That Old Anthrax Case

Why does the aroma of fish fill the air about this case? When all is said
and done, the FBI (and/or the administration) wants me to believe that it
took them five whole years to develop the DNA evidence needed to decide such
a high profile matter in which the ENTIRE resources of the federal
government were at the disposal of the investigators throughout its life.
More to the point, that it brought it to the public's attention only AFTER
their "chief suspect" was no longer alive to defend himself in any way. Why
do I have the feeling that any federal grand jury would have tossed their
case out on its keister anywhere along the line if it had been presented to
them?

To me, this has the same stench as one more WMD that could never be found
even after we owned the battlefield. Five years and we couldn't get around
to doing anything until we perhaps drove the "chief suspect" to suicide and
now we're able to make all of the accusations we wish since the target will
no longer be able to refute a single one of them.

To me, it stinks and I remain unconvinced that they got the real culprit.

George Z.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WASHINGTON (AP) - Advanced DNA testing led federal investigators to suspect
a government scientist in the 2001 anthrax killings. The scientist's
behavior, e-mails and unusual work hours convinced them they had the right
man.

The government declared the 2001 attacks solved Wednesday, pointing the
blame at former Army scientist Bruce Ivins, who committed suicide last week
as prosecutors prepared to bring charges. The Justice Department said it was
confident it could have convicted the scientist, who spent his career
developing anthrax vaccines and cures at the bioweapons lab at Fort Detrick,
Md.

Authorities cited advanced DNA testing that showed Ivins, 62, had in his
laboratory anthrax spores identical to those that killed five and shocked a
nation still reeling from the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Prosecutors described Ivins' unexplained late nights in the laboratory just
before the attacks. They released an e-mail excerpt that used language
similar to that of one of the anthrax letters. They said he was angry about
criticism of his anthrax vaccine and might have released the toxin to drum
up support for his drug.

It was enough for the Justice Department to declare solved a case that had
been one of the most prominent unsolved cases.

"We regret that we will not have the opportunity to present evidence to the
jury," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said.

But it was not enough to convince Ivins' supporters and may not be enough to
quiet critics who say the FBI was looking for someone to blame after
focusing on the wrong man for too long.

"I just don't think he did it and I don't think the evidence exists," said
Ivins' attorney, Paul F. Kemp, adding that prosecutors' best evidence made
only "a good case for continuing the investigation. But I think they're done
with it. I think they're burnt and they've got nowhere to go with it."

Investigators at the FBI and U.S. Postal Service originally thought al-Qaida
may have been behind the attacks. The case "quickly became a global
investigation, spanning six continents," said Joseph Persichini, assistant
director of the FBI's Washington field office. It wasn't long, though,
before the government began focusing on one man, Fort Detrick scientist
Steven Hatfill. It would be years before DNA technology narrowed the field
to Ivins and a handful of others who had access to a specific batch of
anthrax.


(AP) This document released by the Department of Justice
on Aug. 6, 2008, shows a copy of the search...


.

Relevant Pages

  • Sweeg Knows...McSweegan (goes to Israel) and Anthrax (and the Hartford Courants stories)
    ... McSweegan and Anthrax (and the Hartford ... Ivins suicide announcement. ... By the time he and the FBI cut through the fog of deception ... "'Bin Laden terrorists for sure have anthrax and sarin gas' and have ...
    (sci.med.diseases.lyme)
  • Re: That Old Anthrax Case
    ... WASHINGTON - Advanced DNA testing led federal investigators to suspect ... a government scientist in the 2001 anthrax killings. ... Authorities cited advanced DNA testing that showed Ivins, 62, had in his ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: FBI to Show How Genetics Led to Anthrax Researcher
    ... FBI to Show How Genetics Led to Anthrax Researcher ... FBI linked Ivins in doing something like before for some of his samples ... identification of the strain that was traced to Ivins's lab.. ...
    (alt.true-crime)
  • Anthrax case wasnt a lock
    ... Anthrax case wasn't lock ... The evidence amassed by FBI investigators against Bruce Ivins, ...
    (alt.true-crime)
  • Probe leads friends to wonder if FBI got it right
    ... Probe leads friends to wonder if FBI got it right ... Doubts don't end after death in anthrax case ... scientist Bruce Ivins and a small ... Over lunch in the bacteriology division, scientists would share ...
    (alt.true-crime)