Anthrax attacks of 2001

Here is an interesting editorial I found while researching the anthrax attacks in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Of particular note is a statement by Bill Clinton.

• "If we fail to respond today, Saddam [Hussein], and all those who would follow in his footsteps, will be emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that they can act with impunity, even in the face of a clear message from the United Nations Security Council and clear evidence of a weapons of mass destruction program,"

Here is another quotation from the Secretary of Defense.

• "Days may go by without posing a threat immediately, but weeks or months, and then he's able to reconstitute his capacity to develop large amounts of chemical and biological weapons," the Pentagon chief said. "We're well aware of the ticking of the clock."

(By the way, that was NOT Secretary Rumsfeld, but actually Secretary Cohen.)

Was Iraq and Saddam behind the anthrax attacks? We may never know, but it's clear that some in the Bush administration wanted to use the theory to justify a second Gulf War. Both the WSJ and the Weekly Standard seemed to be in support of an attack on Saddam. Richard Perle seems to concur in this "mid October 2001" interview that the US needs a new policy in regards to Saddam post-9/11.

Another ABC story from 27 October 2001 indicates that Iraq was an extremely likely culprit in the anthrax attacks based on an additive found in the spores collected from various envelopes. Excerpts of note from the article:

• While it's possible countries other than Iraq may be using the additive, it is a trademark of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's biological weapons program.

  "It means to me that Iraq becomes the prime suspect as the source of the anthrax used in these letters," former U.N. weapons inspector Timothy Trevan told ABCNEWS.

  In the process of destroying much of Iraq's biological arsenal, U.N. teams first discovered Iraq was using bentonite, which is found in soil around the world, including the United States and Iraq.

  "That discovery was proof positive of how they were using bentonite to make small particles," former U.N. weapons inspector Richard Spertzel told ABCNEWS.

The article goes on to discuss a hotly debated meeting between Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi intelligence official met in Prague, Czech Republic.

• Raising new questions about whether Saddam Hussein was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, officials in the Czech Republic now confirm for the first time that a key hijacker met with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague.

  Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross said Mohamed Atta, believed by U.S. investigators to be a ringleader of the hijackers, met an Iraqi diplomat shortly before the consul was expelled. Czech intelligence officials were troubled by Al-Ani's photographing of the Radio Free Europe building in the city.

  "At this point we can confirm," Gross said, "Mohamed Atta made contact with Iraqi intelligence officer Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir Al-Ani, who was expelled from the Czech Republic for conduct incompatible with his diplomatic status on April 22, 2001."

Here is an ABC news story dated 18 March 2003 stating unequivocable that Saddam failed to meet the demands of UNSC resolution 1441.

It's worth noting that some people believe that the anthrax attacks were orchestrated by US government employees, either with the motive of instigating an attack against Iraq or somehow profiting from the scare the attacks caused among Americans. The NY Times has this article from 2 December 2001.

• Separately, a private expert in biological weapons, Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, has recently published a paper contending that a government insider, or someone in contact with an insider, is behind the attacks.

This site contains a lengthly examination of facts, opinions, and questions surrounding the attacks.