Posted on 02/19/2002 6:50:16 AM PST by wimpycat
Edited on 07/06/2004 6:37:18 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
PRINCETON BOROUGH -- An advocate for the control of biological weapons who has been gathering information about last autumn's anthrax attacks said yesterday the Federal Bureau of Investigation has a strong hunch about who mailed the deadly letters.
But the FBI might be "dragging its feet" in pressing charges because the suspect is a former government scientist familiar with "secret activities that the government would not like to see disclosed," said Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Chemical and Biological Weapons Program.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Precisely my view.
"if the government starts really pushing the Rosenberg theory or the like."
Rosenberg's "source", she says, is an "insider", in the government. So, I assume it the government that is already pushing the Rosenberg theory. Which is, I'm guessing, misdirection -- for the very reason discussed above.
The more one noodles this whole chain of events around in the mind, the more likely it is that the anthrax came from Iraq. Or Iran. Or North Korea...
When all the laundry is hung out on the line, the left is going to be very disappointed...
The FBI dug a dry well in New Jersey. They have yet to do fundamental research in Florida.
There may be New Jersey involvement in this business, but it did not involve the entry of mail at postal facilities in New Jersey.
There were no letters sent before 9/11. I'd agree that a left wingnut might be nearly as likely as a right wingnut, but the main body of evidence points to a domestic wingnut.
OBL had 9/11 planned over years. With the resources at OBL's hands, he would have found a way to inflict tons of the stuff on America rather than a pathetic few ounces. The evidence points to a very determined individual with limited resources.
You still don't get it. The anthrax comes from Saddam. Saddam is the architect of 9/11. OBL provided recruits -- kamikaze pilots -- and not much more than that. The anthrax letters are designed to deter Bush from retaliating against Iraq.
This is how warfare works: you commit acts of violence on your opponent, and threaten something even worse, gambling that your opponent will back down. Only the means are unconventional -- the veil of terrorism, and the use of biological weapons. The underlying strategy is as old as history.
Was the gentleman carrying the plastic bag of letters wearing a Hazmat tuxedo?
There are so many reasons single-piece First-Class Mail can get screwed up I don't have room to discuss them all. So, do not confuse date of cancellation with date of mailing!
Unless she's just making it up (or she and some acquaintance in government are winging it and deluding themselves). Is there any reason to think that Rosenberg actually has access to inside information in the government?
The more one noodles this whole chain of events around in the mind, the more likely it is that the anthrax came from Iraq. Or Iran. Or North Korea...
Pres. Bush said that these countries comprised an "axis of evil." Bush is a down-to-earth person who doesn't typically use wild metaphors; so I presume that this isn't a wild metaphor, but a simple statement of fact -- he has seen evidence that those nations have bridged their differences and have forged an alliance. (Notice that even Colin Powell came out firmly behind the "axis of evil" statement, so it's not just a hawkish exaggeration or malapropism, as Bush's critics have been implying.)
Allah Rakah is apparently a fairly common combination of names. (I don't know what Rakah means, if anything.)
A search in Google shows a musician/actor in Indian movies called Allah Rakah Rahman; there's an interview on-line in which he places great importance on his first two names Allah Rakah, but he doesn't explain what the name means. Also, a well-known Indian musician who played with Ravi Shankar was named Ustad Allarakha Khan, and sometimes is referred to as Allah Rakah. (He died in 2000.)
Yes, the problem is that there's very little, if any, new evidence since we last discussed the anthrax case a couple of months ago.
The biggest new thing I see -- and it's not directly related to anthrax -- is that Iran's involvement in international terrorism is becoming more and more apparent.
There are a lot of rumors fostered by Rosenberg, and other hints of a U.S. source, but not a single bit of hard evidence has emerged to support these ideas.
When the Chester, PA, people were being investigated, one of the reasons for suspicion was that the wife of one of them had a Cipro prescription, but her medical explanation for it didn't make any sense.
Can you point to any evidence for this at all?
All the evidence so far points to 9/11-related international activity. Most of the evidence is circumstantial, but that's where it points. There's no evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, that points to a domestic nut.
Now, you'll find articles reporting that somebody says it's probably domestic, but those articles never contain any actual evidence.
I should add that it wouldn't surprise me greatly if there was some domestic involvement -- for example, the anthrax might have been stolen from a U.S. lab by an American and then sold to a terrorist or foreign agent. But, based on the evidence we've seen, the cause and rationale behind the anthrax attack will be found abroad.
Interesting possibility. Of course, it's equally if not more likely that the perp figured a good anthrax scare would increase funding for the government/military biowar program he worked for.
The very first indicator is the hand writing. Unless someone has extensive training in hand writing analysis(which of course, could not be totally eliminated as a possibility) how someone learns language is very difficult to mask. The typical American printing is much different than the typical arabic printing. American printing tends to be block letters (such as were contained in the letters). Arabic printing tends to have lots of serifs (curley letters). American printing tends to have a forward slant (such as were contained in the letters). Arabic printing tends to have a backward slant, because they learn writing from right to left instead of left to right.
A very strong indicator that points to a deranged individual rather than a state or a well financed organization is simply the total amount of anthrax. The entire amount added up to no more than a few ounces. Iraq has tons of the stuff, they more likely would have put it in thousands of pieces of mail instead of just a few. It appears to be the product of a very bright individual working with very limited resources.
Another indicator is the timing. The earliest date of cancelation was about a week after 9/11. This points to someone who did not know 9/11 was going to happen, but saw it as an opportunity to hide their own tracks.
These are the normal operating perameters.
You replied:
The very first indicator is the hand writing. Unless someone has extensive training in hand writing analysis(which of course, could not be totally eliminated as a possibility) how someone learns language is very difficult to mask. The typical American printing is much different than the typical arabic printing. American printing tends to be block letters (such as were contained in the letters). Arabic printing tends to have lots of serifs (curley letters). American printing tends to have a forward slant (such as were contained in the letters). Arabic printing tends to have a backward slant, because they learn writing from right to left instead of left to right.
Handwriting is notoriously difficult to analyze, especially such short samples. But others have suggested that the handwriting actually shows a similarity to Arabic script, in particular the way the E in Israel is formed in the Post/Brokaw letter. See this posting by Nogbad and this follow-up.
A very strong indicator that points to a deranged individual rather than a state or a well financed organization is simply the total amount of anthrax. The entire amount added up to no more than a few ounces. Iraq has tons of the stuff, they more likely would have put it in thousands of pieces of mail instead of just a few. It appears to be the product of a very bright individual working with very limited resources.
Even an individual could have used this quantity of anthrax to murder thousands, by releasing it in public places. Instead, the sender chose to mail the anthrax to a small number of individuals, with warnings. This only makes sense if it was intended to have the effect of military deterrence; it makes no sense as an actual attack of any sort.
Another indicator is the timing. The earliest date of cancelation was about a week after 9/11. This points to someone who did not know 9/11 was going to happen, but saw it as an opportunity to hide their own tracks.
You mean some nut was sitting on a vial of anthrax, all ready to go and just waiting for a major terrorist attack so he could take action under cover? That's not very plausible.
There's really no evidence pointing to a domestic origin for the anthrax attack. See Thud's excellent summary of the why the evidence points to a foreign source; I added a few points in this follow-up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.