Posted on 10/27/2001 7:33:16 PM PDT by freedomnews
Researcher: Iraq attempted to smuggle anthrax to U.S., Britain
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Saturday, October 27, 2001
TEL AVIV — Iraq has attempted to smuggle large quantities of anthrax into Britain and the United States, an Israeli analyst says.
Dany Shoham, a research associate at Tel Aviv University's Begin-Sadat Center of Strategic Studies, said the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein attempted to bring biological weapons agents into Britain and the United States in 1998. The attempt was reported by Israeli intelligence.
At the time, Shoham said, Iraqi women agents arriving in the United States were hiding vials filled with biological agents under their dresses.
Iraq was also attempting to smuggle biological and chemical agents into Britain hidden in duty-free goods.
Shoham, a reserve intelligence officer with close ties to Western intelligence agencies, said the Iraqi effort was foiled by British authorities. He suggested that Iraq succeeded in bringing the anthrax virus into the United States.
Iraq has been developing the same type of powder anthrax now being mailed to prominent Americans, Shoham said. He said another developer of powder anthrax has been the Al Qaida group headed by Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden.
"Bin Laden and several Arab countries — most specifically Iraq — have been working for years to develop this capacity," Shoham, who has published articles in leading professional journals, said. "Of course, we do not yet know for sure that Bin Laden and or Iraq is behind the recent anthrax attacks. But it is most probably so."
Shoham said Bin Laden and his agents obtained expertise and material for chemical and biological weapons from Iraq, which constructed a weapons of mass destruction facility in Sudan in the early 1990s. When Bin Laden left Sudan for Afghanistan in 1996, Shoham said, Bin Laden continued to purchase components for biological and chemical weapons from the Sudanese military.
On Thursday, the German Der Bild daily reported that Bin Laden aide Mohammed Ata, one of the leaders of the Islamic suicide attacks in New York and Washington, smuggled anthrax into the United States. The daily based its report on Israeli intelligence sources.
CIA officials concluded in 1999 that Iraq was most likely working with Bin Laden and other terrorist groups to develop weapons of mass destruction, Shoham said. Such weapons expertise might have also reached Palestinian groups.
Israeli security sources said two Palestinians were arrested on Oct. 10 upon their return to the West Bank from Pakistan. One Palestinian was identified as Amin Shawani, said to have studied pharmacology in Pakistan and an agent of Bin Laden. The other was identified as Mahmoud Azzam, described as a cousin of a Bin Laden aide.
In 1999, Shoham said, Israeli security forces arrested a squad from the Palestinian Hamas group. The squad was recruiting Palestinian biology and chemistry students as part of a project to develop and deploy weapons of mass destruction against Israel.
Israeli officials acknowledge that Bin Laden and his Palestinian allies launched several attempts to stage a WMD attack in Israel. Health Minister Nissim Dahan said the prospect of such an attack is becoming increasingly likely.
"Our only scenario given by the appropriate authorities is that of anthrax," Dahan said. The other [WMD] scenarios are less likely. Luckily, we have a solution and with proper preparations, we could reduce the damage that our enemies seek to wrought upon us."
I sincerely hope so. But then I'm afraid denial isn't just a river in Egypt.
I guess now we know why we've been vaccinating our military against anthrax since 1998. It appears our government knew of this threat.
Also, the terrorists couldn't just transfer it from a flask to envelopes in an ordinary motel room. Even if they wore masks, there would be motel workers or later occupants with symptoms. Where are they?
The stuff sure seems like it was "Made in the USA".
Jeez - where to begin? Its been reported that the samples in the senate used Bentonite for optimum aerosol qualities - an Iraqi technique.
It would be trivial to construct an airtight box with a glass top with chemical gloves for manipulation. Pop in your vial, envelopes and letters, plastic bag for the letters, bleach for clean up.
Lastly, if you can't find any evidence of where it was made why would you conclude that its "Made in the USA"?
For example, how can anyone assume that knowing where the strain of Anthrax originated would tell us anything about who is mailing it? Do you suggest that Islamic terrorits could not obtain strains from Iowa? Why reject the letter writers claims of association with 9/11 acts when we have no reason to? So far, we have heard no real evidence of right wing involvement but plenty of information connecting it to Iraq, yet we still witness the media/government pushing the right wing speculation. Why? Who benefits by changing public opinion on this? I have concluded from the past 10 years that our government will lie to us or will tell us truth, which ever seems to benefit their agenda at the time. I smell the coverup and the media manipulation starting on this already and shame on us if we fall for it.
Based on your own premise, where are the "Made in the USA" people with such symptoms?
Absolutely, I heard it on the news at 11:00, last night, with my own ears. Lets move on here nothing to see, don't you know the attorney general is doing all that he can.
That report hasn't been confirmed. But even if so, Bentonite is widely available here, and probably would be what a small lab would use.
It would be trivial to construct an airtight box with a glass top with chemical gloves for manipulation.
OK. (Although airtight is not that trivial) And how do they get it into the mail system? See below.
Lastly, if you can't find any evidence of where it was made why would you conclude that its "Made in the USA"?
If this stuff came from overseas, how did they get it here without any spores being released until either the NJ or MD post offices? If the envelopes were leaking spores that readily, they sure were leaking them from near the point of origin.
When did they do that? I have been wondering why the admin. doesn't point out that only left leaning types got the envelopes. I think that should be a clue, but I don't know what it means.
despite all the evidence that it is related to Islamic terrorists.
What evidence is that? I've been watching and haven't seen any.
The same thing happened after Oklohoma City and Waco.
After Ok City, people were quick to blame Arabs, but McVeigh wasn't an Arab, was he? On Waco - well, neither Koresh nor Reno were Muslims.
For example, how can anyone assume that knowing where the strain of Anthrax originated would tell us anything about who is mailing it?
Yes, knowing where it came from would tell us a lot. You can't just stuff envelopes with Anthrax in your kitchen without leaving traces. We could find out exactly whgo did it by following the tracks back to the source.
And I have no guess as to the politics or nationality of the perpetrators. There are wacky people of all descriptions.
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