Talk:2001 anthrax attacks/Archive 1

Name
Surely this should be moved to something like 2001 anthrax attack scares as there were no attacks weren't there? J OHN C OLLISON | (Ludraman) 20:51, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Act of a desperate american rather than pure terrorism?
Wasn't there an american scientist at a chemical weapons research centre in the US who was found guilty, or at least highly suspect for being the one who sent the letters containing anthrax?


 * I guess you mean Steven Hatfill. He got a lot of media attention, but was never charged with anything and is now suing the US government for defamation. The article was mentioning him in the last paragraph, I moved the text to a more prominent place in the introduction. Andris 10:12, Dec 17, 2004 (UTC)


 * The only connection that the Government can make with Hatfill and Anthrax is the whole Greendale/Rhodesia thing. Y'see Greendale was a suburb of Salisbury (Harare nowadays), which was Rhodesia's capital. Greendale was used on the letters themselves, the FBI figured that only a former Rhodesian or Zimbabwean would know that after learning of Hatfill's education. The clincher for the FBI was that since Hatfill was in Rhodesia, in Salisbury (though he didnt live in Greendale), and that since while he was there they had an outbreak of Anthrax in the bush country which noone knows the cause of it was pretty obvious that Hatfill had to be involved somehow. Anyway, to further strengthen the FBI's case after Hatfill came back to the US after Rhodesia's "Liberation" and later getting employed at USAMRIID at Fort Detrick, he penned an article that was published in a magazine about the danger of a biological attack using easily obtainable materials, such as a Ricin attack. On the surface the evidence looks like it has to be him, but the problem is that a virologist doesnt have the proper training to handle bacteria, especially one as dangerous the Ames strain of Bacillus anthracis.

If I would try to have a good protection against anthrax, I would do alot of testing including aerosol test with weaponsgrade anthrax. So the USAMRIID or some military facilities are also a possible source of this stuff.

This sounds like a total red herring to me.

You can't sue someone for "ruining your life." What is Hatfill actually suing for? Defamation? Adam 10:49, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Chemical weapons expert? Anthrax is biological A popular idea is that anthrax is white,it isn't white it is brown Dudtz 7/23/05 3:31 PM EST -

Inhalation anthrax killed all five individuals.

With the exception of Robert Stevens, the other inhalation anthrax deaths were the result of cross contamination of anthrax letters sent to the Senators. Just because Kathy Nguyen lived in NYC does not mean she came in contact with the media anthrax. Others in many different parts of the country may have died from the cross contamination but were never properly diagnosed. -216

- South African / CIA Connections - The Case of Larry Ford

Less than a year prior to the anthrax attacks a Los Angeles area doctor(Larry Ford) was implicated in a murder-for-hire scheme involving his partner in a bio-products company(BioFem). During the investigation police questioned friends and relatives who stated that Dr. Ford told them he worked for the CIA in their germ warfare program. FBI agent Doug Baker made statements to investigators supporting this claim. The conclusion of the investigation revealed large quantities of anthrax(barrels) along with weapons, explosives, and demolition manuals discovered in a gold mine in Nevada.

See http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/terrorists/larry_ford/2.html

Police and FBI agents searched Dr. Ford’s home, and evacuated 200 area residents as a safety precaution. Six suspicious containers were unearthed under a concrete slab near Ford’s swimming pool, and 21 other sealed canisters were discovered on Ford’s property. The canisters contained thousands of rounds of ammunition, guns, explosives, and anthrax, according to an article by WorldNet Daily. Police also discovered 266 containers with some of the deadliest substances known to mankind, stored in the refrigerators at his home and office.

These facts should not be overlooked in trying to ascertain the origin of the anthrax used in the mailings following the WTC attacks. It is entirely possible that someone affiliated with Dr. Ford was responsible. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.183.197.77 (talk) 15:16, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

ANTHRAX MYSTERY?
Is it surprising that the CIA and FBI haven’t exposed the anthrax killers? Are the anthrax killers near the top of the FBI’s most wanted list? We do know this about the anthrax murders:

1.    The letters contained highly classified weaponized anthrax (Ames Iowa strain, weaponized at Fort Detrick Maryland) developed by the U.S. military and/or the CIA. 2.    The letters were mailed from Trenton New Jersey while the Republicans were trying to jam through the Patriot Act that would give President Bush unprecedented power to disregard Americans’ civil rights, increase defense spending, control the media and wage war.

3.      Anthrax letters were mailed to:

a)    Tom Brokaw of NBC Nightly News (A fairly balanced news network)

b)  The New York Post. (A high profile, fairly balanced newspaper)

c)  A boy died of anthrax after visiting ABC news (A fairly balanced U.S. news agency)

d)  A editor for the National Enquirer died of anthrax (A very widely distributed and widely hated tabloid that is prone to sensationalize conspiracy theories)

e)  A mailroom worker contracted anthrax at CBS News (A fairly balanced U.S. news agency)

The media was driven into hysteria from the Anthrax letters and fervently backed the war on Terror. Note that anthrax letters were not sent to war loving media giants FOX or CNN.

f)      Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (Democrat, S.D.) received the first Senate anthrax letter as he led the opposition to the original version of the Patriot Act.

g)    Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat, Vt.) received an anthrax letter after he expressed reservations about the Patriot Act. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he managed the debate on the Bill.

4.      No Republicans received anthrax letters. George Bush Sr and Collin Powell didn’t receive anthrax letters. No CIA agents, Military Personnel, Weapons Dealers, Oil Companies or Jewish Organizations receive anthrax letters. No large public gatherings were targeted with anthrax. (This all lends serious doubt that either Arab militants or Saddam Hussein were behind the letters)

5.      The Letters contained scribbled words “Death to America, Death to Israel, Allah is Great” that were written by someone worried that his handwriting could be traced. Tom Brokaw, Tom Daschle, Patrick Leahy and the NY Post have no obvious connection to Israel. The anthrax letters, instead, looked like they might have been forged to frame Islamic militants. After receiving his anthrax letter, Senator Daschle switched from supporting a 2 year limit on the Patriot Act, later defending a 4-year sunset clause as the appropriate balance.

6.      The letters were precisely targeted and perfectly timed to unite the media and the opposition (Democrats) in the War on Terror, the War on Afghanistan and the War on Iraq.

7.      The letters (only 4 were positively identified) did not kill their intended targets, but the anthrax material was so sophisticated that the spores passed through the envelopes and infected people all along their path--including secretaries and postal workers. Five people are known to have died from inhaling spores from these letters, and 13 others were infected but survived.

8.      The Anthrax Letters created the maximum amount of terror with the minimum loss of life.

9.      Dozens of hoax anthrax threats have been widely publicized in the media. The CIA and Bush administration have promoted some of these hoax threats – encouraging many American to buy gas masks and seal off their houses with duct tape. Faulty (read: fabricated) CIA “intelligence” about Iraqi Anthrax built hysterical U.S. support for an invasion despite serious doubts from Americans, Brits and most of their closest allies. Hoax anthrax scares are still creating front page headlines and extreme terror throughout North America.

10.  The day after the anthrax letters were mailed to Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy (6 days before either Senator received the letters), the original batch of Ames strain anthrax was destroyed with the permission of the FBI --- making tracing this anthrax type much more difficult. Could it be incompetence, conspiracy or cover up that, two months after the anthrax attacks started, the FBI still had not investigated the only facility capable of producing weaponized anthrax -- the biological warfare program based at Fort Detrick Maryland.

11.  Within a ten day period, immediately after the USA Patriot Act was passed, three top anthrax experts with knowledge of the U.S. bioweapons program died under suspicious circumstances. Within four months 8 more world-leading microbiologists were killed. Coincidentally, the controversial coroner of one microbiologist (Don Wiley) was later found wrapped in barbed wire with a live bomb strapped to his chest.

12.  British microbiologist, weapons expert and would-be whistle blower David Kelly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly) died in an “alleged suicide” on July 17, 2003 – amidst world wide publicity that the U.S. and Britain had invaded Iraq largely based on fabricated “intelligence”. Half the world was anxiously waiting for further news releases on Kelly just before his mysterious death. It is notable that on the morning of his death, Kelly e-mailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller (of Valery Plame leak and Lewis Libby Indictment fame) and told her that many dark actors were playing games. (Email sent by Dr Kelly to Judith Miller on July 17, 2003) Were some of these dead microbiologists capable of exposing the anthrax killers? Had they been e-mailing each other about the attacks? This stuff has got all the makings of a detective thriller other than creating any serious doubts as to who was responsible for the letters. The only thing that really has to be established is a motive.

(A)   Did the perpetrators mail the letters because they honestly believed that the American people needed to be shaken up – even after 9/11 – in order to face the threat of suicide bombers?

(B)   Did the perpetrators mail the letters to cash in on hysterical support for:

a.      Increased Weapons Spending? Hundreds of billions of dollars are going into somebody’s pockets.

b.      An Invasion of Afghanistan with its strategic presence along the east border of Iran, and the oil-rich Caspian Sea?

c.      An Invasion of Iraq (on allegations of stockpiling anthrax and other WMDs) with its strategic presence along the west border of Iran.

d.      An invasion of Iran with current (delayed) allegations of its complicity in 9-11 and the terrorist attacks?

e.      Complete control of the oil-rich Middle East?

f.       Note that Shell Oil is paying $150 million in fines to the SEC and FSA for overstating its reserves by (at least) 20%. Shell’s auditors warned the company as early as January 2000 that its reserves were overstated. Could other oil companies also have been overstating their reserves and pressuring the U.S. and British governments for access to oil in Iraq, the Caspian Sea, Iran, (and Venezuela)?

(C)   Did the perpetrators mail the letters because they wanted to create a massive distraction from the financial meltdown on Wall Street that was being caused by widespread exposure of corporate corruption (ENRON, WorldCom, Merck, Arthur Anderson, Halliburton etc. etc. etc.)?

The people who profit the most from a crime are the people most likely to have committed it. Who profited the most from the Anthrax letters?

I really hope that the answer to the above multiple choice question is (A) but it makes you want to get some straight facts from the people Americans are trusting with their lives.

It would be better than Santa Clause if there was a believable: (D) None of the above; answer

Who else has a clear, believable motive to precisely target the media and the opposition with anthrax?

Remember how Karl Rove and Lewis Libby were willing to pre-emptively threaten the life of Valerie Plame (by leaking her identity to the press) to prevent Joseph Wilson from providing America with good intelligence on Iraq’s (non-existent) WMDs? Remember how Bush was willing to use the forged “Yellowcake” document? How much of a stretch is it to assume that one or two members of Bush’s administration were willing to brutally threaten the media and the main senate opponents to the Iraq war????

Remember that some of the people that were so desperate to invade Iraq were among the few people in the world capable of accessing the weaponized anthrax from Fort Detrick.

It's chilling that it might only take a few hundred people, a few billion dollars, some orchestrated scare tactics and a lot of greed to completely hijack a government with an annual budget of a trillion dollars.

Even with all the inconsistencies surrounding 9/11, Bush's team figures that it's in their best self-interest not to co-operate with investigations. What are they trying to hide? Are people just too apathetic or dumb to need to know what's going on in the world?

Like Bush said, terrorists have to be brought to justice—no matter who they are.

It would be best if the whole Bush Administration (Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Lewis Libby, Karl Rove, Paul Wolfwitz, John Ashcroft, John Bolton, Trent Lott, Richard Perle etc) was put on polygraphs to see if they know of any conspiracies around the WTC bombings, Anthrax letters or Iraq invasion.

For consistency, other Washington insiders like Zbigniew Brzezinski, Tom Daschle, Patrick Leahy, John Kerry etc should also be put on lie detectors.

It’s laughable that lowly police officers and CIA agents are rigorously tested with polygraphs, but the directors appointed to control the agencies are considered “untouchable”, “beyond suspicion” and “above the law”– even during global debacles like 9/11, the War on Terror and the War on Iraq.


 * This is absolutely ridiculous. I see no reason for this obviously biased and useless screed to be preserved. Kitabparast 01:54, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Well duh, it was written by an IP! Fr e dd  ie  23:41, 26 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Like it or not, the US government says it came from Ft. Detrick... Though they were nice enough to bury that fact in an obscure report... http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/pr0237.htm . Someone commited treason. The only question is who --Electrostatic1 12:08, 1 August 2007 (UTC) Philip Zack, he worked there and had a motive.


 * IP = independent person? insane person? intellectual property HiS oWn 01:14, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

When presented with irrefutable evidence of a government conspiracy the knee jerk reaction is always to say ‘absolutely ridiculous’ or ‘insane person’. If you disagree with what is being written prove one piece of evidence to be wrong.

Could the anthrax have possibly come from a Muslim terrorist? Who had access to this strain of anthrax?

Instead of attacking the author for his views attack the evidence if you can.


 * Yeah, how dare you question things. How un-Christian of you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.68.22.207 (talk) 06:11, 17 April 2007 (UTC).

Prediction:  NO elections in 2008

Here is how it will come about:

1. Time magazine, December 17, 2007. Page 46 "The Fort Dix Conspiracy"

+

2. e-book, www.farviewu.biz   Was AIDS a terrorist act?

+

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_anthrax_attacks +

4. Number of envelopes received in Presidential candidates offices with white powder (sugar?); One group had brown powder (ant killer?) with note "Don't Bug Me"

=

NO elections in 2008

Have the American political parties set up event 4 to keep themselves in power? They know, based on event 3, that the person(s) who send these envelopes cannot be traced. Further, they estimate that once they get this "mailing" going thousands of un-happy Americans will join the crowd and the mailings will get completely out of hand.

The politicians have not been talking about the REAL problems facing America today. Look at web site www.saps08.net to see what the issues really are.

Furthermore, I predict that the U.S., under the leadership of Bush, will solve the immigrant problem by taking over Mexico and making it a U.S. territory. This will probably happen in late 2008.

Bumper stickers:

Confused State of America 2008 Vote for this HONEST Politician ______________

In Washington: If is smacks of morality or common sense its a matter of religion!

For President in '08 __ None of the above. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Toney08 (talk • contribs) 19:43, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Vital unresolved anthrax questions and ABC News
Just a share an article that seems to me interesting: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/01/anthrax/index.html --Ecureuil espagnol (talk) 14:54, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Gary Matsumoto
In Gary Matsumoto's article there is no discussion of Soviet anthrax weapons. Also, he implies the anthrax came from American (i.e. CIA) sources. He points to Battelle as the likely source. Battelle is a well known CIA contractor. My version is better.[www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1030042/posts]

From his article:

The Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-profit organization based in Columbus, Ohio, is possibly the only corporation in the world known to possess both the Ames strain as well as a "national security division" offering the services of a team of "engineers, chemists, microbiologists, and aerosol scientists supported by state-of-the-art laboratories to conduct research in the fields of bioaerosol science and technology." On its Web site, Battelle calls this research group "one-of-a-kind."

A "person of interest"
There should be mention of the incident at Fort Detrick.


 * The 1992 inquiry also found evidence that someone was secretly entering a lab late at night to conduct unauthorized research, apparently involving anthrax. A numerical counter on a piece of lab equipment had been rolled back to hide work done by the mystery researcher, who left the misspelled label "antrax" in the machine's electronic memory, according to the documents obtained by The Courant.

Dr Philip Zack and Dr. Ayaad Assaad should both be mentioned. Zack had the means, access to weaponized anthrax, exhibited hostile behaviours towards Assaad, and was caught on a security video entering a lab without authorization where anthrax samples went missing. The FBI knew of Zack and his unauthorized access to the lab, and it has been reported that Assaad had been questioned by the FBI in connection with the attacks.

Source: ANTHRAX MISSING FROM ARMY LAB

(NEW TOPIC):

FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE ANTHRAX WHEN POSTAL WORKERS FIRST WENT TO EMERGENCY ROOMS: Conspicuously missing from the Wikified article is a detailed account of the postal workers who went to emergency rooms and were told they had viral illnesses. In the Wikified article:"October 21: Brentwood (in Northeast Washington D.C.) postal employee Thomas L. Morris Jr., 55, dies. October 22: Brentwood (in Northeast Washington D.C.) postal employee Joseph P. Curseen, 47, dies. "

They were sent home..to die. This was eventually covered up despite the one case where the victim's daughter insisted on adequate testing. Anthrax is not a new disease. It is bacterial, not viral ,and doctors did know how to diagnose and treat it in the recent past. The elderly woman in Connecticut was another victim of this failure to diagnose and treat. The war against 'overuse of anti-biotics" seems to have led to more than a few deaths and lingering disabilities . The media allowed Kaiser Permanente (the HMO of the postal employees) to spin its way out of this.oldcitycat 22:31, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Here's another article mentioning Philip Zach: http://www.thesimon.com/magazine/articles/canon_fodder/01241_philip_zack_steals_anthrax.html  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.225.141.201 (talk) 21:20, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Link to Soviet Weaponization Technology
In 1998 Ken Alibek was interviewed by Richard Preston for an article titled "The Bioweaponeers" published in the New Yorker. In this interview Alibek disclosed details of a new advancement in Soviet dry powder anthrax technology. Preston wrote "The Alibekov anthrax became fully operational in 1989. It is an amber-gray powder, finer than bath talc, with smooth, creamy particles that tend to fly apart and vanish in the air, becoming invisible and drifting for miles. The Alibekov anthrax is four times more efficient than the standard product."

Alibek also disclosed to Preston that the Alibekov anthrax contained two additives. Preston wrote "The Alibekov anthrax is simple, and the formula is somewhat surprising, not quite what you'd expect. Two unrelated materials are mixed with pure powdered anthrax spores. It took a lot of research and testing to get the trick right, and Alibek must have driven his research group hard and skillfully to arrive at it."

Although Alibek revealed to Preston the identities of the two materials, Preston did not publish them. However, in the same year, Alibek was also interviewed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for a documentary titled "Red Lies". This documentary outlined the Soviet's continued development of advanced anthrax dry powder technology even after the Sverdlovsk accident killed up to one hundred people. The "Red Lies" documentary did provide details of the additives, stating "In the years since the Sverdlovsk accident, Alibek and a research team had taken the Soviet military's anthrax and made it even more deadly. He developed a process to take ground up anthrax spores and coat each particle in plastic and resin. It kept the anthrax aloft four times longer, increasing its ability to infect people."

Walking distance from the tabloid office in Boca Raton, Fl was the work place of the author of the e-book "Pending Global Disaster: Germ War Diary". This e-book is available FREE on web site www.farviewu.biz. The author was out of town on 9-11.

These details have to be compared to descriptions of the 2001 senate anthrax that were leaked to the media in the period 2002-2003. The first set of leaks were made to Newsweek, CNN  and the Washigton Postin April 2002. Newsweek wrote "The Leahy anthrax -- mailed in an envelope that was recovered unopened from a Washington post office last November -- also was coated with a chemical compound unknown to experts who have worked in the field for years; the coating matches no known anthrax samples ever recovered from biological-weapons producers anywhere in the world, including Iraq and the former Soviet Union. The combination of the intense milling of the bacteria and the unusual coating produced an anthrax powder so fine and fluffy that individually coated anthrax spores were found in the Leahy envelope, something that U.S. bioweapons experts had never seen."

The second set of leaks were made to the Washington Post in November 2002 who wrote "Investigators and experts have said the spores in the Daschle and Leahy letters were uniformly between 1 and 3 microns in size, and were coated with fine particles of frothy silica glass." In November 2003 Science Magazine reported that in addition to silica the senate anthrax contained "polymerized glass" and its purpose was to chemically bind the silica to the surface of the spores. Some speculate that the similarities between the descriptions of the Alibekov anthrax and the senate anthrax demonstrate a link to technology secretly developed in the Soviet Union in the late 1980's and possibly transferred to the US after Alibek's defection in the 90's. User:24.1.46.67

Controversy over coatings and additives
This section of the article needs to be cleaned up.67.72.98.45 18:51, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Agree needs to be more precise as wanders too much, coatings or no coatings?- also I think the page should make clear if any of the targeted people actually died. Did the senators? Or was it just their secretaries. This information should be quite high up. 195.128.250.182 17:16, 14 August 2007 (UTC) PKS

I'm highly certain no senators died. I remember keenly checking the checking the news when it first hit to ascertain that same thing. Thecurran 15:35, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I recently added an article by FBI scientist Douglas Beecher which offsets some of the other material in the section, making it a bit more balanced. I don't think the paragraphs which begin with "In February 2005, ..." "In May 2005, ..." and "In July 2005, .." are relative to the section. I recommend they be removed. They are about building a Microbial Forensics database. They are NOT about the anthrax attacks of 2001. 65.29.180.145 13 September 2007  Ed Lake www.anthraxinvestigation.com

The chart taken from my web site shows who died and who didn't. No senators died, nor did they or anyone on their staffs become infected. Only one death (Bob Stevens) was connected to a target. The other deaths were two postal workers and two elderly women. 65.29.180.145 13 September 2007 Ed Lake www.anthaxinvestigation.com

Citation Needed
'the existence of the other three letters is inferred from the pattern of infection.'

this needs a citation if it is to remain, who inferred it? --Neon white 15:35, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

MILHIST tag
I am tagging this as being part of the military history project since it could, in a broad sense, be considered a military operation carried out against the states by terrorists even though the response here was not handled by the military. TomStar81 (Talk) 07:55, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Repetition . ..
The Leahy angle does not belong in the lead inasmuch as it is only one person's opinion and is also covered later in the story. I'm not sure why the unnamed editor reverted my deletion and would be glad to learn the reason here. Sincerely, GeorgeLouis (talk) 07:48, 27 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Having waited three days without a response, I am again reverting. Sincerely, GeorgeLouis (talk) 07:50, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Merge in "Timeline of the 2001 anthrax attacks in Florida"
I suggest Timeline of the 2001 anthrax attacks in Florida be merged into the "Timeline" section of this 2001 anthrax attacks article. Having both articles looks like content forking. Hult041956 (talk) 18:59, 11 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Anyone care? Hult041956 (talk) 01:44, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Investigation
There is good circumstantial evidence that FBI's investigation has not "gone cold". FBI was reported to have briefed two senators in the Spring 2007, the first Hill briefing since September 2004. I was told by a Hill staffer that the House Judiciary Committee held a closed hearing on the case in November 2007. It appears that FBI identified the Mailer in September 2004 and is now seeking to find the scientists who prepared the anthrax that he used. I don't know how to state this in an acceptably referenced manner, but perhaps the editors can manage to do so. At a minimum, the statement that the investigation has gone cold should be removed. User:KJDillon 19:05, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

Do we really need the comments and the informal dramtis personae?
I don't know where the comments and journalists involved came from, but is it necessary? Mr. Raptor (talk) 17:59, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Current event?
Should this article not be marked as 'current event' or whatever due to the recent suicide?

On a sidenote, it would be interesting to know whether there is any hard evidence that FBI were about to press charges and they are not using this suicide as a fall-guy for their inability to solve the case or whatever. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.89.0.118 (talk) 00:28, 2 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I added a little (referenced) balance to the section in regards to Ivins. Apparently Ivins was told by the FBI they were going to charge him with five murders as this accusation led to a breakdown during a therapy session so that part is true (although that begs whether they were or was it just a threat?). The FBI has stated that because he is now dead the evidence is under court seal and will not be released. It's entirely possible they have put the investigation in the too hard basket and want to end it. Ivins passed a lie detector test but those are not 100% reliable but that still leaves the problem of him having no motive, don't forget Hatfil had no motive either and look what happened to him. Wayne (talk) 07:39, 2 August 2008 (UTC)


 * The story gets murkier. This source claims that the main evidence against Ivins is that the Anthrax strain was the one used in Ivins lab. Although the article says Ivins "oversaw" this lab it does not mention that Dr Zack was his supervisor which is odd as this article points out that Ivins only had access to liquid Anthrax and according to his colleagues didn't have the expertise to convert it to powder (while Zack did have the expertise) although one expert who didn't know Ivins claims he did have. The other evidence the FBI has is the testimony of his therapist that Ivins is a homicidal sociopath, his next door neighbours and work associates say "That's not the Bruce we knew". The Los Angeles Times claims a financial motive: Ivins stood to earn possibly tens of thousands of dollars from a vaccine patent. Is that enough money (six months income?) to warrant the attack? The problem is that before the attacks the vaccine contract was cancelled because they could not produce the quantities ordered so he would not have gotten anything anyway. The FBI has said they are going to close the case. The guys dead so he can't defend or incriminate himself. For an encyclopaedia article we need better evidence before very much can be stated as fact even if the case is closed. Too many problems with the case from day one. Wayne (talk) 06:35, 4 August 2008 (UTC)


 * This source details the therapists claims. Ivins was committed to a mental institution (at her request) on July 9 where he was, according to her, "forensically diagnosed by several top psychiatrists as a sociopathic, homicidal killer" and released on july 24. Wayne (talk) 08:36, 4 August 2008 (UTC)