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Al Qaeda, Anthrax, and Ayman Zawahiri
An Egyptian scientist living with the alleged "Detroit terror cell" researched diseases such as anthrax at local public library. This article, which serves as the introduction and summary of the website, explains the context.
In early June 2003, a CIA report concluded that the reason for Atta's and Zacarias Moussaoui's inquiries into cropdusters was in fact for the contemplated use in dispersing biological agents such as anthrax. Many people have argued that a US-based Al Qaeda operative is behind the anthrax mailings and that its purpose was to serve as a threat and warning.(1) Handwritten notes and files on a laptop seized upon the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed ("KSM"), Al Qaeda's #3, included a feasible anthrax production plan using a spray dryer and addressed the recruitment of necessary expertise.(2) What your morning paper did not tell you, however, was that the CIA seized a similar disc from Ayman Zawahiri's right-hand, Mabruk, 5 years ago.(3) While other detainees have said Zacarias Moussaoui was going to fly a 5th plane into the White House, Mohammed, known as KSM, reportedly has said that Moussaoui was not going to be part of 9/11 but was to be part of a "second wave."(4) In a July 31, 2001 email, Moussaoui wrote a flight school in Minnesota inquiring about a 6 month crop duster course. KSM has explained that his inquiries about crop dusters may have been related to the anthrax work being done by US-trained biochemist and Al Qaeda operative, Malaysian Yazid Sufaat.(5)
Sufaat, according to KSM, did not have the virulent US Army Ames strain that was to be used. That would require someone who had access to the strain. But nothing would stand in the way of Dr. Ayman Zawahiri's decade-long quest to weaponize and use anthrax against US targets that was described by one confidante to an Egyptian newspaper reporter. The islamist had been released from Egyptian prison and had known Zawahiri well for many years.(6)
I Summary and Introduction
First, Al Qaeda has had anthrax, the raw seed product in its unweaponized form, since at least 1997, when it was purchased by Bin Laden through the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ("Moro Front" or "MILF"). (7) Zawahiri is Al Qaeda's #2. He is head of Al Qaeda's biochemical program. (8) Khalid Mohammed, #3, however, was also knowledgeable about anthrax production.(9) US-trained Malaysian biochemist Yazid Sufaat met with 9/11 plotters and two hijackers in January 2000. (10) Sufaat was a member of Al Qaeda and a member of Jemaah Islamiah ("Islamic Group") which has ties with the Moro Front. (11) Sufaat used his company called Green Laboratory Medicine to buy items useful to Al Qaeda, to include 4 tons of ammonium nitrate that was recently recovered.(12) (Green symbolizes "Islam" and Prophet Mohammed's holy war).(13) Zacarias Moussaoui, who had a crop dusting manual when he was arrested, stayed at Sufaat's condominium in 2000 when he was trying to arrange for flight lessons in Malaysia.(14) Yazid Sufaat provided Moussaoui with a letter indicating that he was a marketing representative for Infocus Technologies and allegedly provided him $35,000.(15) The crop dusters were to be part of a "second wave." (16)
After 9/11, Yazid Sufaat traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to work for the Taliban Medical Brigade and to continue his work with anthrax.(17) As described in US News, a former reporter from the Kabul Times apparently actually met Sufaat, without realizing it, while traveling near Kabul in October 2001, perceiving him as Filipino.(18) The fellow was carrying papers from Zawahiri and bragging about his ability to manipulate anthrax. (19) Sufaat was arrested in December 2001 upon his return to Malaysia.(20) Newsweek reported that a "second wave" involving biological attacks had been thwarted upon the arrest of Al Qaeda members who had been intended to provide logistical support.(21) Muklis Yunos, the head of MILF's special operations group who according to Phillipine intelligence reports was said to have received training on use of anthrax as a biological weapon in Afghanistan, was arrested on May 25, 2003.
The CIA has known of Zawahiri's plans to use anthrax for a half decade. The confidante and right-hand man of Dr. Ayman Zawahiri admitted that Zawahiri succeeded in obtaining anthrax and intended to use it against US targets.(22) Another senior Al Qaeda member (a shura or policy-making council member no less) was working for the Egyptian intelligence services and he confirmed the report in a sworn lengthy confession. (23) Even Zawahiri's attorney in 1999 said that Bin Laden and Zawahiri were likely to resort to the biological and chemical agents they possessed given the extradition pressure senior Al Qaeda leaders faced. (24) A recently released islamist who had been a close associate of Zawahiri said that Zawahiri spent a decade and had made 15 separate attempts to recruit the necessary expertise to weaponize anthrax in Russia and the Middle East.(25) The US Army recipe was not used, and obtaining the unprocessed Ames strain of anthrax used does not pose much of an obstacle or warrant the weight given it by some press accounts.(26) There was lax control over the distribution of the Ames strain that was used, especially in light of the fact that transfers were not even required to be recorded prior to 1997.(27)
Al Qaeda's anthrax production plans on Khalid Mohammed's computer did not evidence knowledge of advanced techniques in the most efficient biological weapons.(28) Under the optimal method, there is no electrostatic charge; in the case of the anthrax used in the mailings, there was an electrostatic charge(29) Although there was a dominance of single spores and a trillion spore concentration, there were clumps as large as 40 - 100 microns. (Spores must be no bigger than 5 microns to be inhalable.) As Kenneth Alibek, the former head of Russia's anthrax production program, explained on March 31, 2003 in response to a written question, "This anthrax wasn't sophisticated, didn't have coatings, had electric charge and many other things." (30) Many point to the trillion spore concentration as extraordinary. It is far simpler, however, to achieve a trillion spore concentration in the production of a few grams than in industrial processing typical of a state sponsored lab.(31) Until addressed by a November 2002 article by Scott Shane of the Baltimore Sun (which then was reinforced by his April 11, 2003 story on the results of reverse engineering at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah), the "trillion spore" issue was at the heart of a lot of mistaken theories of the matter concluding that state sponsorship was necessarily indicated. The reported finding at Dugway undermines the argument of both the "bomb Iraq" crowd and the liberals focused on Dr. Steve Hatfill who object to US biodefense research because they view it as being useful for offensive purposes.
Khalid Mohammed says that Zacarias Moussaoui's inquiries about crop dusting may have related to Yazid Sufaat's anthrax manufacturing plans. (32) Athough the details of the documents on Mohammed's computer may (or may not) point to possible difficulties in aerial dispersal, they are fully consistent with the product used in the anthrax mailings. Al Qaeda had both the means and opportunity.
Various doctors, both foreign and American, are associated with Al Qaeda leaders or operatives, to include the doctors Abdul Qadoos Khan, a bacteriologist from Rawalpindi and Aafia Siddiqui, PhD, from Karachi. Microbiologist Abdul Qadoos Khan was charged along with his son, Ahmed, for harboring the fugitives.(33) As of March 28, 2003, he was in a hospital for a cardiac problem and had been granted "pre-arrest bail." (34) Yet all you read about is the arrest of the son Ahmed Abdul Qadoos, who receives a stipend from the UN for being officially low-IQ due to lead poisoning.(35)
It was Khalid Mohammed who told authorities about MIT-trained biologist Aafia Siddiqui, who at one time was thought to be traveling with a Florida "Atta level" pilot. (36) All the Pakistani press is reporting that she was nabbed in Karachi after being spotted at the international airport on March 29.(37) It was not until three weeks later that NBC, relying on an unnamed senior official, first reported her captured. For the longest time, no US newspaper had yet reported that she was captured and instead stories continued to state that the FBI is seeking her for questioning.(38) If the sources relied upon by these journalists did not even know (or would not reveal) that Aafia had been caught, why do these reporters think they know what's going on in the Amerithrax matter? Amerithrax is a confidential investigation. The Pakistan ISI and CIA rarely grant press interviews in connection with an ongoing manhunt. As agent Van Harp, head of the Amerithrax investigation has said, the information coming from Khalid Mohammed is classified.(39)
According to the Pakistan reports, she was spotted at the international airport and detained (after she was followed to a relative's house). Some reports say she was coming from abroad, but the original report the others are all copying say she was coming from "upcountry." (Karachi is in the south). The reports say she is suspected of having been a member of Al Qaeda's "Chemical Wire Group." (40) Perhaps something got lost in the translation, but the phrase "Chemical Wire Group" has appeared in all the english Pakistan and India papers. (41)
Officials have not publicly confirmed anything about the detention or interrogation. There still is a very hot pursuit of the"Atta-level" Florida pilot that Siddiqui is thought to have known and been assisting. He is said by one FBI agent to be "very, very, very" dangerous.(42) We truly no longer have time for faulty analysis or politically-based preconceptions.
Second, the media coverage has been seriously confused on the issue of motive and the reason Senators Daschle and Leahy would have been targeted-- tending to simplistically view them as "liberals." Zawahiri likely targeted Senators Daschle and Leahy to receive anthrax letters, in addition to various media outlets, because of the appropriations made pursuant to the "Leahy Law" to military and security forces.(43) That money has prevented the militant islamists from achieving their goals. Al Qaeda members and sympathizers feel that the FBI's involvement in muslim countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Philippines interferes with the sovereignty of those countries.(44) Indeed, the "Leahy Law" had one of its most well-known applications in Indonesia. Senator Leahy was Chairman of both the Judiciary Committee overseeing the FBI and Appropriations Subcommittee in charge of foreign aid to these countries. (45) In late September 2001, it was announced that the President was seeking a blanket waiver that would lift all restrictions on aid to military and security units in connection with pursuing the militant islamists.(46) This extradition and imprisonment of Al Qaeda leaders, along with US support for Israel and the Mubarak government in Egypt, remains foremost in the mind of Dr. Zawahiri. At the height of the development of his biological weapons program, his brother was extradited and executed pursuant to a death sentence in the "Albanian returnees" case. (47) It's hard to keep up with the stories about billion dollar appropriations, debt forgiveness, and loan guarantees to countries like Egypt and Israel and now even Pakistan -- and those appropriations pale in comparison to the $75 billion in a "Supplemental" appropriation relating to the invasion of Iraq. Al Qaeda had a motive in mind.
In his Fall 2001 book titled "Knights under the Banner of the Prophet," Zawahiri argued that the secular press was telling "lies" about the militant islamists -- to include the suggestion that the militant islamists were somehow the creation of the United States in connection with expelling the Russians from Afghanistan.(48) Zawahiri argued instead that they have been active since the assassination of Anwar Sadat in Egypt because of the treaty between the Camp David Accord and the resulting peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The anthrax letters were sent on the date of the Camp David Accord and then the date Anwar Sadat was assassinated as if to underscore the point to anyone paying attention. Most of the "talking heads" on television, however, knew only that Daschle and Leahy were liberal democrats and did not know anything of Al Qaeda beyond what they read in the newspapers.
Third, this tactic of letters is not merely the modus operandi of these militant islamists inspired by Zawahiri, it is their signature. The islamists sent letter bombs a few years ago to newspaper offices in New York City and Washington, D.C. in connection with the earlier bombing of the World Trade Center and the imprisonment of the blind sheik, Sheik Abdel Rahman. (49) The former leader of the Egyptian Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya ("Islamic Group"), he was also a spiritual leader of Al Qaeda. The letter bombs were sent in connection with the treatment of the Egyptian islamists imprisoned for the earlier attack on the WTC and a related plot. (50) The purpose of the letter bombs -- which resulted in minimal casualty -- was to send a message. (There is an outstanding $2 million reward). (51) There was no claim of responsibility. There was no explanation. Once one had been received, the next ten, mailed on two separate dates, were easily collected.(52) Sound familiar? Two bombs were also sent to Leavenworth, where a key WTC 1993 defendant was imprisoned, addressed to "Parole Officer." (53) Abdel Rahman's son was captured in Quetta, Pakistan in mid-February 2003.(54) That arrest in turn led to the dramatic capture of Khalid Mohammed, Al Qaeda's #3. Mohammed was hiding in the home of the Pakistani bacteriologist Dr. Abdul Qadoos Khan. (55) (Along with Zawahiri, Abdel Rahman and his two sons have long had considerable influence over Bin Laden.)(56)
A sender purporting to be islamist sent cyanide in both 2001 and 2002 in New Zealand and ingredients of nerve gas in Belgium in 2003. There's even a chapter titled "Poisonous Letter" in the Al Qaeda manual. Just because Al Qaeda likes its truck bombs and the like to be effective does not mean they don't see the value in a deadly missive. As Brian Jenkins once said, "terrorism is theater."
The mailer's use of Greendale School is revealing. Documents establish that Zawahiri used "school" as a code word for Al Qaeda in his correspondence. Green symbolizes Islam and was the Prophet Mohammed's color. (57) By Greendale School, the anthrax perp was being cute, just as Yazid Sufaat was being cute in naming his lab Green Laboratory Medicine. "Dale" means "river valley." Greendale refers to green river valley -- i.e., Cairo's Egyptian Islamic Jihad or the Islamic Group. The sender is announcing that he is of Jihad-al Qaeda, which is actually the full name of the group after the 1998 merger of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda.
Fourth, a number of additional miscellaneous leads in the investigation are consistent with Al Qaeda's responsibility. The issues are marked by conflicting evidence. But all of the issues are consistent with Al Qaeda's responsibility, to include:
a. FBI's Profile The FBI's profile includes a US-based supporter of the militant islamists. Attorney General Ashcroft has always said that an "either-or" approach is not useful.(58) The media has tended to overlook the fact that when the FBI uses the word "domestic" the word includes a US-based, highly-educated supporter of the militant islamists. The media's perception notwithstanding, the FBI, for its part, was always vigorously testing a number of alternative hypotheses. The FBI has said that authorities do not know whether the perp is American or Foreign.(59) Asked if the possibility of an overseas perpetrator (or, for example, a US-based supporter of the militant islamists) is still open, an investigator said last year, "Absolutely. Until we get a good suspect identified, we're looking at all theories."(60)
b. Hijacker Ahmed's Blackened Leg Lesion The hijacker Ahmed Alhaznawi appears to have contracted cutaneous anthrax in Afghanistan. It's reasonable to credit his statement that he got the lesion after bumping into a suitcase he was carrying at a camp in Afghanistan. The lesion is further evidence of Al Qaeda's anthrax production program in Afghanistan.
c. Inquiries About Cropdusters The reported inquiries about cropdusters demonstrate what is at stake. In early June 2003, a CIA report concluded that the reason for Atta's and Zacarias Moussaoui's inquiries into cropdusters was in fact for the contemplated use in dispersing biological agents such as anthrax. It has long been known Osama Bin Laden was interested in using cropdusters to disperse biological agents (since the testimony of millennium bomber Ressam).
d. Jennifer Lopez Letter There is a substantial question whether the letter to AMI, the publisher of the National Enquirer, was a goofy love letter to Jennifer Lopez enclosing a Star of David.
e. Fort Lee, New Jersey $100,000 Processor One potential lead concerned a Fort Lee New Jersey $100,000 processor possibly of a type that could have been used to weaponize the anthrax. (63) The processor was paid for in cash after a check-kiting scheme. The processor was delivered to a business front in Ft. Lee at 215 Main St. The address was 1 mile from pilot Nawaf al-Hazmi at 96 Linwood Plaza, one of the two hijackers who had attended the January 2000 meeting with anthrax technician Yazid Sufaat.
f. Suspected Pakistan Anthrax The "confirmed cases" of anthrax in Karachi, Pakistan, unless a "false positive," have always pointed to the Karachi connnection also evidenced by Khalid Mohammed's and Yazid Sufaat's time there.(64)
g. Presence of Silica in the Spore Mixture (but not as a Special Coating) The presence of silica in the spore mixture is notable in light of Al Qaeda's recommendation of using a silicone sealant to wipe the inside of the envelope in sending a "Poisonous Letter." Former Russian bioweaponeer Dr. Alibek -- along with Harvard's Dr. Meselson -- have explained that there was no special silica coating and that the silica served no special purpose in "weaponization." Dr. Alibek and Dr. Meselson have explained that while silica was, in fact, detected, anthrax spores have an unusual tendency to pick up silica from their environment. Here, the Al Qaeda manual specifically instructed to wipe the envelope with a silicone sealant -- containing up to one-third treated fumed silica -- so as to not kill the mailman.(65)
h. Atta's Travels to Prague and the Alleged Iraq Connection. The present evidence relating to Atta's travel to Prague does not warrant any conclusion that Al Qaeda obtained the Ames strain from Iraq. Iraq, however, remains a possible source of the Ames. Former Russian bioweaponeer Ken Alibek has said that a key Russian scientist helped Iraq build its mobile bioweapons lab and Russia had the Ames strain.(66) Zawahiri travelled to Baghdad in 1998 with an entourage to attend the birthday party of Saddam's son.(67) The papers found at headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq's feared secret police, show that an entourage from Al Qaeda group was sent to the Iraqi capital in March 1998 from Sudan. The talks are thought to have ended badly for the Iraq. According to at least some reports, Bin Laden rejected the suggestion of an alliance -- preferring to pursue his own concept of jihad. (68)
i. Ladies and Germs
Only time will tell whether the FBI profilers betting on a lone male will have to fold their hands.
j. Know Not Just Your Enemy, But Who He Knew: Zawahiri's Travels to the US
Zawahiri's mission in the United States in 1995 was to do spadework for terrorism, not fundraising. He travelled under an alias and was accompanied by a US Army sergeant.(69) What mosques exactly did they visit and who did they meet?
k. Wadi AlArab: The Ship That Didn't Come In. For a moment there, it seemed that the ship had come in for an Al Qaeda theory. Samples of the dead Egyptian first mate were sent to CDC but there has not been an announcement as to the cause of death. The first autopsy had indicated that there was a 90% chance of anthrax.
l. Greendale School at Franklin Park: The Return to Fort Lauderdale and 9/11
You did want it all wrapped up, didn't you, before they run over Hatfill's other foot? See
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze43v8m/
VI. "Hatfill Theory": Another Jewell In The Rough
The "Hatfill theory" accusing Dr. Stephen Hatfill was always highly dubious. The suspicion was founded on many false premises, and there was no reliable evidence indicating his guilt. The FBI's fixation on Hatfill (at least as rumored by some reporters) may have stemmed from a warning by one Senator that careers hung in the balance. Leahy's chief of staff started with the strong predisposition that some right-winger was involved because two liberal democrats had been targeted. The Hatfill theory -- to include ongoing interviews and ongoing 7/24 surveillance by 8 agents -- seems to be strictly CYA. The statute of limitation for the libel suit threatened against the New York Times expires the first week in July. If the threatened suit is not brought by then, that will be a fascinating additional data point.
Sufaat, according to KSM, did not have the virulent US Army Ames strain that was to be used. That would require someone who had access to the strain. But nothing would stand in the way of Dr. Ayman Zawahiri's decade-long quest to weaponize and use anthrax against US targets that was described by one confidante to an Egyptian newspaper reporter. The islamist had been released from Egyptian prison and had known Zawahiri well for many years.(6)
I Summary and Introduction
First, Al Qaeda has had anthrax, the raw seed product in its unweaponized form, since at least 1997, when it was purchased by Bin Laden through the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ("Moro Front" or "MILF"). (7) Zawahiri is Al Qaeda's #2. He is head of Al Qaeda's biochemical program. (8) Khalid Mohammed, #3, however, was also knowledgeable about anthrax production.(9) US-trained Malaysian biochemist Yazid Sufaat met with 9/11 plotters and two hijackers in January 2000. (10) Sufaat was a member of Al Qaeda and a member of Jemaah Islamiah ("Islamic Group") which has ties with the Moro Front. (11) Sufaat used his company called Green Laboratory Medicine to buy items useful to Al Qaeda, to include 4 tons of ammonium nitrate that was recently recovered.(12) (Green symbolizes "Islam" and Prophet Mohammed's holy war).(13) Zacarias Moussaoui, who had a crop dusting manual when he was arrested, stayed at Sufaat's condominium in 2000 when he was trying to arrange for flight lessons in Malaysia.(14) Yazid Sufaat provided Moussaoui with a letter indicating that he was a marketing representative for Infocus Technologies and allegedly provided him $35,000.(15) The crop dusters were to be part of a "second wave." (16)
After 9/11, Yazid Sufaat traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to work for the Taliban Medical Brigade and to continue his work with anthrax.(17) As described in US News, a former reporter from the Kabul Times apparently actually met Sufaat, without realizing it, while traveling near Kabul in October 2001, perceiving him as Filipino.(18) The fellow was carrying papers from Zawahiri and bragging about his ability to manipulate anthrax. (19) Sufaat was arrested in December 2001 upon his return to Malaysia.(20) Newsweek reported that a "second wave" involving biological attacks had been thwarted upon the arrest of Al Qaeda members who had been intended to provide logistical support.(21) Muklis Yunos, the head of MILF's special operations group who according to Phillipine intelligence reports was said to have received training on use of anthrax as a biological weapon in Afghanistan, was arrested on May 25, 2003.
The CIA has known of Zawahiri's plans to use anthrax for a half decade. The confidante and right-hand man of Dr. Ayman Zawahiri admitted that Zawahiri succeeded in obtaining anthrax and intended to use it against US targets.(22) Another senior Al Qaeda member (a shura or policy-making council member no less) was working for the Egyptian intelligence services and he confirmed the report in a sworn lengthy confession. (23) Even Zawahiri's attorney in 1999 said that Bin Laden and Zawahiri were likely to resort to the biological and chemical agents they possessed given the extradition pressure senior Al Qaeda leaders faced. (24) A recently released islamist who had been a close associate of Zawahiri said that Zawahiri spent a decade and had made 15 separate attempts to recruit the necessary expertise to weaponize anthrax in Russia and the Middle East.(25) The US Army recipe was not used, and obtaining the unprocessed Ames strain of anthrax used does not pose much of an obstacle or warrant the weight given it by some press accounts.(26) There was lax control over the distribution of the Ames strain that was used, especially in light of the fact that transfers were not even required to be recorded prior to 1997.(27)
Al Qaeda's anthrax production plans on Khalid Mohammed's computer did not evidence knowledge of advanced techniques in the most efficient biological weapons.(28) Under the optimal method, there is no electrostatic charge; in the case of the anthrax used in the mailings, there was an electrostatic charge(29) Although there was a dominance of single spores and a trillion spore concentration, there were clumps as large as 40 - 100 microns. (Spores must be no bigger than 5 microns to be inhalable.) As Kenneth Alibek, the former head of Russia's anthrax production program, explained on March 31, 2003 in response to a written question, "This anthrax wasn't sophisticated, didn't have coatings, had electric charge and many other things." (30) Many point to the trillion spore concentration as extraordinary. It is far simpler, however, to achieve a trillion spore concentration in the production of a few grams than in industrial processing typical of a state sponsored lab.(31) Until addressed by a November 2002 article by Scott Shane of the Baltimore Sun (which then was reinforced by his April 11, 2003 story on the results of reverse engineering at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah), the "trillion spore" issue was at the heart of a lot of mistaken theories of the matter concluding that state sponsorship was necessarily indicated. The reported finding at Dugway undermines the argument of both the "bomb Iraq" crowd and the liberals focused on Dr. Steve Hatfill who object to US biodefense research because they view it as being useful for offensive purposes.
Khalid Mohammed says that Zacarias Moussaoui's inquiries about crop dusting may have related to Yazid Sufaat's anthrax manufacturing plans. (32) Athough the details of the documents on Mohammed's computer may (or may not) point to possible difficulties in aerial dispersal, they are fully consistent with the product used in the anthrax mailings. Al Qaeda had both the means and opportunity.
Various doctors, both foreign and American, are associated with Al Qaeda leaders or operatives, to include the doctors Abdul Qadoos Khan, a bacteriologist from Rawalpindi and Aafia Siddiqui, PhD, from Karachi. Microbiologist Abdul Qadoos Khan was charged along with his son, Ahmed, for harboring the fugitives.(33) As of March 28, 2003, he was in a hospital for a cardiac problem and had been granted "pre-arrest bail." (34) Yet all you read about is the arrest of the son Ahmed Abdul Qadoos, who receives a stipend from the UN for being officially low-IQ due to lead poisoning.(35)
It was Khalid Mohammed who told authorities about MIT-trained biologist Aafia Siddiqui, who at one time was thought to be traveling with a Florida "Atta level" pilot. (36) All the Pakistani press is reporting that she was nabbed in Karachi after being spotted at the international airport on March 29.(37) It was not until three weeks later that NBC, relying on an unnamed senior official, first reported her captured. For the longest time, no US newspaper had yet reported that she was captured and instead stories continued to state that the FBI is seeking her for questioning.(38) If the sources relied upon by these journalists did not even know (or would not reveal) that Aafia had been caught, why do these reporters think they know what's going on in the Amerithrax matter? Amerithrax is a confidential investigation. The Pakistan ISI and CIA rarely grant press interviews in connection with an ongoing manhunt. As agent Van Harp, head of the Amerithrax investigation has said, the information coming from Khalid Mohammed is classified.(39)
According to the Pakistan reports, she was spotted at the international airport and detained (after she was followed to a relative's house). Some reports say she was coming from abroad, but the original report the others are all copying say she was coming from "upcountry." (Karachi is in the south). The reports say she is suspected of having been a member of Al Qaeda's "Chemical Wire Group." (40) Perhaps something got lost in the translation, but the phrase "Chemical Wire Group" has appeared in all the english Pakistan and India papers. (41)
Officials have not publicly confirmed anything about the detention or interrogation. There still is a very hot pursuit of the"Atta-level" Florida pilot that Siddiqui is thought to have known and been assisting. He is said by one FBI agent to be "very, very, very" dangerous.(42) We truly no longer have time for faulty analysis or politically-based preconceptions.
Second, the media coverage has been seriously confused on the issue of motive and the reason Senators Daschle and Leahy would have been targeted-- tending to simplistically view them as "liberals." Zawahiri likely targeted Senators Daschle and Leahy to receive anthrax letters, in addition to various media outlets, because of the appropriations made pursuant to the "Leahy Law" to military and security forces.(43) That money has prevented the militant islamists from achieving their goals. Al Qaeda members and sympathizers feel that the FBI's involvement in muslim countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Philippines interferes with the sovereignty of those countries.(44) Indeed, the "Leahy Law" had one of its most well-known applications in Indonesia. Senator Leahy was Chairman of both the Judiciary Committee overseeing the FBI and Appropriations Subcommittee in charge of foreign aid to these countries. (45) In late September 2001, it was announced that the President was seeking a blanket waiver that would lift all restrictions on aid to military and security units in connection with pursuing the militant islamists.(46) This extradition and imprisonment of Al Qaeda leaders, along with US support for Israel and the Mubarak government in Egypt, remains foremost in the mind of Dr. Zawahiri. At the height of the development of his biological weapons program, his brother was extradited and executed pursuant to a death sentence in the "Albanian returnees" case. (47) It's hard to keep up with the stories about billion dollar appropriations, debt forgiveness, and loan guarantees to countries like Egypt and Israel and now even Pakistan -- and those appropriations pale in comparison to the $75 billion in a "Supplemental" appropriation relating to the invasion of Iraq. Al Qaeda had a motive in mind.
In his Fall 2001 book titled "Knights under the Banner of the Prophet," Zawahiri argued that the secular press was telling "lies" about the militant islamists -- to include the suggestion that the militant islamists were somehow the creation of the United States in connection with expelling the Russians from Afghanistan.(48) Zawahiri argued instead that they have been active since the assassination of Anwar Sadat in Egypt because of the treaty between the Camp David Accord and the resulting peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The anthrax letters were sent on the date of the Camp David Accord and then the date Anwar Sadat was assassinated as if to underscore the point to anyone paying attention. Most of the "talking heads" on television, however, knew only that Daschle and Leahy were liberal democrats and did not know anything of Al Qaeda beyond what they read in the newspapers.
Third, this tactic of letters is not merely the modus operandi of these militant islamists inspired by Zawahiri, it is their signature. The islamists sent letter bombs a few years ago to newspaper offices in New York City and Washington, D.C. in connection with the earlier bombing of the World Trade Center and the imprisonment of the blind sheik, Sheik Abdel Rahman. (49) The former leader of the Egyptian Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya ("Islamic Group"), he was also a spiritual leader of Al Qaeda. The letter bombs were sent in connection with the treatment of the Egyptian islamists imprisoned for the earlier attack on the WTC and a related plot. (50) The purpose of the letter bombs -- which resulted in minimal casualty -- was to send a message. (There is an outstanding $2 million reward). (51) There was no claim of responsibility. There was no explanation. Once one had been received, the next ten, mailed on two separate dates, were easily collected.(52) Sound familiar? Two bombs were also sent to Leavenworth, where a key WTC 1993 defendant was imprisoned, addressed to "Parole Officer." (53) Abdel Rahman's son was captured in Quetta, Pakistan in mid-February 2003.(54) That arrest in turn led to the dramatic capture of Khalid Mohammed, Al Qaeda's #3. Mohammed was hiding in the home of the Pakistani bacteriologist Dr. Abdul Qadoos Khan. (55) (Along with Zawahiri, Abdel Rahman and his two sons have long had considerable influence over Bin Laden.)(56)
A sender purporting to be islamist sent cyanide in both 2001 and 2002 in New Zealand and ingredients of nerve gas in Belgium in 2003. There's even a chapter titled "Poisonous Letter" in the Al Qaeda manual. Just because Al Qaeda likes its truck bombs and the like to be effective does not mean they don't see the value in a deadly missive. As Brian Jenkins once said, "terrorism is theater."
The mailer's use of Greendale School is revealing. Documents establish that Zawahiri used "school" as a code word for Al Qaeda in his correspondence. Green symbolizes Islam and was the Prophet Mohammed's color. (57) By Greendale School, the anthrax perp was being cute, just as Yazid Sufaat was being cute in naming his lab Green Laboratory Medicine. "Dale" means "river valley." Greendale refers to green river valley -- i.e., Cairo's Egyptian Islamic Jihad or the Islamic Group. The sender is announcing that he is of Jihad-al Qaeda, which is actually the full name of the group after the 1998 merger of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda.
Fourth, a number of additional miscellaneous leads in the investigation are consistent with Al Qaeda's responsibility. The issues are marked by conflicting evidence. But all of the issues are consistent with Al Qaeda's responsibility, to include:
a. FBI's Profile The FBI's profile includes a US-based supporter of the militant islamists. Attorney General Ashcroft has always said that an "either-or" approach is not useful.(58) The media has tended to overlook the fact that when the FBI uses the word "domestic" the word includes a US-based, highly-educated supporter of the militant islamists. The media's perception notwithstanding, the FBI, for its part, was always vigorously testing a number of alternative hypotheses. The FBI has said that authorities do not know whether the perp is American or Foreign.(59) Asked if the possibility of an overseas perpetrator (or, for example, a US-based supporter of the militant islamists) is still open, an investigator said last year, "Absolutely. Until we get a good suspect identified, we're looking at all theories."(60)
b. Hijacker Ahmed's Blackened Leg Lesion The hijacker Ahmed Alhaznawi appears to have contracted cutaneous anthrax in Afghanistan. It's reasonable to credit his statement that he got the lesion after bumping into a suitcase he was carrying at a camp in Afghanistan. The lesion is further evidence of Al Qaeda's anthrax production program in Afghanistan.
c. Inquiries About Cropdusters The reported inquiries about cropdusters demonstrate what is at stake. In early June 2003, a CIA report concluded that the reason for Atta's and Zacarias Moussaoui's inquiries into cropdusters was in fact for the contemplated use in dispersing biological agents such as anthrax. It has long been known Osama Bin Laden was interested in using cropdusters to disperse biological agents (since the testimony of millennium bomber Ressam).
d. Jennifer Lopez Letter There is a substantial question whether the letter to AMI, the publisher of the National Enquirer, was a goofy love letter to Jennifer Lopez enclosing a Star of David.
e. Fort Lee, New Jersey $100,000 Processor One potential lead concerned a Fort Lee New Jersey $100,000 processor possibly of a type that could have been used to weaponize the anthrax. (63) The processor was paid for in cash after a check-kiting scheme. The processor was delivered to a business front in Ft. Lee at 215 Main St. The address was 1 mile from pilot Nawaf al-Hazmi at 96 Linwood Plaza, one of the two hijackers who had attended the January 2000 meeting with anthrax technician Yazid Sufaat.
f. Suspected Pakistan Anthrax The "confirmed cases" of anthrax in Karachi, Pakistan, unless a "false positive," have always pointed to the Karachi connnection also evidenced by Khalid Mohammed's and Yazid Sufaat's time there.(64)
g. Presence of Silica in the Spore Mixture (but not as a Special Coating) The presence of silica in the spore mixture is notable in light of Al Qaeda's recommendation of using a silicone sealant to wipe the inside of the envelope in sending a "Poisonous Letter." Former Russian bioweaponeer Dr. Alibek -- along with Harvard's Dr. Meselson -- have explained that there was no special silica coating and that the silica served no special purpose in "weaponization." Dr. Alibek and Dr. Meselson have explained that while silica was, in fact, detected, anthrax spores have an unusual tendency to pick up silica from their environment. Here, the Al Qaeda manual specifically instructed to wipe the envelope with a silicone sealant -- containing up to one-third treated fumed silica -- so as to not kill the mailman.(65)
h. Atta's Travels to Prague and the Alleged Iraq Connection. The present evidence relating to Atta's travel to Prague does not warrant any conclusion that Al Qaeda obtained the Ames strain from Iraq. Iraq, however, remains a possible source of the Ames. Former Russian bioweaponeer Ken Alibek has said that a key Russian scientist helped Iraq build its mobile bioweapons lab and Russia had the Ames strain.(66) Zawahiri travelled to Baghdad in 1998 with an entourage to attend the birthday party of Saddam's son.(67) The papers found at headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq's feared secret police, show that an entourage from Al Qaeda group was sent to the Iraqi capital in March 1998 from Sudan. The talks are thought to have ended badly for the Iraq. According to at least some reports, Bin Laden rejected the suggestion of an alliance -- preferring to pursue his own concept of jihad. (68)
i. Ladies and Germs
Only time will tell whether the FBI profilers betting on a lone male will have to fold their hands.
j. Know Not Just Your Enemy, But Who He Knew: Zawahiri's Travels to the US
Zawahiri's mission in the United States in 1995 was to do spadework for terrorism, not fundraising. He travelled under an alias and was accompanied by a US Army sergeant.(69) What mosques exactly did they visit and who did they meet?
k. Wadi AlArab: The Ship That Didn't Come In. For a moment there, it seemed that the ship had come in for an Al Qaeda theory. Samples of the dead Egyptian first mate were sent to CDC but there has not been an announcement as to the cause of death. The first autopsy had indicated that there was a 90% chance of anthrax.
l. Greendale School at Franklin Park: The Return to Fort Lauderdale and 9/11
You did want it all wrapped up, didn't you, before they run over Hatfill's other foot? See
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VI. "Hatfill Theory": Another Jewell In The Rough
The "Hatfill theory" accusing Dr. Stephen Hatfill was always highly dubious. The suspicion was founded on many false premises, and there was no reliable evidence indicating his guilt. The FBI's fixation on Hatfill (at least as rumored by some reporters) may have stemmed from a warning by one Senator that careers hung in the balance. Leahy's chief of staff started with the strong predisposition that some right-winger was involved because two liberal democrats had been targeted. The Hatfill theory -- to include ongoing interviews and ongoing 7/24 surveillance by 8 agents -- seems to be strictly CYA. The statute of limitation for the libel suit threatened against the New York Times expires the first week in July. If the threatened suit is not brought by then, that will be a fascinating additional data point.
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The FBI bloodhounds (several of them) went absolutely BONKERS in Hatfill's apartment.
Bloodhound evidence has been admissible in court for hundreds of years. Very reliable.
Nice try though.
Matthew
For example, a bloodhound provided with the deceased tennis shoes might very reliably lead authorities to the deceased's body in the woods. What would have been used for the scent pack here is the human scent, if any, on the letter on which the perpetrator rested his hand in writing the letter. Tennis shoes are far more likely to carry a scent than a piece of paper on which the perp rested his hand (while possibly using gloves) to write a 28-word letter. Just ask my wife. The dogs would not have been clued to the biological agent as biological agents such as anthrax tend not to have a distinctive scent.
Here, there would be no such log because the use of the dog would not have been the subject of testing and training showing the dog performed reliably under similar circumstances. At a minimum, the "trail" would have been contaminated by the irradiation and anthrax, and would have grown stale by the passage of time. FDA concluded that irradiation can produce small changes in the taste, smell, and sometimes texture of foods and that consumers should be informed of this. Jurors should too. Remember that scene from "Miracle on 34th Street" where the official finding of the agency of the United States' government was deemed binding on the prosecution? Imagine Attorney Connolly calling FDA scientists who found irradiation caused changes in smell, no doubt amplified by the much keener sense of a bloodhound.
The United States Post Office explains in a FAQ that "the materials in the mail are heated and may become chemically altered. Paper dries out and may become dusty, discolored, and brittle." Some postal workers and federal agency staff have reported symptoms such as eye, nose, throat and skin irritation, headache, nausea and occasional nosebleeds. What does the USPS do under these circumstances? Their solution includes "[u]sing hypoallergenic deodorizers to eliminate any smells." "Testing each batch of aired-out mail to ensure no detectable amoungs of gas exist before delivery." Alas, Tinkerbelle's lengthy log shows that perfume does not confuse her, but likely is silent on this question of irradiated paper. The prosecution witness who might testify that a bloodhound's sense of smell is 200 times as powerful as a human's sense of smell would merely be helping the defense argument. No amount of log keeping or experiments after the fact would serve to permit admissibility under the court precedent. The bloodhound evidence was always a bogus and hugely prejudical diversion since the first sensational Newsweek story.
In any event, the perp would have worn gloves and only briefly handled the letter. More broadly, there is an article that collects cases from 40 or so states and nothing approaching the delays has ever been found admissible. In a city landscape, the time period is much more restrictive. The Leahy letter, written by the perp sometime prior to the October 9, 2001 postmark, was not discovered until mid-November, and as of November 19, 2001 a protocol was still being developed for its opening. Thus, the 40 day period that had been passed by the (likely glove-wearing) perp already would have resulted in a stale trail.
Isn't Lucy adorable? She's widely known to be a people person.
There is a separate additional issue of use of the "scent transfer unit" here. A "scent transfer unit" such as used here looks like a Dustbuster, modified with a small frame at the end to secure a piece of gauze over its intake opening. The user attaches a piece of sterile gauze to the unit, activated the unit, and holds it against the item from which the scent is to be taken (such as where the person sat the night before). Depending on the jurisdiction, the scent transfer unit, which is a new technology, may be subject to the rule regarding new scientific methodology. Under that rule, the proponent of such evidence must establish the new scientific principle or technique is sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs under the circumstances of the case. Here, there is no such general acceptance as explained by Scott Shane in an excellent article in the Baltimore Sun relying on experts in the Maryland area. The purpose of the requirement is to avoid factfinders from being misled by the `aura of infallibility' that may surround unproved scientific methods. This would constitute a possible third independent grounds for excluding the evidence. Absent a training log showing the dog performed reliably under similar circumstances, given the time period that had passed, and in light of the use of the scent transfer unit, there is nothing the FBI or trainers would be able to do to save the admissibility of the bloodhound evidence because it will be found by a court to be unreliable.
Absent a training log showing the dog performed reliably under similar circumstances, given the time period that had passed, and in light of the use of the scent transfer unit, there is nothing the FBI or trainers would be able to do to save the admissibility of the bloodhound evidence because it will be found by a court to be unreliable.
Both of the major police bloodhound associations howl against the reliability of the Scent Transfer Unit used by the three blood handlers. Dennis Slavin is an urban planner and reserve officer with the South Pasadena Police Department. One of the other dog handlers is a civilian who runs his own bloodhound business. Shane, in his very impressive Baltimore Sun article, explained that an FBI agent, Rex Stockham, examining the technology for the FBI lab says: "It's going to be criticized. I'm critical of it myself." The President of the Bloodhound Association, who is critical of the technology used by these handlers, had testified 21 times, and likely will have testified 22 if the FBI attempts to rely on the evidence in a prosecution. Shane notes that a federal jury awarded $1.7 million last year to a man wrongly accused of rape after police identified him in part based on the use of Slavin's bloodhound, TinkerBelle. Shane's article, essential reading, gives the further example of their use in the sniper investigation, where "given the scent taken from spent shell casings, followed two false trails in Montgomery County. One led to a house, for which a search warrant was obtained and which turned out not be relevant. The other led to a dog-grooming parlor, the officer said." Phew. I wonder if Stan Bedlington knew any of this when he said on national tv that the evidence against his friend was "mounting" based on the Lucy's and Hatfill responding to each other. He is a ladies' man, after all. Oh, but that's right. He lived near a neighborhood named Greendale. The trainers reportedly tested their dogs on irradiated paper -- presumably before actually doing the search but after being asked to do so. That would not pass muster that past training be substantiated by a training log.
The New York Times also had an excellent article in December 2002 surveying the field that noted the case where dogs falsely indicated the presence of explosives in the cars of three medical students bound for Miami. The country watched the drama unfold on television as the men were held and authorities closed a major highway across Florida. No trace of explosives was found. When dog handlers are excited, dogs can overreact and give a false positive. "Dogs want rewards and so they will false alerts to get them. Dogs lie. We know they do," an expert told the Times. "One of 'TinkerBelle's most incredible talents,"her homepage touts, is her ability to find the person responsible for loading a gun using scent from an expended bullet casing." Indeed, she finds the "smoking gun." Most of all, the page notes, she too is a people person.
With the investigation going to the dogs, nearly 100 law enforcement officers gathered to watch some of their colleagues jump in a lake near where Dr. Hatfill lived, and in late January 2003, the FBI continued searching the forest in Frederick. (325) Locals were amused that some of the ponds had been dry earlier that year. While they may seem to enjoy their dinners at Georgetown, FBI agents and surveillance specialists do not have an easy job. The public demands that they exhaustively pursue all leads, but then there is an uproar if they cross some unpredictable line and step on -- or run over someone's toe.
- Legend. Not quite true. Dogs like to please their masters, something you might consider if the police whip up a case against someone you know.
" Bloodhound evidence has been admissible in court for hundreds of years. Very reliable. "
Not in this case. Check out the "Scott Shane" article mentioned by Ross. Lucy and Tinkerbelle are not accredited by any org, and criticized by established orgs.
"Nice try though. "
Read the Scott Shane article, see if you feel the same afterward.
I'll leave you with one question: Why did the FBI stretch across the country to California for bloodhounds (to the criticism of Maryland and DC dog units). To produce the result sought?
Keep your eyes on the curtain...
Muckraking: Don't Jus' Keep Wishin', Go Fishin'
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