Report Linking Anthrax and Hijackers Is Investigated

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

[kattracks]

he two men identified themselves as pilots when they came to the emergency room of Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last June. One had an ugly, dark lesion on his leg that he said he developed after bumping into a suitcase two months earlier. Dr. Christos Tsonas thought the injury was curious, but he cleaned it, prescribed an antibiotic for infection and sent the men away with hardly another thought.

But after Sept. 11, when federal investigators found the medicine among the possessions of one of the hijackers, Ahmed Alhaznawi, Dr. Tsonas reviewed the case and arrived at a new diagnosis. The lesion, he said in an interview this week, "was consistent with cutaneous anthrax."

Dr. Tsonas's assertion, first made to the F.B.I. in October but never disclosed, has added another layer of mystery to the investigation of last fall's deadly anthrax attacks, which has yet to focus on a specific suspect.

The possibility of a connection between the Sept. 11 attacks and the subsequent anthrax-laced letters has been explored by officials since the first anthrax cases emerged in October. But a recent memorandum, prepared by experts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies, and circulated among top government officials, has renewed a debate about the evidence.

The group, which interviewed Dr. Tsonas, concluded that the diagnosis of cutaneous anthrax, which causes skin lesions, was "the most probable and coherent interpretation of the data available." The memorandum added, "Such a conclusion of course raises the possibility that the hijackers were handling anthrax and were the perpetrators of the anthrax letter attacks."

A senior intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, had recently read the Hopkins memorandum and that the issue has been examined by both the C.I.A. and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"No one is dismissing this," the official said. "We received the memo and are working with the bureau to insure that it continues to be pursued."

In their public comments, federal officials have said they are focusing largely on the possibility that the anthrax attacks were the work of a domestic perpetrator. They have hunted for suspects among scientists and others who work at laboratories that handle germs.

The disclosure about Mr. Alhaznawi, who died on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, sheds light on another front in the investigation. Senior law enforcement officials said that in addition to interviewing Dr. Tsonas in October and again in November, they thoroughly explored any connection between the hijackers and anthrax. They said the F.B.I. scoured the cars, apartments and personal effects of the hijackers for evidence of the germ, but found none.

Dr. Tsonas's comments add to a tantalizing array of circumstantial evidence. Some of the hijackers, including Mr. Alhaznawi, lived and attended flight school near American Media Inc. in Boca Raton, Fla., where the first victim of the anthrax attacks worked. Some of the hijackers also rented apartments from a real estate agent who was the wife of an editor of The Sun, a publication of American Media.

In addition, in October, a pharmacist in Delray Beach, Fla., said he had told the F.B.I. that two of the hijackers, Mohamad Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi, came into the pharmacy looking for something to treat irritations on Mr. Atta's hands.

If the hijackers did have anthrax, they would probably have needed an accomplice to mail the tainted letters, bioterrorism experts knowledgeable about the case said. The four recovered anthrax letters were postmarked on Sept. 18 and Oct. 9 in Trenton. It is also possible, experts added, that if the hijackers had come into contact with anthrax, it was entirely separate from the supply used by the letter sender.

For his part, Dr. Tsonas said he believed that the hijackers probably did have anthrax.

"What were they doing looking at crop-dusters?" he asked, echoing experts' fears that the hijackers may have wanted to spread lethal germs. "There are too many coincidences."

In recent interviews, Dr. Tsonas, an emergency room doctor, said Mr. Alhaznawi came into the hospital one evening in June 2001, along with a man who federal investigators believe was another hijacker, Ziad al-Jarrah, believed to have taken over the controls of United Flight 93.

They used their own names, he added, not aliases.

"They were well-dressed foreigners," he said. "I assumed they were tourists."

The men explained that Mr. Alhaznawi had developed the ulcer after hitting his leg on a suitcase two months earlier. Dr. Tsonas recalled that Mr. Alhaznawi appeared to be in good health, and that he denied having an illness like diabetes that might predispose him to such lesions. The wound, he recalled, was a little less than an inch wide and blackish, its edges raised and red.

Dr. Tsonas said he removed the dry scab over the wound, cleansed it and prescribed Keflex, an antibiotic that is widely used to combat bacterial infections but is not specifically recommended for anthrax.

The encounter lasted perhaps 10 minutes, Dr. Tsonas said.

He took no cultures and had no thoughts of anthrax, a disease at that time was extremely rare in the United States and was unfamiliar even to most doctors.

In October, amid news reports about the first anthrax victims, Dr. Tsonas, like other doctors, threw himself into learning more about the disease. An incentive was that his hospital is relatively near American Media, so victims there might come to Holy Cross for treatment.

Dr. Tsonas said he forgot entirely about the two men until federal agents in October showed him pictures of Mr. Alhaznawi and Mr. Jarrah, and he made positive identifications.

Then, agents gave Dr. Tsonas a copy of his own notes from the emergency room visit and he read them. "I said, `Oh, my God, my written description is consistent with cutaneous anthrax,' " Dr. Tsonas recalled. "I was surprised."

He discussed the disease and its symptoms with the agents, explaining what else could possibly explain the leg wound. A spider bite was unlikely, he said. As for the hijacker's explanation — a suitcase bump — he also judged that unlikely.

"That's a little unusual for a healthy guy, but not impossible," he said.

After his meetings with F.B.I., Dr. Tsonas was contacted early this year by a senior federal medical expert, who asked him detailed questions about the tentative diagnosis.

Last month, experts at Johns Hopkins also called Dr. Tsonas, saying they, too, were studying the evidence. The Hopkins analysis was done by Dr. Thomas Inglesby and Dr. Tara O'Toole, director of the center in Baltimore and an assistant secretary for health and safety at the federal Energy Department from 1993 to 1997.

In an interview, Dr. O'Toole said that after consulting with additional medical experts on the Alhaznawi case, she was "more persuaded than ever" that the diagnosis of cutaneous anthrax was correct.

She said the Florida mystery, as well as the entire anthrax inquiry, might benefit from a wider vetting.

"This is a unique investigation that has many highly technical aspects," she said. "There's legitimate concern that the F.B.I. may not have access to the kinds of expertise that could be essential in putting all these pieces together."

John E. Collingwood, an F.B.I. spokesman, said the possibility of a connection between the hijackers and the anthrax attacks had been deeply explored.

"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."

[muawiyah]

Just check out the Anthrax site here.

It's a bit complex, but the main idea is all the anthrax envelopes were mailed in S. Florida by a single individual.

That individual placed each envelope in a different collection box.

This was a wealthy neighborhood full of rich retirees with loud mouths. USPS regularly puts extra collection boxes in such places just to shut them up (handling complaints costs lots of money).

Little mail originates in these places. When the hijacker dropped a letter into the box it fell into a standard flat tray. (There are letter trays and flat trays. One is for letters and the other is for flats - large envelopes and magazines are called flats.)

The collection driver simply pulls the trays from the collection box and replaces each with a new empty tray. He stacks the trays up in his vehicle. Since they have only 1 letter in them, these trays are readily misidentified as empty equipment, or MTE.

Empty equipment from S. Florida is regularly sent to Philadelphia BMC. It is distributed from there to postal facilities in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania.

There's more to it, but it would have been strange to have these letters show up anywhere else but New Jersey!

[muawiyah]

Which is why I know that the FBI has not bothered to consult with experts in any other federal agency. They did not consult with USPS folks about normal operations - instead they started digging up mailboxes in New Jersey. They also didn't consult with Ken Abilek, one of the world's foremost experts in bio-terror war. I did.

A Postal Inspector nearly died of anthrax due to complications which were clearly covered in Ken's book. The CDC didn't bother to advise the doctors caring for the Inspector of what was known about the progression of inhalation anthrax. The FBI apparantly hadn't bothered to consult with the CDC either.

A big problem here is that these various federal agencies have top managers who are too brain dead to realize that there is expertise elsewhere.

This might well have something to do with the salarycap on federal employment plus the need for federal managers to be first-class a$$ki$$ers even if this is a dangerous practice which may destroy the Republic.

9/11 demonstrates why our federales have got to be smarter and tougher than the gang we have presently.

[bvw]

If all the letters were mailed in Fla., then what of the Franklin Park, NJ return addresses?

[Nogbad]

All of us here,
breathlessly,
we still await
your enlightened opinion
on this article!!

[Nogbad]

ping

[freeperfromnj]

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.

You are exactly right. I am so angry that the New York Times is taking credit for "breaking" this story. This information was out there back in October for any one of the media morons who wanted to investigate it. The only place I saw this hospital-hijacker connection discussed was right here o n Free Republic.

[Mitchell]

Me: 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!

You: Sure they would.

Not the FBI. The people there are looking to protect themselves and their own positions. No one in the FBI would ever admit that they haven't gotten necessary expertise externally when they didn't have it in-house.

Now, someone else in the government might have said that. Or the reporter might have taken a report from the FBI and added his own interpretation based on extra research (interviews with the people involved).

The interesting thing now is that they have a problem on their hands. Between the FBI's numerous statements and the extensive dissemination of Rosenberg's theory, large numbers of people now believe that the anthrax attack was carried out by a lone domestic nut. The propaganda has been too convincing. How are they going to back out of it?

At this point, many people won't believe the truth when the government finally decides to reveal it. They'll say that it's just an excuse by the Wolfowitz camp and the neoconservatives to go to war with Iraq.

[Mitchell]

I see in this forum tonight four different threads, relating the terrorists to anthrax.
Are we being prepared for some new revelation??

Did you notice that the John Doe #2 story from Oklahoma City is suddenly back? And it looks like it's suddenly considered credible in the mainstream media.

(Removing my tin-foil hat).

Removing it is probably a mistake :-).

[Nogbad]

Atta is said to have visisted Prague in April, 2001.

And came back to the USA via Newark, N.J.

[cicero's_son]

It's appalling, isn't it, to see how the quickly and easily the 4th Estate closes ranks with the political establishment.

No one in the press is even asking about the Anthrax attacks. It's almost as if they never happened. Weird.

[Catspaw]

Didn't Atta to go a pharmacy for some kind of over-the-counter meds for a skin rash? It's been so long I can't keep my dead terrorists straight.

[Catspaw]

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, why would they need anthrax vaccinations if they were going to die anyway? Cipro--or another very strong broad-spectrum antibiotic, but the vaccines would not be necessary given their life expectancy.

[Mitchell]

Me: Atta is said to have visisted Prague in April, 2001.

You: And came back to the USA via Newark, N.J.

Atta's travels were very extensive. He drove thousands of miles in rental cars in his final few months. Here's one example: On August 15, 2001, he rented a car and drove it 1,915 miles. Where did he go? By Aug. 19, he was back; we know because he rented a small 4-seat airplane in Lantana, FL, on Aug. 19, 20, and 21, flying it for four hours a day.

With all this traveling, he could have carried the anthrax back from Prague in April and then brought it anywhere in the U.S. We really don't know.

[Capt. Tom]

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

Something here doesn't add up. Lets say the terrorists were involved with anthrax and somehow got infected. The last thing they would do is go to the doctor who might make a correct diagnosis and bring attention to them, and a lot of questions. Who were you with? Where do you think you came in contact with anthrax. Who have you had close contact with. etc.

It would be like smuggling in an atomic bomb and going to the doctor and saying I don't feel well I think I have radiation poisoning.

This thing just doesn't pass the smell test. - Tom

[Nogbad]

Atta's travels were very extensive.

There was a report several months back,
that one of the 19 resided in
(not just travelled to)
a couple dozen cities
across the USA
(including several places in NJ).

His reasons were unknown,
but one can make a chilling hypothesis.

[Nogbad]

The last thing they would do is go to the doctor
who might make a correct diagnosis
and bring attention to them,
and a lot of questions.

The man wanted to stay alive until Sept. 11.

What was he supposed to do?
Kick the bucket and miss his moment of glory??

[muawiyah]

The hijackers wrote the return address on the pieces.

As you must realize you do not have to be in a jurisdiction to put it down as a return address.

The thing the FBI was confused about were the cancellation marks. They are in New Jersey.

All that meant was that the pieces were cancelled in Jersey and not Florida. That's because they got were lost in the mail in Florida, yet discovered in flat trays in New Jersey, and tossed into 010!

This is a normal situation. Happens all the time. It's happening as we speak!

The window drop at Boca Raton was contaminated. I am certain a half dozen or more flat trays were also contaminated. In later handling those very same trays which were contaminated with anthrax went on to contaminate other mail destined for folks in New York and Connecticut. Two of them died.

It was not cross-contamination from mail - it was contamination by contaminated equipment!

I am taking a break for a while to watch Indiana University kick Kent State out of the arena!

[muawiyah]

Newark has a major airport. I, myself, have "returned" there numerous times!

Unfortunately I didn't meet up with any femme fatale foreign agents in Prague.

Look, this New Jersey business is absolutely meaningless. We have about 25% of the total population of the United States living within 200 or so miles from this place. All kinds of folks are constantly coming and going in Jersey.

Now, when you talk about Boca Raton, you have something.

[The Great Satan]

Between the FBI's numerous statements and the extensive dissemination of Rosenberg's theory, large numbers of people now believe that the anthrax attack was carried out by a lone domestic nut. The propaganda has been too convincing. How are they going to back out of it?

I think you vastly over-estimate how much attention the general public -- even the educated, broadsheet-reading public -- has been paying to this story. At most, people just have some general, fuzzy, back-of-the mind perception that "Oh, yeah, they never caught the guy, but they think maybe it was some lone nut." It's not like people are locked into that. Nothing definitive has ever been said -- in fact, every official statement on the anthrax has been a masterpiece in the art of saying nothing in as many words as possible. If a few more tidbits like this latest revelation are dribbled out over the coming weeks, then Bush goes on TV and says "It's Iraq -- the bombing starts in five minutes," nobody will bat an eyelid. Besides, what choice did Bush have? Realistically, could he have gone on TV last October and said: "Saddam destroyed the WTC, tried to destroy the White House and the Capitol, and I can't hit back because he would kill millions of people and turn New York City into a useless patch of wasteground --please bear with me while I try to come up with something"? Politics is the "art of the possible." The benefits and costs of any course of action must be judged against the alternatives. That's what executives do. Bush knows that. That why he's got the big office.

[The Great Satan]

Mullah Omar's plan to "destroy the United States, with the help of God," perhaps? Hand off anthrax to local recruits around the country for a simultaneous attack on multiple cities, when the day of reckoning arrives? It's a worst case scenario, perhaps, but not a fantastic one.

The $64K question is, who controls the anthrax -- Saddam, or al-Qaeda? My own belief is that Saddam controls it, based on the following arguments: (a) the anthrax hasn't been used, except in a threat/deterrent mode and (b) Saddam is known to have cracked the weaponization problem, whereas the indications are that al-Qaeda, while they have big dreams, are still somewhat amateurish in their technical capabilities. If Saddam supplied it, he'd definitely want to control it, inasmuch as he is a sitting duck for US nuclear retaliation. However, any conclusions must be considered highly tentative, given the fragmentary information in the public domain. I hope and suspect that that the picture is clearer to Bush and Cheney, given that they are privy to raw intelligence data, minus the rumors and spin.