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ANTHRAX AVOIDANCE: One of the most interesting stories of the last few days was one by Elaine Sciolino for the New York Times. It recounts how the United States is actually scuppering a French effort to win Security Council condemnation of the anthrax attacks in New York and Washington. The Bush administration allegedly wants no such condemnation, since they apparently do not believe that a foreign source was behind the biological warfare launched on the U.S. "Let's assume this was the work of a bunch of right-wing nuts or a Unabomber kind of thing," one "senior administration official" told the Times. "That would make it a domestic criminal matter. The Security Council just has no legitimate role in this." Another anonymous official tells Sciolino: "I'm not going to deny that there were two schools of thought on this." Hmmm. Now ask yourself: what conceivable harm would it do to have the U.N. condemn this even if it turns out to be a domestic crackpot? I can't see any problem at all - unless you're a black helicopter type who doesn't think the U.N. should have anything to do with any domestic matters in America. So what to make of the administration's reluctance? Here's my take: the White House completely believes that the anthrax attack is the work of al Qaeda via Iraq. They may even have evidence. But they don't want to be forced into the awkward situation of having to respond to such a blatant act of state-sponsored biological warfare yet. With the Afghan war just starting, the last thing they want to tackle is the possibility of nuclear response against Iraq. So they are just batting this issue away, ignoring it, pretending it isn't here for now. Have you noticed how completely silent the president has been about this? That's my theory anyway. Give the administration a few months and then the evidence will suddenly be found. But at a time of their choosing.

November 1, 2001

A NATION CHALLENGED: DIPLOMACY; Bush Team Rejects U.N. Plan To Condemn Anthrax Attacks

By ELAINE SCIOLINO

The Bush administration has rejected a proposal by France to win Security Council condemnation of the anthrax attacks in the United States, senior administration and European officials said today.

The administration told the French government that a United Nations condemnation would be appropriate only if there was clear proof that the origin of the anthrax or the plot behind the outbreak was foreign, a senior administration official who opposed the move said.

''Let's assume this was the work of a bunch of right-wing nuts or a Unabomber kind of thing,'' the official said. ''That would make it a domestic criminal matter. The Security Council just has no legitimate role in this.''

The rejection came after a debate inside the State Department, with officials disagreeing on whether the anthrax attacks violate the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, administration officials said.

''The French told us this was a clear violation of the convention, but I don't know how it would be if it's a domestic nut case,'' said the official opposing the initiative.

But another senior administration official said, ''I'm not going to deny that there were two schools of thought on this.''

The Biological Weapons Convention, which 143 nations, including the United States, have ratified, prohibits the development, production and possession of biological weapons. But when that treaty was negotiated, it had no provision for verification, a major drawback since most of the nations suspected of making biological weapons have signed the accord.

The Bush administration has rejected a draft agreement supported by its European allies and a host of other countries that would have created new measures to monitor the ban. The administration argued that the agreement would have granted foreign inspectors too much access to American installations and companies, and that a nation determined to cheat would find a way to do so.

Much to the dismay of America's allies, the United States is now trying to introduce alternate ways of implementing the convention.

European officials called the administration's rejection of the French proposal condemning the anthrax outbreak shortsighted and a missed opportunity.

''This was the first time that a biological agent was used against a civilian population, and we felt that it was important at the very least that the international community say something about it,'' said one senior European official. ''The goal was to reaffirm the value of the convention and assure solidarity. But the answer clearly was 'No.' ''

The resolution would have noted that the use of biological weapons under the Biological Weapons Convention was prohibited, and that the United States had the unilateral right of military self-defense against a biological weapons attack under the United Nations charter.

Experts have said that the United States, the former Soviet Union and Iraq are the only countries known to have made the dangerous, high-grade anthrax powder that was found in the office of the Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle. But the techniques used in those programs are believed to be common enough that a well-trained scientist in a well-equipped private laboratory could have produced similar results.