Posted on 10/30/2001 8:40:44 AM PST by Asmodeus
I smell an agenda here, but I'd like to find evidence before poisoning the well.
Obviously you don't know the rag. It is a totally PC, socialist oriented, US hating, peacenik, piece of crap. It is most empahatically NOT a source for scientific information.
Who funds them, or is it just the magazine?
If they're saying that Iraq was not involved then it would be a good idea to nuke Baghdad...yesterday.
But I can wait.
No verification - just stating his opinion. That's all.
The statement "New Scientist can reveal that the spores also seem to have been prepared according to the secret US 'weaponisation' recipe" over reaches by trying to claim more than what it can at this time. This over reaching is even demonstrated by a sentence later in the same article:
"Chemical tests are now being conducted to see if any traces of the US additives are present." This means the results of the chemical tests are not yet known.
The article emphasizes spore size distribution as the link it tries to make with US anthrax that has been weaponized:
"...so that when they were dried, they broke up into fine particles within a very narrow size range of a few microns."
First of all, the article admits that the Russian, US and Iraqi methods can give the right size distribution.:
"The Soviet Union got around this by grinding dried cultures along with chemicals that cause the particles to remain separate. Iraq is the only other state known to have tried making such a weapon, and it dried anthrax cultures along with bentonite, a clay used as a fluidising agent in powders. " But the article tries to rule out the Iraqi connection by claiming bentonite was not found on the spores. Yet,it has not been ruled out yet whether or not ANY type of clay besides just bentonite was on the spores which would still give the spores an Iraqi signature since the Iraqis also used OTHER CLAYS in addition to bentonite. The Iraqi process relied on CLAYS in general, not just bentonite.
Additionally, since chemical tests are still being conducted how is it that the article totally rules out Russian methods which use chemicals since the chemical tests results are not in yet? The Russians may have learned not to have to grind their spores. The article tries to rule out the Russians by claiming that grinding would not give the size distribution found in the Dascle sample that they claim is close to the US method size distribution-that claim is not shown or proven in this article and the Russians still can be a candidate in my opinion.
This article, by saying that the size distribution is close to the distribution produced by US methods, does not make a case at all that the sample is home grown because it is possible to achieve the same distribution with Russian and Iraqi methods. Use of Clays have not been ruled out yet and the results of chemical tests are not in which could show the spores were produced by the Russian or the US chemical methods IF the right chemicals are even found.
This article is NOT good science- it is purely political which makes it suspect because the article source name is a scientific name. And the source is also known to be a left leaning magazine with less than reliable agendas.
THe Russians and Iraqi's would have a strong motive to have this article written with misdirection to deflect attention away from them. The Russian mob could easily have provided Anthrax to BIn Laden and there are numerous articles reporting that Bin Laden did in fact purchase some anthrax from the Russian mob and/or satellite states. The Iraqis could easily have provided anthrax to hijacker pilot Atta during many meetings he has had with Iraqi officials over the past year as has been widely reported. Sadam Hussein would like to keep his stockpiles of anthrax and other weapons of mass destruction from being targeted should Iraq be identified as the source.
What is to say that the Iraqis or Russians were not able to achieve the right size distribution using clays and or chemicals or both similar to what the US used-the US secrets may not be secret plus the Russians and Iraqis could have made their own discoveries of methods to yield the right size distribution.
THe right size distribution has not been a secret in the world to anyone and many nations could have done experiments to achieve the right size distribution. More than one method can achieve the same size distribution.
It will take an analysis and testing of a combination of factors (clays, strains, chemicals, particle size distribution, etc) ultimately to tie down the source of the anthrax production.
I have some junk science for you. It's off topic, but two hours ago my friend Paul said he had a dream last night that the Holland Tunnel was blown up and thousands perished. Sorry, I didn't know where else to post this. No need to reply. I only post it because Paul has had a number of dreams turn out to be true over the past few years. He's hoping he's wrong on this one too. He called it a dream; I'd call it a nightmare.
Hey Matt, I know you lurk here. What's the deal? The singular aim of all of these stories is pin this on Pro-Lifers. 120 hoax letters show up at Planned Parenthood in two days? Give me a break. It's so obviously fake it's insulting. Why are you giving these people the credibility of linking their bogus conspiracies on your site?
And why in God's name would hold John "This War is a Fraud" Pilger up as the voice of the British press (as you did on Sunday)? Slow newsday? A quick Google search of Mr. Pilger turns up about a dozen essays by a devout socialist who has condemned every military action in this nation's history. There was an interview with Noam Chomsky in there, too. The man and his headline represent nothing... nothing that we didn't already know. Socialist hate us. Big f**king deal.
Your lust for attention-grabbing headlines is turning you inside-out, Matt.
That's the source. Not 'Right Wing Extremists'.
I'd like to know why colleges and Universities love the almighty dollar more than they love their fellow Americans? Admitting all these foreigners for their ability to pay is a testimony to their loyalties.
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