NY Times: Qaeda Letters Are Said to Show Pre-9/11 Anthrax Plans! [5/21/2005]

NY Times ^ | 5/21/2005 | ERIC LIPTON

[Southack]

Qaeda Letters Are Said to Show Pre-9/11 Anthrax Plans

WASHINGTON, May 20 -Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan began to assemble the equipment necessary to build a rudimentary biological weapons laboratory before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, letters released by the Defense Department show.

...

The letters are among the documents recovered in late 2001 after the invasion of Afghanistan that United States intelligence officials have frequently cited as evidence that Al Qaeda was working to develop biological weapons.

The letters...detail a visit by an unnamed Qaeda scientist to a laboratory at an unspecified location where he was shown "a special confidential room" with thousands of samples of biological substances. ...

The letter specifies a training program for the staff, lasting six to eight months for senior workers and two to four months for technicians. ... describes a biological weapons program that "was extensive, well organized and operated two years before the Sept. 11." ....

"They were moving to try to get the right stuff," said D. A. Henderson, an expert on biological weapons ... ...Dr. Milton Leitenberg...said many of people who were involved in the effort had been arrested or, in one case, killed. ...

The writer of the two letters is widely believed to be Abdur Rauf, a Pakistani microbiologist who is known to have attended a conference before 2001 sponsored by the Society for Applied Microbiology, said a biological weapons researcher who insisted on anonymity because of his work investigating Al Qaeda.

One letter was written on a notepad from the Society for Applied Microbiology, a prominent British organization of microbiologists.

All the names on the letters are blacked out ...

At the same camp where the letters were found, officials recovered articles from medical journals that detailed an approach to isolating, culturing and producing bacteria, including anthrax. ..."

[Southack]

Al Qaeda caught involved with anthrax, as discussed here for YEARS...

[Southack]

So much for a disgruntled American being behind the anthrax attacks...

[Stonedog]

Could it be? Terrorists perpetrating terror attacks? Reported in the NYT? Will the wonders never cease? At least we "finally" solved the mystery of the anthrax attacks.

[DTogo]

The letter specifies a training program for the staff, lasting six to eight months for senior workers and two to four months for technicians. ... describes a biological weapons program that "was extensive, well organized and operated two years before the Sept. 11." ....

Hmmm, who was President then and what was his main focus at the time??

[thegreatbeast]

BTTT

[Pro-Bush]

Bump.

[1FASTGLOCK45]

DTogo wrote:
who was President then and what was his main focus at the time??

--> Don't matter who was president, because remember, Libs conveniently forget history or rewrite it, and
according to Libs (Let's all say it together): IT'S ALL BUSH'S FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! /SARC

[denydenydeny]

Well, well...

[Straight Vermonter]

From the Terrorist Scorecard:

WMD COMMITTEE
Al-Qaeda employs a number of Muslim scientists of various nationalities, principally Egypt, to assist them in the creation and procurement of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons.
Midhat Mursi al-Sayid 'Umar aka Abu Khabab	Emir of the WMD Committee	At Large	Unknown
Assadalah Abdul Rahman	Chief of WMD procurement	At Large	Unknown
Abu Bashir al-Yemeni	Unknown	At Large	Unknown
Aafia Siddiqui	Female member of Ghaliani's crew with biological training	At large	Pakistan
Mohammed Amjad Khan	Member of Ghaliani's crew with biological training	At large	Pakistan
Abdel Karim al-Hadouti	Making chemical weapons-tied to GSPC	Apprehended	In Custody-Belgium
Nizar Trabelsi	Making chemical weapons-tied to GSPC	Apprehended	In Custody-Belgium
Fauzi el Hadouti	Making chemical weapons-tied to GSPC	Apprehended-Out on bail	Belgium
Mohamed Salem	Making chemical weapons-tied to GSPC	Apprehended-Out on bail	Belgium

[onyx]

WOW! I'd like to read the whole article, but I refuse to sign up with the NYT.

I wonder if this front page news? /sarcasm

[Question Liberal Authority]

Reported in the NYT? Will the wonders never cease?

They run stuff like this on Saturday, so they can claim the paper is "balanced". Now they can concentrate on Koran flushings and prisoner abuse for the rest of the week.

[Allan]

ping

[frankiep]

This can't be true. Everyone knows that the attacks were planned and carried out by operatives for the Bush Administration as an excuse to begin his imperialist agenda of conquering Middle Eastern countries and plundering their oil.

I don't think I have to say that I'm being sarcastic :)

[RaceBannon]

If I remember rightly, his focus was video pirating?

CIA directed in 1995 to seek Video Pirates
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3ba75bb5147c.htm

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>Hmmm, who was President then and what was his main focus at the time??

The one who had an intern slick his willy...

[Tarpon]

So let me see if I get this right. Terrorist were planning terror attacks. And they were planning to use WMDs. OK so were there any terrorists or countries with a grudge harboring those terrorist. But, but ... but

So there really were violent terrorists in Iraq before the war, imagine that. Old news to anyone but a barking moonbat.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 19 (UPI) -- Jordan's King Abdullah revealed Thursday that Iraq's former Baath regime had refused to deport Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, blamed for ongoing terrorism in Iraq.

Speaking in an interview with Saudi daily al-Hayat, Abdullah said Zarqawi, a Jordanian, is well entrenched in Iraq and that "he and terrorists like him thrive in such places where security and stability are non-existent."

Abdullah said Jordan was the first target for Zarqawi before he found safe haven in Iraq.

"Since Zarqawi entered Iraq before the fall of the former regime we have been trying to have him deported back to Jordan for trial, but our efforts were in vain," Abdullah added.

Zarqawi, the purported leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, is accused of terrorist bombings targeting U.S.-led multinational troops and Iraqi forces as well as civilians.

NYTimes lied -- Imagine that.

[Stellar Dendrite]

"WOW! I'd like to read the whole article, but I refuse to sign up with the NYT. "

That's what www.bugmenot.com is for, FRiend ;)

[Rome2000]

So there really were violent terrorists in Iraq before the war,

"The invasion of Iraq was a profound diversion from the battle against our greatest enemy -- al Qaeda," Kerry said.

"The president's misjudgment, miscalculation and mismanagement . . . all make the war on terror harder to win. George Bush made Saddam Hussein the priority. I would have made Osama bin Laden the priority."

[mewzilla]

Out on bail?!

[Dog]

Well I'll be darned..