Media Starting to Warn of Code Red, Al Qaeda Chemicals, etc. Watch Out For Staged Terror

Al Qaeda Near Biological, Chemical Arms Production
By Barton Gellman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 23, 2003; Page A01

Al Qaeda leaders, long known to covet biological and chemical weapons, have reached at least the threshold of production and may already have manufactured some of them, according to a newly obtained cache of documentary evidence and interrogations recently conducted by the U.S. government.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12187-2003Mar22.html

Gary Hart: Code Red is Coming
http://gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/21451-1.html

Experts: Anthrax Attack Could Cost 100,000+ Lives
Mon Mar 17, 5:30 PM ET
By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A large-scale anthrax attack on a major US city could cause 123,000 deaths, given current levels of preparedness, researchers said Monday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=571&ncid=751&e=1&u=/nm/20030317/hl_nm/anthrax_toll_dc

3/22/03 NY airport screeners decontaminated
http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dallas/nation/stories/032103dnnatscreenersdecontaminated.812bbb6b.html
This report tries to claim that the 9 inch cylinder of powder was just a vial of talcum. Now, talcum is a pretty well known substance, and the containers it is sold in are clearly marked and are usually described in words like "bottle" or "can", whereas this item is described as a "cylinder", a very unusual word to use for a common household product package. Left unexplained is why ten screeners became sick from Talcum, why talcum would cause a rash on the hand of the man who opened it, and why the people had to be decontaminated for talcum.

Powder and gasmask found in luggage but Israeli woman not detained, allowed to board plane to Texas. The powder tests positive for anthrax, then is declared to be harmless, but ten people become sick and are treated, plus the screeners (one of whom gets a rash on his hands) are decontaminated.

Contrast the handling of this woman with the men who were thrown in jail for three weeks for soap powder.

Why do I get the feeling that a staged terror attack to blame on Iraq just fell apart?