You are relying on unnamed sources to debunk unnamed sources. If you are using Lake instead of Beecher, you need to point to your source. Telling me to do your research is quite a thin argument. I gave you a named source who may be misquoted or may be lying, but it is a named source.

Again, the point of my post is that there was NO BENTONITE -- I really don't care in the slightest for purposes of this postif there was silica (since, as even Ross admitted, silica is used by a whole slew of countries besides Iraq in anthrax).

And my sources for the lack of bentonite are NOT unnamed - I cite Beecher, the NYT, Lake, his sources, Gray, THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION in both public and private denials, among others. Beecher has first-hand knowledge of the investigation -- he's a scientists in the FBI's lab at Quantico.

If my argument was that there were no additives at all of any kind in the anthrax (which I am persuaded is true but am not arguing here), then I would have the obligation to go through the disputing sources and demonstrate why the Beecher/Lake/etc., sources are accurate. But that is NOT my argument. My argument is that there was NO BENTONITE -- and all credible sources say that. Are you aware of any which claim otherwise?

Lake has done some excellent work on this subject, but he is only as good as his sources. Lake made his name debunking nude celebrity fakes (the lord's work as far as I am concerned) but he is not an authority outside of his excellent research skills. His research should be quoted not his opinion.

His site contains, by far, the most extensive and comprehensive compilation of credible source material on the anthrax investigation. He has analyzed it all extensively, laid out his arguments, and reached conclusions. I find those conclusions persuasive because his reasoning is superior to those who reach different results. That's how credibility is determined.

But again, that's all academic, since that goes to the question of silica, NOT BENTONITE.

I understand the desire to rely on a report that there were no additives at all because it makes your point without having to worry about the actual details. The problem is that the claim is unsourced and it seriously diminishes your criticism of ABC's use of anonymous sources.

What do you mean by "unsourced" here? "Unsourced" means the absence of a source. How is Beecher not a source? How is Lake's comprehensive analysis of the pubicly available information not a source? Those ARE sources. You may not like the sources - you may think they are not dispositive - but they are sources.

William C. Patrick's quote does not address additives and the contradictory statement about the gray area between "requires sophisticated equipment" but not "weapons grade" is merely an opinion that is not backed up by any scientific testing.

This is what Patrick said in the NYT:

William C. Patrick III, a scientist who once made germ weapons for the American military and is now a private consultant on biological defense, agreed with the FBI's assessment. “The material was good, but not weapons grade," Patrick said in an interview. "You can't make that in your basement. It requires sophisticated equipment."

You think he's talking about the grade of anthrax here without having any idea what the tests revealed? He's just making it up?

To repeat my rather simple point. You are relying on unnamed sources to debunk unnamed sources.

Even on the question of the silica, that's just not true. On the question of the BENTONITE, it could not be false. Every source -- named source, including with first-hand knowledge - say there is no bentonite. Other than Ross's report, are you aware of anything to the contrary?

"I'm not sure if panic is quite the right word, but it is close enough. Anthrax played a role in my decision to support the Bush administration's desire to take out Saddam Hussein. I linked him to anthrax, which I linked to Sept. 11. I was not going to stand by and simply wait for another attack -- more attacks. I was going to go to the source, Hussein, and get him before he could get us. As time went on, I became more and more questioning, but I had a hard time backing down from my initial whoop and holler for war."

Let that sink in for a moment.

I this, I that, I, I, I. As if I was all that mattered.

It's a side issue to Glenn's excellent examination of ABC News's refusal to come clean on it's false Saddam/anthrax stories, but, the self-centeredness and presumptiousness of the Cohen quote tells you all you need to know about how the major media mojo domos view themselves and their roles in society.

This--my first first letter here--got stuck as a comment to the wrong post. Sorry, but I copy it in this thread.

I get all over LOL when I hear that bentonite, a very fine grained clay of many uses, was used only by the Iraqis as a dispersant for bioweapon-grade anthrax. It is truly a natural for the purpose. It also is widely available as a mineral supplement at health food stores. Its discovery and original source, though, is rather suspicious. From the Wikipedia:

The absorbent clay was given the name bentonite by an American geologist sometime after its discovery in about 1890 - after the Benton Formation (a geological stratum, at one time Fort Benton) in eastern Wyoming's Rock Creek area. Other modern discoveries include montmorillonite discovered in 1847 in Montmorillon in the Vienne prefecture of France, in Poitou-Charentes, South of the Loire Valley.

Most high grade commercial sodium bentonite mined in the United States comes from the area between the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Big Horn Basin of Montana. Sodium bentonite is also mined in the southwestern United States, in Greece and in other regions of the world. Calcium bentonite is mined in the Great Plains, Central Mountains and south eastern regions of the United States. Supposedly the world's largest current source of bentonite is Chongzuo in China's Guangxi province.

Wyoming...hmmm. But the French...the Chinese!

I first came to know it in the course of investigations into methods of producing fake Chinese antiquities. This was before 9/11, of course. Have to laugh if I weren't crying.