Glenn's last update on this mention a Congressional look next year. One would think the only place to get a full review and report on this would be Waxman's committee. It's the type of thing that Waxie's staffers eat up.

John

http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/Bioter/messageanthrax.html

In 2003 Don Foster wrote a very interesting article for the UCLA School of Epidemiology on the anthrax attacks, mostly centering on Hatfill.

Did you know that Hatfill brags of working with the Selous Scouts, an irregular Rhodesian military unit that at the end of the Zimbabwean war for independence was apparently poisoning the African population in the countryside with, among other things, anthrax? Foster's article goes deeply into why Hatfill should have been "the person of interest." For ex, did you know that Hatfill did an interview with Washington Times' Insight Magazine a few years before 9/11, complete with a picture of him wearing a gas mask in a home terror biolab, demonstrating how to mix up some bioweapons? He also wrote an unpublished novel a few years before 2001 where Iraq had waged biowar against the U.S. And, as mentioned above, he has claimed to have been in a military unit in Rhodesia that actually killed civilians with anthrax. Hatfill also claimed to have been in the U.S. Army's Institute for Military Assistance (now its Special Warfare School) which teaches "Psychological Operations, Counter Insurgency, and Unconventional Warfare."

I doubt that Hatfill or any one person could have done this alone. In fact, the case has the stench of a government psyops (you know, like the kind that the Institute for Military Assistance did). Most psychotic murderers don't run false flag operations pointing towards foreign countries. ABC's four false sources suggest a criminal conspiracy. That the MSM has assiduously avoided pointing out Hatfill's relationship with the Selous Scouts and the IMA should be all you need to know. Nowadays you find the news where the MSM doesn't go.

I imagine whoever in FBI first pointed to Hatfill was reprimanded. Better to blame the man who has been "suicided."

The reference to Israel in the letter is rather interesting. Could this be part of the conspiracy by the neocons to create sympathy for Israel and blur the difference between Israel and America in "the war on terror" in the minds of frightened Americans in the aftermath of 9/11. Just a thought!

Now we know that the antrhax attacks were probably perpetrated by agents of the United States government. Especially in the context of the knowledge that the Bush administration lied us into the disasterous invasion and occupation of Iraq, the false information that was fed to your organization leading to your reports on the anthrax attacks was obviously part of the conspiracy to lie us into the war. The hysteria created by your reporting on the anthrax attacks were almost as important to public support of invading Iraq as the 9-11 attacks themselves. You reported that 4 seperate sources at Ft. Detrick confirmed that certain componenets of the antrhax originated in Iraq. Now that we know the anthrax originated at Ft. Detrick, then whoever your 4 sources were are major war criminals who should be in prison, AND YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE! Legally and ethically, you are REQUIRED to turn these names over to the American people and to law enforcement. If you had even the slightest shred of ethics or conscience, you would be OUTRAGED at the way these people used your organizaton to lie us into a disasterous war. 'Protecting your sources' does NOT extend to sheltering and protecting mass-murderers who are responsible for hundreds of thousands of innocent deaths. Exposing these criminals would help to exculpate you for your own reprehensible role in cheerleading us into this disaster that is destroying our country.

Did anyone at ABC or anyone else asked this question:

Why would Saddam have tried to kill the very people who were most willing and most able to prevent the American invasion of Iraq?

When a person is broke, socially undesirable and sexually repulsive they get to be a sort of expert on Public Radio.

-- Derbig Mooser

that how i got so good @ CSPAN!

*blush*

Please excuse the group response but it seems that a lot of valuable comments get lost in long threads and it’s sometimes difficult to see the forest for the trees.

First, thank you to Bystander for the link to Marcy Wheeler’s post. The comments were especially helpful in providing additional links and, for the most part, the professionals commenting there shared my concerns. http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/08/02/ivins-and-the-anthrax-investigation/#comments

Thelastnamechosen: You’re right. Duley reports that the threatening statements were made at her last group contact with him and led her to hospitalize Dr. Ivins. Although, she might not have been able to predict this behavior, there was no excuse for allowing him to continue (unless she wanted witnesses for the bizarre claims). Moreover, the history she gives of the patient should have suggested he would be risky in a group (unless this history was obtained from the FBI after the fact and used to buttress her request for peace order). Still no information on how he got to her although she worked at an agency that was advertising that they were using Suboxone to treat prescription drug dependency. http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=76902 (Given that death was allegedly due to Tylenol #3 OD, and one local article noted that he walked in his neighborhood for relief of back pain, he may have contacted the agency for drug concerns -- but this is pure speculation on my part. Re: his reasons for being angry with her: I suggest you listen to the audio of the hearing to obtain the PO (that I hadn’t heard before). http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/audio/national/20080802scientist.mp3 He was clearly very angry with her and called her from the hospital to tell her he blamed her for getting him in the fix he was in and allowing the FBI to prosecute him for murders. That’s not a threat and may well have some basis in fact. I didn’t hear a direct threat against her and found no evidence that he was “stalking” her (as has been claimed at times). She did report a number of outrageous claims by Ivins for which we have no evidence and may have been delusional or designed to frighten her. Unfortunately (but predictably) reports about these rants have become grist for the cable TV mill. We still don’t know what drugs Ivins was on (if any) and a number of folks at emptywheel were as outraged as I was that the powers that be had decided there was no need for a complete autopsy.

chowderSF: There appears to have been no respect for confidentiality, other patient rights, or HIPPA regulations. If Duley wasn’t working for the FBI, she was certainly cooperating with them and acknowledged this during the PO hearing.

Fauxreal: It sounds as though Duley wasn’t a very astute clinician and her training is open to question. Tried to check the Maryland site to see if she was a licensed clinical social worker in that state. The site was down for unknown reasons. A comment on emptywheel’s site (wavpeac #92) suggested Duley had only a bachelors degree and chemical dependency training. Neither would give her sophistication in diagnosis or the ability to deal with serious pathology if she encountered it.

The possibility of psyops is one that deserves consideration. LS #134 at emptywheel links to a relevant (and chilling) site. http://www.frankolsonproject.org/Articulations/Script-CodeNameArtichoke.html In the 50’s, Dr. Frank Olsen, an expert on anthrax who had worked at Ft Detrick and later joined the CIA, died after leaping (or being pushed) from a hotel window. His son spent many years trying to understand what had happened to his father. You’ll find a script of the documentary made about Dr. Olsen as well as other interesting information at the site. Parallels to current concerns, including those about torture are abundant. Cheney and Rumsfeld were in the Ford White House at the time.

Reilly: Right! Without documentation, we have no idea where the diagnoses mentioned by Ms, Duley came from, how valid they are, who made them or under what conditions they were made. Highly unlikely that someone could get security clearance if there was substantial psychiatric history. It is also highly unlikely that Dr. Ivins, if he was truly a homicidal sociopath, could have functioned socially and vocationally for so many years and then suddenly snapped. Reports from neighbors, friends, church congregants, and co-workers paint a picture of a kind, generous man, somewhat the proverbial “geeky” scientist, who was deeply engaged with his family and community and committed to his work. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.ivins02aug02,0,3287194.story?page=1 Those who knew him attested to the toll taken by constant scrutiny and “hounding,” Neighbors were well aware of surveillance because of the frequent presence of vehicles with dark-tinted windows parked in their neighborhood over the past year. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7696512

In sum, neither the FBI nor any other government agency has provided convincing evidence that Ivins was responsible for the anthrax attacks. Co-workers suggest that given his available resources it would have been difficult for Ivins to carry out the attacks. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.ivins02aug02,0,3287194.story?page=1 Whatever Duley’s explicit role or intentions in this case, it is clear that she has been a valuable PR tool for those who would like to write Ivins off as a mad scientist capable of carrying out the anthrax attacks. The shaping of public perception is likely to be aided by wide distribution of the audio recording of Duley’s request for a peace order that includes unsubstantiated diagnoses, questionable history, and reports of bizarre intentions. Indeed, news-hungry cable channels are already parroting her negative claims without questioning either the claims or her credibility. Let us hope that Congress will be less gullible.