StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

It seems like "many moons ago" that in October 2001 the Nation, still reeling from the attacks of September 11th then had to endure the uncertainty of the anthrax letters. For reference, please examine the F.B.I. Amerithrax web site and an "analysis" page on which linguistics and behavior assessments are provided.

Now, law enforcement and homeland security officials are concluding that the anthrax used in the attacks was less sophisticated than first thought.

FBI Is Casting A Wider Net in Anthrax Attacks
Five years after the anthrax attacks that killed five people, the FBI is now convinced that the lethal powder sent to the Senate was far less sophisticated than originally believed, widening the pool of possible suspects in a frustratingly slow investigation.

The finding, which resulted from countless scientific tests at numerous laboratories, appears to undermine the widely held belief that the attack was carried out by a government scientist or someone with access to a U.S. biodefense lab.

What was initially described as a near-military-grade biological weapon was ultimately found to have had a more ordinary pedigree, containing no additives and no signs of special processing to make the anthrax bacteria more deadly, law enforcement officials confirmed. In addition, the strain of anthrax used in the attacks has turned out to be more common than was initially believed, the officials said.

As a result, after a very public focus on government scientists as the likely source of the attacks, the FBI is today casting a far wider net…

If you don’t (or can’t) read the Washington Post article, here is one from the BBC and the Earthtimes.org or a Google search on "anthrax attacks."

So what now of Steven Hatifll who was designated as a person of interest. Will this new conclusion finally let Hatfill off the hook? I suspect not. His suit against the government continues. Here is some stuff I wrote previously about this matter.

On August 28, 2003 ("Anthrax Case at a Dead-end?"):
Something just isn’t right here!

You know, while I realize it makes news when Hatfill (finally, IMO, if only to make them "show their cards") sues the Justice Department, I’m concerned about the fact that the real news is that the government, IMO (and based on everything I’ve read and heard about this case since it happened), hasn’t got a clue about who the real anthrax attacker is. Sure, they’ve claimed that Hatfill seemingly had the motive, that Hatfill worked in the field and was at Ft. Detrick, that Hatfill was even involved in developing and testing mobile anthrax labs, but are we to really believe that Steven Hatfill is the one and only suspect (“Person of interest”) in this case? They’ve drained the pond near his home in Frederick Md. and found nothing. I realize that what I am writing is my opinion and is potentially speculative, and that in a moment or a week, this could all be shown to be to be wrong if the government finally comes up with proof that Hatfill was the guy…but that’s the risk I’ll take for stating an opinion (I could be wrong, but I don’t think so).

‘Person of Interest’ in Anthrax Investigation Seeks Damages
In a 40-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Hatfill accused the Justice Department and the FBI of orchestrating a series of leaks that violated federal privacy laws and other federal guidelines designed to protect innocent citizens… seeks an injunction to curb the investigation…and unspecified monetary damages.

"For more than a year now, Dr. Hatfill has been questioned, searched, bugged and tailed by the FBI. Dr. Hatfill had nothing to do with the horrific anthrax attacks," his attorney, Thomas Connolly, a former federal prosecutor, said on the steps of the federal courthouse after filing the suit.

"No evidence links Dr. Hatfill to the crime, yet the attorney general and a number of his subordinates have attempted to make him the scapegoat," Connolly added. "In the process, they have trampled Dr. Hatfill’s constitutional rights and destroyed his life."

I am still interested in knowing about anyone else the Justice Department considered in this act of (domestic?) terrorism.

Questions:
Is this another case like the Richard Jewell case?

What about the allegations about an Egyptian (or Syrian) scientist also working at Ft. Detrick who had been dismissed?

Weren’t there some suspicions that the “Army of God” bozos (I forget the name of the guy who was arrested a while back)?

Was it al Qaeda related and did Iraq have anything to do with (even if they “simply” supplied the anthrax spores to the terrorists)?

There is something here that we’re all missing…obviously because the FBI and the Justice Department either aren’t willing to reveal it, or simply, they don’t have the information. But after all of this time, and all of the resources thrown at Hatfill by the government, why haven’t they arrested him?

F.B.I. Has a ‘Short List’ of Names In Its Anthrax Case, the U.S. Says
…The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified a "short list" of 18 to 20 people who had the means, opportunity and possible motive to have sent the anthrax-laden letters last fall, law enforcement officials said.

…Both the White House and the F.B.I. denied an article in The Washington Times yesterday that asserted that investigators had identified a chief suspect in the case who had learned how to make a weapons- grade strain of the deadly anthrax bacteria at the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., and had twice been fired from government jobs…

On August 13, 2002 (" Hatfill: Guilty Until Proven Innocent?"):
For some obvious (and some not so obvious) reasons, I have been fascinated and intrigued since October 2001 when the first anthrax letters appeared. My position then (largely unchanged) was that the anthrax letter attacks had been perpetrated by an American as an act of domestic terrorism. Even though some of the "feelings" and "theories" that I held back then have been modified, I still believe that this was an attack by an American (citizen or resident, I am not sure…attached in some way to al Qaeda or not, I am not sure).

Certainly, the events of the last month in which Dr. Steven Hatfill’s name and reputation have been raked across the coals and across the news headlines have made me even more inquisitive. Last weekend’s press conference and series of defense/denials in the face of the public character assassination and innuendo campaign added to my interest.

I’ve just gotten off of a phone call with my "friend" (described in some of my earlier posts) who believes that Hatfill is absolutely not the guy and that, in his opinion, the amount of media attention being placed on Hatfill is a purposeful smokescreen to give the appearance that the authorities are pursuing leads, while in the silent background, the more serious investigation continues…and it is felt that the White House is putting an enormous amount of pressure on the FBI to crack this case(*). Further, he reiterated his suspicion that another scientist at Ft. Detrick (earlier described by my "friend" as a Syrian, but now clarified as an Egyptian) who worked directly with anthrax at Ft. Detrick and then at the EPA (fired from both places) is the more likely culprit (Hatfill did not work with anthrax while he did work with many other even more toxic substances like Ebola).

There is no doubt that some of the inconsistencies in Dr. Hatfill’s background, some of the false representations that he has made (his résumé listing a Ph.D. and service with the Army), and yes, even the appearance of culpability because of the supposed novel that he was writing on bioterrorism raise questions. None, IMO, make this man guilty as accused in the media, and by implication by the FBI.

A lot was made of his employment at S.A.I.C., a significant government consultant and contractor. I wonder how Hatfill was approved for employment there.

Actually there was a short link to the between the White House & Steven Hatfill - Jerome Hauer. It was at SAIC where Hatfill published a report about delivering Anthrax via postal services.

http://www.saic.com/news/nov99/news11-30a-99.html
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/20020628a.html

And finally, there is the question of alternative suspects, especially the "Egyptian." Arab scientists recount hostility and harassment at military anthrax lab.

I don’t know about you, but I’m at a loss as to why this case remains unsolved. Maybe "they" know something that we don’t.