Bush announces Daschle received Anthrax letter

Reuters, via AP ^ | 15 October 2001 | Reuters

[YaYa123]

Stop deleting this report...it is valid!

"WASHINGTON (AP) - A letter opened in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle ``had anthrax in it,'' President Bush (news - web sites) said Monday.

Bush said the envelope was field-tested shortly after being received, and the staffers who have been exposed are being treated.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Bush said ``there may be some possible link'' between Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and a recent flurry of anthrax-related developments.

``I wouldn't put it past him but we don't have any hard evidence,'' he said of the man suspected as the leader behind Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington that killed thousands.

A spokesman for Daschle said the suspicious package was received at the majority leader's office in a Senate office building across the street from the Capitol.

Separately, one source said that when it was opened, a powdery white substance fell out. Capitol Police were summoned, the office sealed, and the workers immediately given a text for anthrax exposure. There was no immediate word on the results of those tests.

But Bush, in responding to a reporter's question, said he had just talked with Daschle. ``His office received a letter and it had anthrax in it. The letter was field-tested. And the staffers that have been exposed are being treated.''

The president made his comments after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the latest in a steady stream of foreign leaders to visit Washington in the wake of the terrorist attacks."

[Sidebar Moderator]

All;

I don't want to fill up this thread with FR related issues. We have a thread started to address any questions. Please go here to discuss and to leave this thread for the current topic.

Thanks,

[r9etb]

The bottom line is that no one knows for sure where it's coming from. If you ask me, the guys who crashed the planes into the WTC and the Pentagon are number one on the list of suspects - just a hunch.... Trying to pin the Anthrax on any other group at this point is just playing politics.

Well, perhaps. I do remember a few years back there were a couple of anthrax scares -- powder in the mail, etc. -- which were supposedly the work of wacko militants in our own country.

The terrorist attacks would provide ample cover for the kind of folks who would like to stir up a little trouble of their own(remember the "Republic of Texas"?). The anti-Arab bias these attacks is stirring up seem to fit their agenda as well.

Not to say Osama didn't do it, but simply to suggest that the "domestic terror" angle isn't at all far-fetched.

(And who's to say Osama doesn't fund and supply them, too?)

[KsSunflower]

If you were a senator from SOUTH DAKOTA and in today's climate received a suspicious package postmarked from TRENTON, NJ, why would you open it? How crazy is that? I would pick up the phone immediately and call authorities and I am not a staffer in the Senate Majority leader's office. What were they thinking???

[cynicom]

Sidebar...Right...Sure is painful when one has their shortcomings brought to their attention..So sidestep, bob and weave. Take your medicine like a gentleman or a lady, whichever. hehehehe

[putupon]

Dashcle either sent it to himself for poll improvment pity points (so please don't drill in ANWR) or bin Laden is PO'ed that Tommy is not marching w/ the peaceniks as predicted.

[ZULU]

Is it true that Tom Daschle is really Hugh Heffner's little brother?

[ruthles]

Call me cynical, but I wouldn't put it past Daschle, Gephardt or the rest of the libs to start a publicity stunt to gain attention, sympathy, and support via a "terrorist attack." They can't stand to be upstaged or ignored. Anyone thought about this?

[Publius6961]

Just a supposition. Do you think this anthrax scare could be the work of real "right-wing" extremists?

Sure, anything is possible.
Just as possible as thinking that "left wing extremists" did it for the purpose of creating chaos when they can't get their way, that's their style.

Or maybe "extreme progressives" did it.
Or "extreme vegetarians"
Or "extreme gay activists"...

Every "extreme" whacko can find a justification for doing irrational things.

[No Truce With Kings]

Daschle is a friggin idiot but he doesn't deserve to die from anthrax. Maybe he will become a conservative in a fit of contriteness.

You know what they say. A liberal is just a conservative that has not been mugged yet.

[Callahan]

Just checked over at DemocraticUnderground to see if the Daschle news would cause the lunatic left to see the light of day. No such luck. They're now convinced that an attack on a Democrat is proof positive that this bio-terror is really the work of "right-wing Christian extremists."

[dandelion]

They may be liberals, but they are MY liberals. MY Govt. leaders, MINE to change if I and other voters choose. It is NOT up to some low-rent, fifth-rate, wannabe world pseudo-mafiosos thugs to decide when one of MY leaders leaves office. Punks.

[Lion's Cub]

I don't think this is necessarily jihadists. Clinton, Schummer, Daschle, liberal media, microsoft, sony entertainment...Could this be the September 29 crowd? Maybe our recipients didn't deliver?

[Randjuke]

Call me cynical, but I wouldn't put it past Daschle, Gephardt or the rest of the libs to start a publicity stunt to gain attention, sympathy, and support via a "terrorist attack." They can't stand to be upstaged or ignored. Anyone thought about this?

Yes, you are cynical.

[uncbob]

Daschle, Brokaw, NYT etc all left wing. McVeigh types taking advantage of the WTC situation to go after the socialists ???

[Marysecretary]

Hmm, well, at least the "anthrax-terrorists" know who the enemy is (the democrats!). Sad times we live in.

[Aggie Mama]

I was just discussing this with my mom. My theory is they are targeting "liberal" organizations to make it appear it is a McVeigh-type--all those crazy talk radio types, doncha know. That way, it sows more seeds of discord amongst our citizens. A way to create disunity.

[rintense]

I agree, dande. They are Americans above anything else. I hate to say it, but I have a funny feeling that many of these white powder scares are being done by our own 'home-grown' wackos with a bone to pick with the government. I'm not saying terrorists aren't involved, but why does it seem that only liberals are targets?

[Dems_R_Losers]

Call me cynical, but I wouldn't put it past Daschle, Gephardt or the rest of the libs to start a publicity stunt to gain attention, sympathy, and support via a "terrorist attack." They can't stand to be upstaged or ignored. Anyone thought about this?

And would you like to tell me where they would get their hands on dried anthrax spores??? Oh yeah, maybe they have some liberal mole in Fort Detrick sneaking the stuff out to them so they can plant it in their own mail.

Sheesh.

[Praxeologue]

Daschle, Brokaw, NYT etc all left wing. McVeigh types taking advantage of the WTC situation to go after the socialists ???

Or ... it could be OBL trying to politically threaten Bush by stirring up the left-wing opposition. This started with an attack on the newspaper against which OBL likely had a grudge (ahem!) That, I presume was personal payback. Now this is sophisticated political jujitsu.