My Complete Whackjob Nutbag theory on white powders and anthrax

Fab

[Scutter]

I was with you until the last two paragraphs. I think you're right about this being designed to distract and overload our defenses. I don't see the government handing out Cipro until we run out based on this. I think they are distracting us from some other sort of attack -- not Anthrax.

[ivanhoe116]

Doh! Don't give these guys any ideas!

[Madame Dufarge]

I've been thinking along these same lines, francisandbeans, but didn't have enough guts to post a thread about it.

Your theory sure works for me.

[ctdonath2]

Antrax is a poor choice for a weapon of mass distruction.

But is that really their goal? No - their goal is TERROR and related disruption. Why go for mass destruction when the fear of it is so much easier to invoke? It's not so much the 6000 WTC dead that excites the terrorists, it's the 100,000 layoffs, 20% stock market drop, 3-hour waits at airline checkpoints, confiscated nailcutters, national fear, etc. etc. etc. They may want us dead, but the subsequent national terror invoked by a mere envelope of talcum powder is ultimately more useful. They want to see the most powerful nation on earth cower in fear when someone says "Boo!"

[Robert357]

John Ascroft can say what he wants, the real issue is what will the U.S. Postal workers do? I don't think that they will just keep collecting mail and sorting it if they think their life could be endangered. Same is true for UPS, FedEx, etc.

At that point the mail will be quarentined and very carefully examined to determine which has "powder" and what things, fingerprints, etc are in common with the contaimnated mail. Post Office video cameras will be reviewed and perps will be arrested.

The point is that the delivery system for a biological attack will not keep on operating and serving as a delivery mechanism for the biological agents. The terrorist threat delivery system will shut down and stop being a terrorist delivery system very quickly.

[texlok]

I could some see sickos mailing stuff in - think about how many would-be unabombers there are, and here's the chance to pull off a sick prank and get it blamed on something else.

[Think free or die]

". . . however, I don't know a source for the masks the hospitals use (but I do have a handfull stashed)."

If you search for "medical supplies", you'll turn up a large number of internet suppliers of gloves, surgical masks, etc.

[cgbg]

You are to be congratulated for putting forward a theory that fits the known facts reasonably well.

I don't think I agree with it though.

Some random thoughts (too early to fit into a theory):

The unabomber was sending bombs through the mail which forced folks to be careful about opening packages. Yet the mail continued to operate.

Anthrax, as has been discussed ad nauseum, is a miserable terror weapon--not contagious, can't survive sunlight, etc. So it cannot cause a true panic once the novelty wears off.

While the hazmat teams are running around in the silly "white powder chase" there appears to be no major long-term harm as a result of the exercise--it probably does them good to practice a little. ;-)

While it does divert them and the antibiotic supply in the short term it has no long term impact.

My gut just tells me that history will recall this anthrax thing is nothing about nothing.

(Caveat emptor--I was wrong about Y2K ;-) )

[Jay W]

I agree. We need to deport all non-citizens now. I don't care what the "politically correct" crowd thinks about this. Our lives are at stake.

[Clinton's a rapist]

The evidence suggests that Atta was involved in the prep work for the mail-bomb campaign. Thus, it is unlikely that the mail-bomb campaign represents merely the thrashing of a terrorist campaign that has been successfully suppressed by the host response to 9/11. Nor does it seem likely that the plot incorporating the 9/11 attack features a low-intensity letter bomb campaign as its grand finale. We know that Atta met with Iraqi intelligence six months ago. We know that Saddam Hussein's regime will likely be a target in the War on Terrorism as the campaign progresses. We know that the terrorists were researching crop-dusters and "wind patterns." We know that Iraq has extensive stocks not only of Anthrax, but of other, potentially much more terrible biological and chemical agents.

Now you do the math.

[francisandbeans]

It appears your argument with my theory is not the theory itself...it is with the idea that a terrorist could have that the mail could keep going. You are arguing as if I believe both sides of this (fed and terrorist) were in on the plan...only one side is. If the terrorist believe that we won't shut down the mail, they could lose when we do. If we don't, they could win. I am not writing a book Robert, there is no plot, any side can change focus and direction here or make a mistake in judging its opponents reaction.

[giotto]

Be vigilant, be alert, but let's not go berserk over it.

Good advice. The odds of being a victim of terrorism are still astronomically small. I worry more about letting my child drive on a California freeway. Now that's terrifying.

[francisandbeans]

I take exception with the idea that someone could pull it off when a story breaks at 6:00 PM (mail shuts off earlier then that...and these things would have to be mailed from the east if the address was in the east to get there next day)...the person would have to get the idea (upon the stpry breaking...not first hearing about it) choose a target, get the supplies and have it to the post office in one hour. Multiply this happening in several different locations. Cannot be a lone nutbag....next to impossible.

[francisandbeans]

while you unibomber analogy holds some water, he didnt send packages after running planes into large buildings. This is why it works. If there were to occur minus the WTC, I dont think I would even think about it much. Everyone has anthrax on the brain to some degree.

[francisandbeans]

mail shuts off shortly after that...not erlier then that

[Sabertooth]

"I love civil liberties, but they will need to be severely curtailed for the duration of this war."

Agreed. Which is why this war needs to be declared... so that when it's over, the "curtailment" can be lifted.

Make no mistake, I want the terrorists to become extinct. But I'm wary of handing over blanket exemptions to the Constitution, trusting that someday they'll expire.

[discostu]

But if they've studied the situation and have an incling of the incubation period they could pre-mail the second batch (that's what I was trying to get at but didn't do a good job as you can see). Also there's the possibility of the two waves not being related, of idiots (similar to the ones that were calling in al those bomb threats the week of the attack) mailing talcum powder to local (for them) places, that would give that next day thing, especially if your sending to big places that get multiple deliveries.

One of the dangers with this one, especially something this low rent to fake, is assuming it's all coming from the same source. There are way too many idiots in this country to assume no one has gotten the bright idea to copy these "attacks" with harmless powder. This is something almost every household in the country could fake, just need some sort of white powder and envelop and a stamp and you're ready to rock.

[Sabertooth]

"We know that Saddam Hussein's regime will likely be a target in the War on Terrorism as the campaign progresses. We know that the terrorists were researching crop-dusters and "wind patterns." We know that Iraq has extensive stocks not only of Anthrax, but of other, potentially much more terrible biological and chemical agents.

Now you do the math.

Speaking of math:

Remember when Sadaam Hussein said during Desert Shield that the impending war with the United States would be "the Mother of all Battles?"

We kind of laughed at him then, didn't we? I don't know how true that prediction will turn out to be for the future, but by letting him survive, we've made it true for the War on Terror.

Something that seems to be all too often overlooked about Sadaam Hussein: he believes himself to be the reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylonian conqueror on a par with Caesar and Alexander, Sacker of Jerusalem, and Captor of the Jews. As Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, so Sadaam today is rebuilding Babylon.

Hussein is an occultic megalopsychopath. All of his actions and motivations should be considered in this light.

[pubmom]

Not a bad theory, anything is possible.

[plain talk]

ditto your theory. I think you've nailed it. An adder to your theory is that while mailing out a bunch of harmless powder, they also get to see how the authorities and public react and then learn from this and understand our weaknesses. It also gets to be like the boy who cried wolf. If we see day in and day out false alarms, people will let their guard down and then they let us have it with the real stuff.