Report Linking Anthrax and Hijackers Is Investigated

New York Times ^ | 3/23/02 | WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID JOHNSTON

[Thud]

Hilarious. I didn't think the FBI was sophisticated enough to try to add credibility to a story by portraying themselves as clueless liars.

[keri]

Stay tuned. It's finally breaking.

[Mitchell]

Thanks for the super-ping :-). This is the first real article (in the established media) on the anthrax attack since the very early days. It's also the first article in a long time which has new information.

This may mean that we're getting closer to an attack on Iraq. On the other hand, it might just mean that the Rosenberg story was getting too firmly entrenched and, knowing that it would eventually have to be discredited, someone knowledgeable decided to feed us this tidbit. In any case, it's a welcome change.

Notice how the article even questions whether the FBI has the necessary expertise to pursue this properly.

[Mitchell]

I still find it interesting how the copycat kid pilot's handwriting on his suicide note was written at the same extreme angle as the hijacker's letters.

Where did you see a copy of his suicide note? I didn't realize that a photograph had been released.

[Mitchell]

If the FBI spoon-fed this story to Broad at the NYT, that may be a sign that the "domestic focus" stall is "no longer operative," or at least due for a slow fade. OTOH, while most of Broad's stories recently have been just recycled spin, the NYT did do some good, independent reporting on the anthrax situation early on. To my knowledge, the NYT was the first paper to suggest that "we may be at war with Iraq without knowing it," and they were also the first to debunk the spin that the Daschle anthrax wasn't truly weaponized. So it may be that this story represents genuine legwork on Broad's part. I actually hope it's regurgitated spin: that would imply that the administration is getting close to naming the real culprit (Saddam), which would in turn suggest they have evaluated the threat as manageable and we are ready to go to war. Complicated, isn't it?

It's more than just spoon-fed from the FBI, because of the comments near the end questioning whether the FBI has the necessary expertise to pursue this. That's unlikely to have been in the FBI's spin!

[Mitchell]

This report sounds familiar. The only thing new is the added detail of the doctor's description of the lesion in his notes.

There's more new information than that. The article includes the names of two specific terrorists who are now linked to the anthrax attack (Alhaznawi and Jarrah). It also gives a time frame (June, 2001).

[Mitchell]

Hilarious. I didn't think the FBI was sophisticated enough to try to add credibility to a story by portraying themselves as clueless liars.

I don't think the FBI would do that. That's why I don't think this article is just regurgitated FBI material. Either it's from some other source, or possibly it's from the FBI but the reporter did additional independent research (talking to the doctor, etc.).

[Mitchell]

The link to the anthrax in the Czech Republic?. Atta. Full circle to the Czech Republic cases.

Atta is said to have visisted Prague in April, 2001. The hospital visit mentioned in this article was in June. The timing is perfectly consistent.

[Betty Jo]

Thanks for pinging me!

Isnt this info what we knew all along....that its the terrorists who did and are doing the anthrax, not Americans?

Isnt it cute that the FBI just now releases this?

On orders from what mastermind....Bush...Ashcroft,Mueller,Cheney?

I guess its time to get us all psyched up for killing Saddam!

I just wish for once in my lifetime that our government would tell us the truth from the beginning!

Right now, I'm about code red , with anger!

[Thud]

It is very convenient that this comes out now.

[muawiyah]

"This was fully investigated and widely vetted among multiple agencies several months ago," Mr. Collingwood said. "Exhaustive testing did not support that anthrax was present anywhere the hijackers had been. While we always welcome new information, nothing new has in fact developed."

What is wrong with these FBI guys? Anthrax was present in BOCA RATON right where the hijackers had been! In fact, BOCA RATON is the ONLY PLACE where a single piece of postal mail acceptance equipment has been demonstrated to have anthrax contamination. Three different postal facilities showed anthrax contamination in the vicinity of BOCA RATON.

I wonder if this guy Collingwood is the AlQeada agent inside the FBI that I had hypothesized almost 5 months ago.

My hypothesis was based on the clear evidence that the FBI was ignoring all evidence in postal equipment and facilities in South Florida! Now we have this guy publicly saying they are ignoring it! We also have several USPS officers saying publicly that the FBI DID NOT COMMUNICATE WITH THEM before, during or after the main anthrax attacks. This was truly incredible.

Or, is it possible these FBI guys have been dipping into the evidence again?

[Travis McGee]

Good questions.

[Travis McGee]

"FAMOUS....BUT INCOMPETENT."

And 100% politicized, able to bend the evidence in any direction to suit their instructions from on high.

[The Great Satan]

It's more than just spoon-fed from the FBI, because of the comments near the end questioning whether the FBI has the necessary expertise to pursue this. That's unlikely to have been in the FBI's spin!

Sure they would. They don't care, any more than the feds care if people believe, temporarily, that the CIA did it, or some renegade scientist at Ft. Dettrick, or a "beltway bandit" defense contractor. It's all functional. The FBI was never tasked with figuring out where the anthrax came from. In the first place, that would have been the job of USAMRIID and the Army's Dugway Proving Grounds Biological Warfare Unit. They are already set up to handle precisely the scenario that has unfolded -- the FBI has neither the expertise or the facilities. In fact, if you followed this story closely, you'll have read that the FBI never even spoke to the leading experts on anthrax. It's not their job, nor was there ever any doubt about where the anthrax was coming from, at the highest levels.

I remember, months ago, wondering how they could possibly keep up the stall -- it's been an education to see how easily public perceptions can be managed, largely through the art of saying nothing.

[Travis McGee]

The FBI would swear day was night if they were ordered to.

[muawiyah]

If you had been following my posts on this you would know that NO ANTHRAX ENVELOPES WERE MAILED IN NEW JERSEY.

All of them were mailed in S. Florida by the same people. The letters that went through New Jersey arrived in postal equipment believed to be empty.

[Travis McGee]

All true.

We are looking through a peephole at the backsides of FBI agents looking through another peephole.

1% of 1% of the facts is not much certain knowledge.

[The Great Satan]

Clinton's a Rapist (are you the same guy, Great Satan?)

If I told you that, I'd have to kill you.

[Fred Mertz]

The FBI was apparently on top of this before this doctor even remembered it -- it doesn't seem that they could find any trace of anthrax in places where the hijackers had been, which perhaps indicates that there had to be a separate facility involved.

My thoughts: It doesn't surprise me that no traces of anthrax were found in their apartments or vehicles. The anthrax was hermitically sealed (likely) and probably stored in a 'safe place', possible a medical clinic or doctor's office where they could divide and distribute it in friendly territory.

Also, these terrorists would likely have been innoculated with anthrax shots or have been provided medicine (Cipro?) as a preventative precaution. Such measures would have protected them to a degree, but not completely. These are my speculative thoughts, for what they're worth.

[Fred Mertz]

All of them were mailed in S. Florida by the same people. The letters that went through New Jersey arrived in postal equipment believed to be empty.

Please be more clear; I don't understand what you are saying in your second sentence. Thanks.