Experts Offer Competing Theories for Source of Anthrax: Was it New Jersey Basement or Iraq? (or MD?)

AP & New Jersey Online ^ | November 8, 2001 | MATT CRENSON

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Experts offer competing theories for source of anthrax: Was it New Jersey basement or Iraq?

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bioterrorism experts say the teaspoonful of powdered anthrax spores sent to Sen. Tom Daschle's office could have come from an Iraqi weapons laboratory or a New Jersey basement.

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Pray for America.

MD in the title means (was it from) Fort Detrick, MD.

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bump

[JohnHuang2]

BTTT

[Sabertooth]

ping

[Clinton's a rapist]

Do a search on "bioterrorism expert" Richard Ebright. There's plenty of material on this guy on the web, and as far as I can see, no indication that he has any expertise on the topic of biological warfare at all. It doesn't look like he has a single publication on the subject. My guess is he's just some random biologist they called up to muddy the waters with a few goofy, ill-informed quotes. This is how propaganda and public opinion management works.

BTW, while I was poking around on the web, I found this interesting Scientific American piece on biowar from 1999, here.

[t-shirt]

Thankyou.

Government/media is a propaganda machine of deception.

[Clinton's a rapist]

I don't blame them for the misdirection, in this case. They have to keep the ball in the air. But, if you want to know what's really going on, you need to look past the spin.

[Nogbad]

bump

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks Saber.

Bump.

[11B3]

Another look at bio and chem weapons can be found in this article: Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog

[PRND21]

bump

[Travis McGee]

Occam's Razor says the Iraqis gave Atta a free sample in Prague.

[harpseal]

Thank you for the heads up. So if it is a home grown terrorist we need to look for someone with expertise in aerosol physics, and micro-biology who had at minimum an extra $100,000 to devote to a terrorist action. The $100,000 figure is the extra bio conatinemnet equipment that would minimally be needed to load the latters and move the powder around. Now said person also just happens to want to do this at a timing which is just so coordinated with the September 11, 2001 attacks. Clearly anyone who is talking of this being a basement/kitchen lab is engaging in intentional disinformation.

I do not really want to complain too much about the disinformation if there is a legitimate reason but I would think a simple statement like G. W. Bush made last night that we do not yet know who made the anthrax spores should be sufficient.

Stay well - Stay safe - stay armed - Yorktown

[FITZ]

My guess is he's just some random biologist they called up to muddy the waters with a few goofy, ill-informed quotes.

Yes, almost anyone can be an expert if someone decides to call them that. Even if the anthrax was produced in the US, it doesn't mean the original source wasn't a foreign country or that it isn't being produced by foreigners living here. It wouldn't be anymore difficult for Iraqis to bring some in and then mass produce it than it would be for Americans.

[Sabertooth]

I do not really want to complain too much about the disinformation if there is a legitimate reason but I would think a simple statement like G. W. Bush made last night that we do not yet know who made the anthrax spores should be sufficient.

Agreed.

No need to roll the boulder down the Iraq hill until we're ready.

[archy]

Or North Korea.

Circa 10,000 fatalities around 1978-80, as I recall.

[Dog Gone]

My favorite theory is that this was anthrax pilfered by an American from our own weapons research stock. We have a long history of Americans who sell secrets to foreign governments.

The temptation for some scientist to steal a small amount that wouldn't be noticed and sell it on the black market some time ago is obvious.

It couldn't be a large amount (which may explain why we haven't seen any repeat Daschle letters) and it could have ended up in the hands of al-Qaida.

[shield]

MD in the title means (was it from) Fort Detrick, MD.

Bet it was from this location. I don't believe for one minute it came from elsewhere. Even though they are going to find a lone boggy man or lone right wing group. Their playbook doesn't change...same ole' same ole' Doesn't matter who is in the WH....this whole thing ie anthrax, smallpox it is to put fear in the American public...to further their agenda

[aristeides]

Although I have believed up to now that the anthrax probably comes from an Iraqi source, the hysterical reaction some people here on FR had the other day to a claim that the source was Pakistani makes me wonder whether some government shills may be particularly afraid of that claim because it is true. I wonder if Ames-strain anthrax was ever supplied to the ISI or some other Pakistani outfit. Of course, both might be true -- the ISI might be using anthrax that they got from Iraq.

[archy]

My favorite theory is that this was anthrax pilfered by an American from our own weapons research stock. We have a long history of Americans who sell secrets to foreign governments.

Could be, but in that case, you'd expect it to be a antibiotic-treatment resistant military grade, more suitable for aerosol delivery means. But if planned as a *Reichstag Fire* to speed the passage of more and better antiterrorism laws and powers for the federal government, then it'd be preferable to cover the tracks by using less obvious material, such as veterinary grade laboratory materials, which could also be better kept from causing a real epidemic and panic.

But when useful, the military stockpile does appear to have been dipped into, as with the 1991 Russell Welch incident at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Funny how the Little Rock newspaper has *overlooked* that story in their anthrax panic coverage....

-archy-/-