Thursday, August 14, 2008

One person or a conspiracy?

David Willman tells us today that the FBI missed Ivins for so many years because it was obsessed with Hatfill. Is this the FBI's apologia?

The FBI is a federal law enforcement agency; it is not a person with feelings and quirks. I don't think we can let the FBI off the hook because of an "obsession."

Definite, critical evidence exists in this case: anthrax letters, and those hoax letters that were sent by the anthrax mailer. We know where and when those letters were mailed. For the hoax letters, we may only know the general area (where they were postmarked), but for the anthrax letters we know the mailbox.

If one individual committed this crime, that person must be able to be placed where and when every one of the letters was mailed. If no single suspect can be shown to have had the opportunity to mail every letter, then more than one person must be involved in the crime.

This is basic criminology. Is there a conspiracy (which, btw, is defined as a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act) or not? How has the FBI explored this possibility, which should have been a major consideration throughout its investigation?

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

What "hoax letters sent by the anthrax mailer"? As far as I know no hoaxes have been linked to the case. If they had I'm sure the FBI would have released pictures, as they did with the anthrax letters.

Washingtons Blog said...

I apologize in advance for this poor attempt at comic relief, but here it goes

Anonymous said...

To the former poster: you need to read up on this subject, rather than ask Dr. Nass to catch you up.

The FBI has already disclosed that there were more letters received than have been shown to the public. To say nothing of the anonymous typewritten warning letter the FBI received right as the first anthrax victim, Bob Stevens, was checking into a florida hospital with strange respiratory problems. This letter identified one former Ft. Detrick scientist- a Dr. Ayaad Assaad- as a potential bioterrorist. Conveniently, just as the FBI was interviewing Dr. Assaad, letters with anthrax were beginning to wreak havoc. The FBI quickly determined Assaad could not be the Anthrax mailer- but the evidence suggests that whoever WAS the Anthrax mailer was attempting to frame Dr. Assaad for their crime.

Read up. There is far more to the story than your media is reporting. And it certainly looks like the FBI- rather than solving the crime- is attempting to pin-the-unsolved-crime-on-a-defenseless-patsy... One they may have driven to suicide...

Ellen Byrne said...

Hasn't anyone learned anything from the cases of Richard Jewel, Steven Hatfill and others vs. the FBI? Is this America? Since when is the press the judiciary? What about innocent until proven guilty?

USAMRIID scientists are forbidden from discussing anything about the case for threat of criminal prosecution yet coincidental anecdotes, gossip, strategically leaked manipulated information, histrionic statements from "stalkees" are presented as sworn testimony in the court of public opinion.

There has been NO real evidence presented - only requests for search warrants (from which NO spores were found in his home, car or belongings)and gossip. Where is the science? Where is the new science the FBI has developed to solve the case? They should be proud of it and publish it in journals - air it if it's the truth.

Bruce DID report the spill but the USAMRRID commander at the time quashed it because he didn't want to hear unpleasant news:
http://www.propublica.org/article/ivins-told-ethics-officer-about-anthrax-clean-up-806/

And Bruce DID send correct samples for analysis - they were just not prepared to the FBI's specifications:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93423750

If the case has been solvesd, why not let USAMRIID scientists talk and tell folks how this powder could possibly have been produced at their facility?

Or is it just easier to not question, not require proof, blame it on a dead guy?

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine pointed out that this headline manages to blame Steve Hatfill for Bruce Ivins. That's some pretty skillful manipulation.

Anonymous said...

does anyone know whether the anthrax purportedly linked to Dr. Ivins and in his (non-exclusive) custody was in liquid form? If so, how does one get from there to weaponized anthrax? Did Ivins have the skill, let alone the equipment?

Ellen Byrne said...

Spoonful's question above is the $64 million dollar question!

The finely milled powder knocked everyones' socks off at USAMRIID. No one there thinks it could have been processed from wet spores to this incredible material that hovered above scales.

Perhaps the FBI can tell us the answer.

Washingtons Blog said...

Senator Grassley in Time Magazine:

"If top FBI officials knew in 2005 that the anthrax used in the attacks came from Dr. Ivins' lab, then why didn't they clear Dr. Hatfill until [Aug. 8]? Either they were unsure of the scientific evidence against Dr. Ivins, or they knew long ago that Dr. Hatfill was not the killer," Senator Grassley said in a statement to TIME. "Both possibilities are disturbing."

Ellen Byrne said...

See link below:

Bruce's former division chief, Dr. Russell Byrne on The Today Show, 7am, Monday morning, August 4th, 2008 with Meredith Viera. He states he was never aware of any dry spores at USAMRIID:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP1ZmLQbVLM

Anonymous said...

Little known fact.
Because it is classified.

The DOD was going to build an Anthrax vaccine facility of it's own at the Aberdeen proving grounds because of Bioports' inconsistent product. That the FDA would not validate. This was probably the DOD meeting Ivins talked about in the alleged emails. But then the mailings happened and all of a sudden the FDA quietly validated Bioport's garbage vaccine and the General in cahrage of the project stopped calling about building the Aberdeen facility.
So, Bruce Ivins had no motive because his vaccine was still going to be given to every soldier.

Anonymous said...

Ms Nass:

Thank you for this web site and continuing work in this case.

re: "For the hoax letters, we may only know the general area (where they were postmarked), but for the anthrax letters we know the mailbox."

Re-reading Foster's article my attention was grabbed by this:

"Hoping that the Quantico letter might lead, if not to the killer, at least to a suspect, I offered to examine the document. My photocopy arrived by FedEx not from the task force but from F.B.I. headquarters in Washington. Searching through documents by some 40 USAMRIID employees, I found writings by a female officer that looked like a perfect match. I wrote a detailed report on the evidence, but the anthrax task force declined to follow through: the Quantico letter had already been declared a hoax and zero-filed as part of the 9/11 investigation."

Meryl Nass, M.D. said...

Dear Anonymous,

Bioport's vaccine was not Ivins' vaccine, nor was it developed by anyone currently at USAMRIID. It had been developed by George Wright at Fort Detrick between 1950 and 1970, and undergone some modifications since. To my knowledge, no current USAMRIID scientists stood to gain from greater use of that vaccine, and everyone wanted a new vaccine to become available. In 1999 or 2000, a Congressional hearing had been held in Arkansas to review another site for a GOCO (public-private partnership) vaccine facility.

Meryl Nass, MD

Anonymous said...

Whatever the facts of Ivins' culpability, the ordinary citizen has to wonder if vaccines plus powerful antibiotics plus antidepressants plus alcohol abuse plus extreme life stresses could be a formula for 'mad scientist disease.'

Anonymous said...

The anthrax hoax letters are an important part of the investigation. Barbara Hatch Rosenberg was one of the first to document the anthrax hoax letters which arrived at the some of the same media outlets which received anthrax letters. Most of them were mailed from Florida near where the 9/11 hijackers lived before there were media reports of anthrax letters in the mail. This of course is a obvious ruse to give the false impression al Qaeda was behind the anthrax attacks. Another interesting anthrax hoax letter was mailed from London to Senator Daschle to implicate Dr. Hatfill who was in England at the time preparing to be a weapons inspector in Iraq.

Anonymous said...

"Bioport's vaccine was not Ivins' vaccine."
The fact that the DOD was going to no longer contract with Bioport since the DOD was going to manufacture the vaccine itself suggest that the entity with the most motive here would be the owners of Bioport.

Anonymous said...

Oh my God. I just reread Ellen's link about BI's reporting the contamination. (Sorry to be so slow but there has been a tsunami of misinformation to wade through.)

Thanks, Ellen. I'll do my best to spread that around.

Anonymous said...

Certainly Tanox in Texas and Baylor College of Medicine in Texas jumped on the potential profits from an anthrax vaccine. The timing of the letters and attacks on Daschle and Leahy have been linked to the push for the Patriot Act and certainly vaccine makers who were worried about autism lawsuits, not to mention sick veterans, were screwed by the Homeland Security Act. Now we have Cyberonics in Houston, TX and Autism Speaks in New York (who received a one billion dollar grant from Congress) who are profiting off vagal nerve stimulators and autistic families. VNS and autism people? The references to Eli Lilly as Satan's chemist and coverup of complications of vaccine adjuvants will not receive any attention from our mass media. The Illuminati live on.