terrorism hunch.

"This is Iraq," Hamza told CNBC.

"This is Iraq's work. Nobody (else) has the expertise outside the U.S. and outside the major powers who work on germ warfare. Nobody has the expertise and has any motive to attack the U.S. except Saddam to do this. This is Iraq. This is Saddam." (Read NewsMax.com's exclusive report on Dr. Hamza's comments.)

Saturday's news that the Czech government now confirms several meetings betweeen Atta and a top Iraqi intelligence official in Prague last June -- combined with reports last week that bin Laden was able to purchase anthrax from a factory in the Czech Republic -- add further legitimacy to suspicions of a foreign bioterror tie. (See: Osama Bought Anthrax)

Still, as the evidence mounts of al Qaeda and Iraqi involvement, the FBI seems hellbent on looking the other way.

"Ultra right-wing organizations -- including a particular West Coast Group -- have become a key focus of the massive federal investigation into the murderous anthrax attacks," the New York Post reported Thursday.

"Our feeling is the anthrax does not point to an international terrorist group," an FBI source told the Post for its front page report.

The sentiment was echoed by a Washington Post front page report two days later:

"The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are considering a wide range of domestic possibilities, including associates of right-wing hate groups and U.S. residents sympathetic to the causes of Islamic extremists," reported Post star reporter Bob Woodward.

What actual evidence does the FBI's have of a homegrown anthrax plot? Not much, at least if published reports are any indication.

Charges against suspected domestic bioterrorist Larry Wayne Harris, who was thought to be targeting Las Vegas with "weapons grade anthrax" earlier this year, had to be dropped after the "suspicious biological agent" he was carrying turned out to be a harmless anthrax vaccine.

At least 20 abortion clinics have been evacuated in the last three years after receiving anthrax threats -- including powdered letters. All turned out to be hoaxes.

The only U.S. prosecution for domestic bioterrorism to date was for a man who had mailed out two suspicious vials along with the note, "You have just been contaminated by anthrax."

Though the threat alone was a crime, the vials themselves turned out to contain nothing more toxic than tap water.

In fact, of the more than 300 homegrown anthrax scares investigated by the FBI in the last three years, all proved to be bogus -- until Sept. 11, that is.

Still, federal probers seem anxious to round up the usual suspects, no matter how unconvincing the evidence. One supposed hot lead currently being pursued: the gun show conection.

"The FBI has been making inquiries about a Nebraska man who for several years has been selling manuals at gun shows that provide information on making chemical and biological weapons," the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. If the FBI thinks the unidentified suspect actually possesses any anthrax, it isn't saying so.

Then there's the ever popular militia angle, which the bureau is reportledy following with little apparent reason:

"In Michigan, FBI agents have met several times since Sept. 11 with Ann Arbor police to talk about the whereabouts and capabilities of local militiamen," the Journal noted. "(There's) some concern that people in that element might see Sept. 11 as a good way to get more notoriety and exposure," the local police chief told the paper.

If these reports reflect the true thrust of the FBI's anthrax investigation, it's clear the bureau has yet to overcome eight years worth of Clintonization, where the only leads pursued were the ones that supported predetermined outcomes.

In fact, the bureau's decision not to test Atta's apartment for trace anthrax seems like deja vu all over again.

Recall the Vincent Foster death case, where FBI agents told Congress there was no need to analyze blond hairs found on his body or carpet fibers on his clothing.

Or Flight TWA 800, where investigators were uninterested in 300 witnesses who said they saw a missile strike the plane.

With blunders like that, it's no wonder Mideast terrorists thought they could get away with anything.

The first thing that came to mind was when the Clinton Administration had dubed Free Republic as a hate group.

Oh! Missed out on that bit of news. Sadly that's almost a badge of honour.

Unfortunate, how many more government agents are becoming political officers, as the Clinton "legacy."

A couple years ago, a district attorney asked me, at a party, "What do you do for a living?"

I responded, "I investigate, hunt down, and arrest bad cops and bad state's attorneys."

It floored him.

The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service -( ???) are considering a wide range of domestic possibilities, including associates of right-wing hate groups and U.S. residents sympathetic to the causes of Islamic extremists ie: LEFT-WING Hate Groups.

This is eerily familiar... domestic terrorist McVeigh blows up building by himself, no ties to anyone else, we don't have to be concerned or go to war... no enemy nations involved. Nothing to see here... Move along now...

For a while, McVeigh lived in rural Decker, Mich., with his convicted co-conspirator, Terry Nichols. Nichols's brother, James Nichols, who was contacted by telephone, said the three were not part of the militia movement, but never trusted the government.

Boston Globe article

I blame Clinton for many of our current problems. He seemed to undermine most of our security providers. It was as if he wanted our country to be weakened by other countries. What did he ever do to provide more security for this country?

Yes, Ron Brown whose x-rays disappeared--the x-rays that showed a possible bullet hole in his head. If the CIA had been funded and staffed properly, that would have been something to investigate. But Clinton didn't want a strong CIA, did he? Wonder why?

That is why they are called the federal bureau of incompetence, or the federal bureau of ignorants

Indeed, the FBI has had more than its share of problems expecially with Bubba and Hitlery doing everthing in their power to make the agency ineffective. However, with the media now pushing the domestic terrorist story so hard, I have a feeling that the idea was put out there as a cover that will provide an excuse for the investigations of all domestic anti-government organizations. I think that is the whole purpose right now. Not that the FBI really does believe that the anthrax attack was domestic, but it provides them with an opportunity to go after other potentially "threatening" groups that they wouldn't have otherwise been justified in doing.

Richard W.

So, lemme get this straight.

Osama and the boys plow four airliners into U.S. locations on September 11, 2001. Just days later (several) completely independent "right-wing hate groups" release laboratory grade, highly refined anthrax that scientists claim would have taken the makers a deep knowledge of bio-chemistry and years to develop.

Gee, you FBI guys are claiming to be solving a sheer coincidence of astronomical proportions.

Always the blame game with the clintons. Challenge him to back up the accusation.

Huh? Are you one of those terminally blind, stupid, naive fools that refuse to see the Clintoons for the animals that they are? How many more people must the Clintoons kill or destroy before you take your blinders off? How can anyone, in this day and age of information, be so clinically stupid and blind?

This just in ( from another post )

To: Nuke'm Glowing

a news story on Fox pretty much shot the liberal media out of the saddle 15 minutes ago. They reported in their hourly update that traces on anthrax was found in two of the hijacker's apartments

Thanks for the news... now I wonder how long it will take the Jackal Pack Press Corp(se) to recant & retract?

73 posted on 10/28/01 9:56 AM Eastern

Thanks for the news... now I wonder how long it will take the Jackal Pack Press Corp(se) to recant & retract?

I hope you're not holding your breath.

As we all know, ABC is not known as a "right-wing" news site. Yet, I'm sure all of us from the right, as well as those from the left and center will find this article interesting:

ABC NEWS (via Yahoo! News): "Troubling Anthrax Additive Found; Atta Met Iraqi"

In the article, it refers to an additive "Bentonite" which was with the Anthrax sent to Senator Daschle. The article infers that this Bentonite with Anthrax is characteristic of Iraq.

FYI.

This is still the SAME FBI that went around Long Island after the missile(s) took out TWA flight 800, and told dozens of well-documented eyewitnesses that they had not seen a missile.

Not only did our FBI do this, they had the insulting crust to call it an "investigation." What a pathetic joke.

"Our feeling..."

That says it all; NO evidence, but the FBI "feels" it is so-and-so. Pathetic.

prambo

I never ceased to be amazed at the hoops they will jump through to try and blame this on the evil Right wingers. I would suggest its time to sh*tcan those FBI agents and middle managers who have latched onto this theory and not wanted to check Atta's homes and vehicles for contamination.

Most especially now that Bahoe's previous p[ost shows they are contaminated.

Stay well - stay safe - Stay armed - yorktown

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