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.For some time I have suspected that bin Laden and Hussein have been working on a paralell track. I think when the history of this war is written, we will learn of Hussein's intelligence personnel showing up in Southeastern Afghanistan in the last six months of 2000.
Atta was an errand boy, a senior errand boy, but an errand boy nonetheless. He knew about the plan, and now he is dead.
Dead men tell no tales.
The Bush administration knows that Hussein was probably in on this. That's why Powell hasn't quite been ruling him out. Hussein also knows that he might be a marked man, so he might want to get his licks in first.
One problem. He may have signed on to an attack on the United States homeland using biological mycotoxins. If we find out about this, we may decide to sit on it and simply have him assassinated by the Israelis after bin Laden is killed. Why? Because an attack on the American homeland with WMD requires a nuclear response. I don't think we're ready to go there, yet.
Now I suspect that we know where his biochem stuff is. I also suspect that we want to knock of Binnie and his Boyz first. A lot depends on how far Hussein and bin Laden decide to go. If Hussein and Binnie decide that Smallpox is their Thing, we'll have to nuke every high value target in Iraq worthy of the name, just to set an example. If that happens, believe me, the rest of the Arab World will put this jihadist nonsense to bed real fast. In other words, brown pants will suddenly be all the rage among Arab men. If they decide to piddle around with this anthrax nonsense just to throw a scare in them, we'll let Hussein off the hook with a dead bin Laden and a defunct al-Quaeda.
One other thing. Condoleezza Rice spent much of the 1980's in Nuclear Targeting at the JCS. I strongly suspect that she has been a busy little bee lately in that regard.
That's where it stands as far as I can tell.
What we really need to do is to start an emergency vaccination program for smallpox, plague, and anthrax. Put a fire under the CDC and get everyone vaccinated as quickly as possible. That makes the US a harder target to kill.
Be Seeing You,
Chris