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Nearly there, nearly there. Smallpox is a code word for "anthrax" here, IMO. Just as Blair's recent threat to attack Iraq with nuclear weapons if Saddam hits our "troops" with biological weapons was a polite way to to talk about attacks against our civilian population -- the prospect which is made explicit here. The word-games remind me of the way the Victorians talked about sex. Their purpose? It's a fine balancing act: the people must gradually be prepared for the truth, but they mustn't be paralysed with fear -- the threat must still be kept "hypothetical." That balance needs to be incrementally modulated as we get closer to the showdown with Saddam Hussein. Judging by the news stories of the last 2-3 weeks, the pace is picking up -- the final conflict with the Butcher of Baghdad may come as soon as the fall.