Posted on 05/04/2007 3:18:46 PM PDT by TrebleRebel
“What difference does it make? You seem to think that all theories which do not point to al Qaeda are one big pile of nonsense.”
I thought Dr. Hatfill was a fine subject of the one squad’s attention. I just had a problem with the fact that all the subsidiary aspects of the theory (e.g., cabin in the woods) did not hold up to the scrutiny. The mistake NK and BHR made was in not contacting him. If they had, he could have avoided all of the underlying factual errors that riddled the theory.
Similarly, I like Frances Boyle and Sherwood Ross’ theory (and Battle Axe’s) theory that the ISU inventory should not have been destroyed. I only fault them for not having interviewed the professors, and failing to distinguish between the USDA lab (the one that had solicited the Ames from Texas) and the ISU lab. (The duty to make investigation only arises if you otherwise are going to publicly allege wrongdoing). It still is very surprising that ISU did not just messenger it over to the USDA lab if ISU didn’t want to pay for the National Guard (which is quite understandable). But there is no reason to assume that the ISU inventory that was destroyed had Ames — just reason to think that allowing its destruction was very ill-considered (when it could have readily been securely stored nearby at the secure USDA facility). Moreover, BattleAxe says that the Postal Inspector says that Iowa (not specifying which institution) did in fact have Ames. His questions related to the BL-3 facility, which was at USDA rather than ISU. The mailing label permits of an interpretation that it was routed there first. (There of course were the same people at both ISU and USDA and so the DOJ who allowed the destruction might at least someday speak to what he was thinking).
Even a Mossad theory has the advantage of fitting with the insider knowledge demonstrated — given that there was intel that AQ was working to develop anthrax, AQ had announced its intention to use it, there was the January 2001 threat letter that was subject to the testing and report issued September 2001, AQ code was used in the letter , and Curveball demonstrates that fabrication and deception sometimes occurs in the area etc. (Why hasn’t there been a public prosecution relating ot the uranium , for example)? Most of all, if it was not AQ, it was a sophisticated intel operator who knew that sending to DC and NYC newspapers and people in symbolic positions was the precise modus operandi of Ayman Zawahiri, the guy who had announced an intention to use anthrax. Thus, if it was not AQ that framed USAMRIID it was some intel insider that framed AQ, not merely someone in the health or academic field.
The usual internet poster, however, does not appreciate that over 1000 people had access and that as many as 20-30 labs had Ames. For it to be a political football and a basis to attack the Administration is not well-founded.
Indeed, the most dramatic news was that the PhD working with OBL’s religious mentor worked in the same building as the former heads of the Russian and US programs, with the latter being a prolific Ames strain researcher. This is quite more important than judging little Johnny’s penmanship under your theory. It is only a little less urgent to address this OBL/Taliban’s supporter to the Center for Biodefense and ATCC facilities and know-how given the coincidence the guy was sentenced to life plus 70 years. (On your front, perhaps they could keep Johnny after school and sweat the truth out of him). If it involved surveilling the playground, though, it would not be the most complex investigation in history.
Most of all, I like theories that rely on documentary evidence of stated intent, and proven capability, and demonstrated access to virulent US Army strains. While an Al Qaeda theory has all that — your theory does not.
The TIME had already had a cover featuring a guy with a biohazard suit before the Daschle anthrax was sent so any “sound the alarm” theory is not very sound. With the widespread reports of cropduster inquiries, there was no need to sound the alarm as the USG was already on the job.
Most of all, the reason your theory was still-born was that it was based on the mistaken premise that Leahy had nothing to do with foreign relations, when from the point of view of the person who the documentary evidence shows intended to use weaponized anthrax against the US, he has the key role.
Your beliefs are truly hilarious. They truly are. Maybe the anthrax mailer didn't see things the way you see things. Have you ever considered that? Evidently you haven't.
He sent TWO WARNINGS. He lives and works in Central New Jersey. There had been talk and articles about a possible anthrax attack FOR YEARS. But NOTHING WAS BEING DONE. He didn't send his TWO WARNINGS because no one else had discussed the subject, he sent the TWO WARNINGS because he was worried that terrorists housed and supported by the Muslims living around him in Central New Jersey could launch a bioweapons attack and kill MILLIONS -- including him -- at any moment.
I can't tell you everything I know because it would point to a specific individual, but I can assure you that there is NO DOUBT that he didn't believe enough was being done. A cover story in Time meant nothing. He wanted ACTION to round up every possible terrorist in New Jersey!
You don't seem to be able to explain why the anthrax mailer sent out TWO WARNINGS. You fantasize that some gentle and considerate al Qaeda member sent out TWO WARNINGS instead of attacking without warning or after just one warning. The idea that al Qaeda would send out TWO WARNINGS is just plain preposterous!
The nonsense you post about why Leahy was attacked is simply a rationization to fit the facts to your beliefs. Why don't you rationalize why al Qaeda sent out TWO WARNINGS and never bothered to do an actual bioweapons attack? It might be interesting.
At Langley, the signs says “Every Day Is September 12th,” Ed.
But as to the specifics of your question, see the recent linked article here.
Researcher Believes Al Qaeda Anthrax Plotters Were Captured or Killed or Neutralized
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1826227/posts
I see. You believe what you believe because you believe what you believe is true. And the proof that it is true is the fact that you believe it. You don't believe things which aren't true. I understand.
No need to look at facts when your beliefs provide all the proof you need. Examining the facts would just be a waste of time.
The link you posted contains your beliefs about why there was no follow-up attack (because you believe the culprits were captured or killed and the FBI either isn't aware of it or is afraid of breaking the news to America for some crazy reason), but it doesn't address my question at all. My question was: Why would al Qaeda send out a warning, and when that warning was ignored, change tactics and send out A SECOND warning using powder that could have caused many many deaths?
Are you suggesting that if the al Qaeda terrorists hadn't been killed or captured they might have changed tactics again and sent out a THIRD warning and then a FOURTH warning and then a FIFTH warning because they wanted to be absolutely certain America was fully prepared before they actually launched a real attack? These must have been some really sweet terrorists. Loveable almost. Do you think they dressed in bunny costumes as they prepared the letters?
Mr. Lake asks why the second letter was sent.
Bail was denied the EIJ shura leader on October 5 and so deportation to Cairo (where they allegedly engage in torture) was going to be allowed to proceed.
Relatedly, and more broadly, in late September, under the “Leahy Law,” notice was given by the USG that “extraordinary circumstances” permitted appropriations to security units engaged in human rights violations to continue.
Thus, rather than someone who is bloodthirsty, those involved in the anthrax mailings are likely highly intellectual, pious and principled (although we of course disagree with their principles). The mailer may very well have been horrified that the infant at ABC was affected given that is haram (prohibited) under the koran and hadiths, so now he he knows he may very well go straight to hell.
Ayman’s Vanguards of Conquest had previously threatened that they would use anthrax if bail was denied.
As soon as it was denied on October 5, the highly refined product was sent to the Senators that Ayman held most responsible for the rendering of EIJ leaders.
Al Qaeda’s 2001 Threat To Use Mailed Anthrax In Connection With Jailed EIJ Leader And Former Bin Laden Farm Manager Mahmoud Mahjoub
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze43v8m/alqaeda,anthraxc.html#January2001threat
It was the January 2001 threat to use mailed anthrax that prompted the February 2001 PDB to President Bush about the CBRN efforts and the September 2001 report on the threat of mailed anthrax. The White House knew of the anthrax threat not because of some sinister neocon plot but because they knew there was anthrax planning being done in parallel with the other planned spectacular attacks. (And the intel wasn’t hard to come by given the confessions from the 1999 trial in Cairo of EIJ shura leaders such as EIJ military commander Mabruk and EIJ shura member al-Najjar. Heck, even the blind sheik’s attorney said that Ayman would use weaponized anthrax against US targets to protest the rendering of EIJ leaders. As Richard Clarke has said, most intelligence is “open source.”
The mailing followed the modus operandi and stated intention of EIJ exactly, Thus, the CIA had reason to know immediately that it was EIJ — and that the UK and/or US biodefense establishment had been infiltrated. That’s one reason they launced the undercover operaton at Falls Church. An alternative reasonable hypothesis is that an intel insider was trying to frame the EIJ. But that hypothesis ran its course and the FBI called off its conspicuous surveillance of Dr. Hatfill (which also served the purpose of distracting from what the other squad was doing) when the “extremely virulent” anthrax was found in Kandahar in Autumn of 2003.
I upload some of the 100+ pages from Ayman’s anthrax planning that the Defense Intelligence Agency gave me, including letters from the scientist who had infiltrated the UK biodefense establishment and Ayman. The sentence “I successfully achieved the targets” — from someone on the stated mission of obtaining pathogenic anthrax — is of special note. After an initial unsuccessful attempt at one lab (that involved a group tour) in which he reported the strains available only to be nonpathogenic, he arranged a 10 day visit to a different lab and consulted with biodefense expert on tricks relating to weaponization. I upload the letters from the scientist to Ayman at
http://www.anthraxandalqaeda.com
When the September 18 mailing didn’t accomplish their objective, the perps upped the ante showng their access to superior know-how.
Then numerous of the anthrax operatives were picked up (e.g., Atef, Sufaat, Rauf, KSM, Khan, Barq, Wahdan). But the threat of an aerosolized anthrax attack is still real given that it wouldn’t be so hard to pass on the know-how, even while maintaining strict compartmentalization. By invading Iraq, the Administration has played into Ayman’s strategy and motivated many trained scientists.
errata -
“Then numerous of the anthrax operatives were picked up (e.g., Atef, Sufaat, Rauf, KSM, Khan, Barq, Wahdan).”
Atef was a key anthrax planner. (See emails between him and Ayman from Spring 1999). He was “picked up” only in the sense that Padilla, who had been staying at his home, pulled him from the rubble upon bombing in November 2001.
Can't you answer a single question without twisting and distorting it to make it fit your beliefs?
My question was: Why was a SECOND WARNING sent instead of using the sophisticated anthrax for an attack? They had already sent ONE warning -- three weeks earlier.
The mailer may very well have been horrified that the infant at ABC was affected given that is haram (prohibited) under the koran and hadiths, so now he he knows he may very well go straight to hell.
Just more rationalizing and distorting of facts. The news about the infected infant at ABC didn't break until October 16, a full week after the second batch of letters were postmarked. SEVEN people, including that infant, showed symptoms before Bob Stevens, but Bob Stevens was the FIRST and ONLY person to be actually DIAGNOSED with anthrax before the second batch of letters was mailed.
Everything else you write is ALSO just rationalizing to twist things to fit your beliefs.
To correctly profile modus operandi in a true crime matter, you have to put yourself in the shoes of the others who you are considering as possibly responsible for the mailings. The supporters of Ayman Zawahiri and the blind sheik include highly-educated pious doctors, lawyers, scientists, and engineers.
In connection with Amerithrae, the FBI reported that there was a warrant of a search suggesting that the FBI suspected Ali Timimi of involvement in the anthrax mailings — or rather, they at least suspected the microbiologist might have material relating to WMD in his townhouse. He was a scientist with access to the facilities at the Center for Biodefense and American Type Culture Collection. The Center received about $13 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) during this 2000-2003 period. Ali was working closely with Bin Laden’s sheik — and he reportedly had a top security clearance (though he is not known to have worked on any biodefense projects by the bioweaponeers there I spoke with). He drafted a letter for OBL’s sheik and had it hand-delivered to all members of Congress on the first anniversary of the anthrax maiilings. Dr. Al Timimi has spoken eloquently on this precise question of the fiqh of warfare — the islamic jurisprudence under the hadiths that must be followed. A very pious individual, he illustrates the type of individual in the Movement who is going to scrupulously adhere to rules governing warfare. (see new collection of writings from imprisoned EIJ leaders on this exact subject). Zawahiri himself almost lost his position upon the death of a young girl who was killed by a car bomb intended for an Egyptian foreign minister. You can say two warnings were given. Others might say that 20 warnings were given. Some might say that Ayman has given a warning 3.6 times a week in 2007.
For anyone not to kinow Al Qaeda is responsible for the anthrax mailings is a grievous failure of intelligence dwarfing 9/11.
The background facts are explained here:
The Faithful Spy: Amerithrax Spoiler Alert
Monday, 23 April 2007, 8:46 pm
Opinion: Ross Getman
***
The Washington Post, in an article “Hardball Tactics in an Era of Threats,” dated September 3, 2006 summarized events relating an American scientist Ali Al-Timimi:
“To the government, they were a terrorist risk in the Washington area. To local Muslims, they were unfairly singled out for prosecution and severe sentences in a post-9/11 world.
‘In late 2002, the FBI’s Washington field office received two similar tips from local Muslims: Timimi was running ‘an Islamic group known as the Dar al-Arqam’ that had ‘conducted military-style training,’ FBI special agent John Wyman would later write in an affidavit.
Wyman and another agent, Wade Ammerman, pounced on the tips. Searching the Internet, they found a speech by Timimi celebrating the crash of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003, according to the affidavit. The agents also found that Timimi was in contact with Sheikh Safar al-Hawali, a Saudi whose anti-Western speeches in the early 1990s had helped inspire bin Laden.
The agents reached an alarming conclusion: ‘Timimi is an Islamist supporter of Bin Laden’ who was leading a group ‘training for jihad,’ the agent wrote in the affidavit. The FBI even came to speculate that Timimi, a doctoral candidate pursuing cancer gene research, might have been involved in the anthrax attacks.”
On a frigid day in late February 2003, the FBI searched Timimi’s brick townhouse on near Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax. Among the items they were seeking, according to court testimony: material on weapons of mass destruction.
His defense lawyer says that the FBI searched the townhouse “to connect him to the 9/11 attacks or to schemes to unleash a biological or nuclear attack.” Unlike in Berenson’s riveting fictional account Faithful Spy, there was no basement lab — there was no evidence at all found that even remotely hinted at a planned biological attack. When that effort failed, defense counsel says, investigators focused on Al-Timimi’s connections to the men who attended his lectures at the local Falls Church, Va.
Ali Al-Timimi was a graduate student at George Mason University. In November 2000, GMU announced that the School of Computational Sciences and Advanced Biosystems, Inc., a subsidiary of Hadron, Inc., of Alexandria, was pursuing a collaborative program at the Prince William Campus to enhance research and educational objectives in biodefense research. The program was funded primarily by a grant awarded to Advanced Biosystems from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It was located at GMU’s Discovery Hall on Prince William 2 campus.
Ali Al-Timimi worked at George Mason University’s Discovery Hall throughout 2000 and 2002 period He drafted an October 6, 2002 in the name of dissident Sheik al-Hawali, Bin Laden’s former religious instructor, just before the US Congress vote authorizing the use of force against Iraq. The letter warned of the disastrous consequences that would follow an invasion of Iraq. Dr. Timimi’s defense committee explained on their website:
“Because Dr. Al-Timimi felt that he did not have enough stature to send a letter in his name on behalf of Muslims, he contacted Dr. Al-Hawali among others to send the letter. Dr. Al-Hawali agreed and sent a revised version which Dr. Al-Timimi then edited and had hand delivered to every member of Congress.”
Bin Laden had referred to Sheik al-Hawali in his 1996 declaration of war on America. Prior to the 1998 embassy bombings, Ayman’s London cell sent letters to three different media outlets in Europe claiming responsibility for the bombings and referring to Hawali’s imprisonment. In two of the letters, the conditions laid out as to how the violence would stop were (1) release of Sheik Hawali (who along with another had been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia in 1994) and (2) the release of blind sheik Abdel Rahman (who had been imprisoned in connection with WTC 1993). Hawali was released in 1999 after he agreed to stop advocating against the Saudi regime and agreed to limit himself to urging the destruction of the United States and Israel.
Instead of starting a center from scratch, GMU chose to join forces with Dr. Alibek and Dr. Bailey’s existing research firm, Hadron Advanced Biosystems Inc., which was already working under contract for the federal government, having received funding from DARPA. Dr. Alibek told the Washington Post that he and Bailey had spent their careers studying an issue that only recently grabbed the country’s attention, after the anthrax mailings the previous fall. Dr. Bailey and Alibek met in 1991, when a delegation of Soviet scientists visited the USAMRIID at Ft. Detrick. Dr. Bailey explained that the purpose of the tour was to show the Soviets that the US was not developing offensive biological weapons. Bailey said he tried to engage Alibek in conversation but Alibek remained aloof. Alibek, for his part, explains that he was suspicious of this American smiling so broadly at him. A year later, Alibek would defect to the US and reveal an illegal biological program in the Soviet Union of a staggering scope. Alibek says that one reason he defected was that he realized that the Soviet intelligence was wrong — that the US research was in fact only defensive.
In Saudi Arabia, Al-Timimi had been mentored by a Saudi-trained Canadian imam Bilal Philips. Philips was Al-Timimi’s Islamic Studies teacher at high school in Saudi Arabia in the early 1980s. Al-Timimi adopted Philips’ view that “The clash of civilizations is a reality,” and “Western culture led by the United States is an enemy of Islam.”
After completing his religious education in Saudi Arabia in Medina, Ali Al Timimi had returned to the United States and received a second bachelor’s degree — this time in computer science at the University of Maryland, while also studying software programming at George Washington University. Timimi spoke at IANA conferences in 1993 and 1994. A senior al Qaeda recruiter, Abdelrahman Dosari, also spoke at three IANA conferences in the early 1990s. In December 1993, Al-Dorsari (a.k.a. Shaykh Abu Abdel Aziz “Barbaros”) spoke on ‘Jihad & Revival” and exhorted young men to fight for their faith as Al-Timimi would later be accused of doing privately with young men in Virginia.
One author, the father of a boy who knew Al-Timimi as young teen, wrote: “Dozens of his talks are available on the Internet in text and in audio format. They contain little about Arab concerns with the Arab-Israeli wars, the rivalries between the Arab states, the problems faced by Muslims living in the West, or even the war in Iraq. Rather, they reveal a man who reflects deeply on the Islamic vision of Judgment day, prophecy, the nature of the divine, and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) — subjects with which he grappled in Medina and in his private reading.” Al Timimi’s lecturers (in English after Arabic opening) include “The Negative Portrayal Of Islam In the Media,” “Signs Before the Day of Judgement,” “Advice to the UK Salafis” and “Crusade Complex: Western Perceptions of Islam.”
Al-Timimi’s increasing computer skills got him a job at SRA International where Ali worked as a “bioinformatics software architect” providing information technology to the government. Some of his jobs required that Ali obtain a high-level security clearance. One job resulted in a letter of recommendation from the White House. He then enrolled in the PhD program in computational biology at George Mason University.
By 2000, Ali Al-Timimi was already taking advanced courses at Mason in computational sciences. Timimi once explained his research: “I am currently a research scientist at the Center for Biomedical Genomics and Informatics, George Mason University. I am involved in the analysis of the microarray data generated by the CTRF Cancer Genomics Project. Likewise, I am developing new computational approaches and technologies in support of this project.” The webpage for Timimi’s program at the time explained: “Faculty members and graduate students in the Program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology participate in numerous collaborative efforts including but not limited to the following Laboratories and Research Centers: Center for Biomedical Genomics and Informatics (GMU) , Laboratory for Microbial and Environmental Biocomplexity (GMU) and Center for Biodefense (GMU).
Beginning the Spring of 2002. GMU hired Ali to develop a computer program that coordinated the research at several universities, letting him go only after he came under suspicion by the FBI. In Spring 2002, according to salary information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, GMU hired him for $70,000 a year. In 2002, the employment was through the School of Computational Sciences and in 2003, it was through Life Sciences Grants & Contracts.
The School of Computational Sciences at George Mason is a joint venture between the American Type Culture Collection (”ATCC”) and George Mason. The joint venture is an effort to maximize research efforts by combining the academic and applied approaches to research. The School’s first activity was to teach an ATCC course in DNA techniques adapted for George Mason students. The ATCC is an internationally renown non-profit organization that houses the world’s largest and most diverse archive of biological materials. The Prince William Campus shares half of Discovery Hall with ATCC. ATCC moved to its current state-of-the-art laboratory at Discovery Hall (Prince Willam II) in 1998. ATCC’s 106,000-square-foot facility has nearly 35,000 square feet of laboratory space with a specialized air handling system and Biosafety Level 2 and 3 containment stations. The ATCC bioinformatics (BIF) program carries out research in various areas of biological information management relevant to its mission. BIF scientists interact with laboratory scientists in microbiology, cell biology, and molecular biology at ATCC and other laboratories throughout the world. ATCC has strong collaborations with a large number of academic institutions, including computational sciences at George Mason University.
Through these partnerships, the George Mason Prince William Campus offers George Mason microbiology students an opportunity for students to be involved in current research and gain access to facilities and employment opportunities at ATCC and other partner companies.
If the FBI suspected Al-Timimi, there may have been something in the forensic findings that encouraged their suspicion. In mid-March 2001, former USAMRIID head and Ames researcher Bailey and Ken Alibek filed a patent involving a process to treat cell culture with hydrophobic silicon dioxide so as to permit greater concentration upon drying. Both Alibek and Bailey had their offices at GMU’s Discovery Hall at the Center for Biodefense. Victor Morozov later was the co-inventor with Dr. Bailey of the related cell culture process under which the silica was removed from the spore surface.
One ATCC former employee felt so strongly about lax security there the scientist called me out of the blue and said that the public was overlooking the patent repository as a possible source of the Ames strain. ATCC does not deny they had virulent Ames in their patent repository pre 9/11 (as distinguished from their online catalog). The spokesperson emailed me: “As a matter of policy, ATCC does not disclose information on the contents of its patent depository...”
Al-Timimi was on an advisory board member of Assirat al-Mustaqueem, an international Arabic language magazine that published out of Pittsburgh. Assirat, produced in Pittsburgh beginning in 1991, was the creation of a group of North American muslims, many of whom were senior members of IANA. Its Advisory Committee included Bassem Khafagi and Ali Al-Timimi. Two staff members who wrote for Assirat then joined IANA’s staff when it folded in 2000. They had been members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and were activists in the movement. One of the former EIJ members, Gamal Sultan, was the editor of the quarterly IANA magazine in 2002. Mr. Sultan’s brother Mahmoud wrote for Assirat also. The most prominent writer was the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Kamal Habib. He led the Egyptian Islamic Jihad at the time of Anwar Sadat’s assassination when young doctor Zawahiri’s cell merged with a few other cells to form the EIJ. Two writers for Assirat in Pittsburgh reportedly had once shared a Portland, Oregon address with Al Qaeda member Wadih El-Hage who served a Bin Laden’s “personal secretary.”
After a visit in 2000, Gamal Sultan said Pittsburgh was known as the “American Kandahar,” given its rolling hills. Besides forming the Islah (”’Reform) party wth Gamal Sultan, Mr. Kamal Habib contributed to Al Manar al Jadeed, IANA’s quarterly journal. The pair sought the blind sheik’s endorsement of their political party venture in March 1999 — although they were not seeking the official participation of organizations like the Egyptian Islamic Jihad or the Egyptian Islamic Group, they were hoping the groups would not oppose it. The pair wanted members of the movement to be free to join in peaceful partisan activity. They were not deterred when the blind sheik responded that the project was pointless. At the same, Sheik Abdel-Rahman withdrew his support for the cease-fire initiative that had been backed by the imprisoned leaders of the Egyptian Islamic Group.
Yusuf Wells, who was a fundraiser for the Benevolence international Foundation, visited Northern Virginia over the April 14-15, 2001 weekend. The previous month he had been at Iowa State on a similar visit. On April 15, 2001, he was brought to a paintball game. In the second season, they had become more secretive and an inquiry by an FBI Special Agent was made in 2000 of one of the members about the games. Part of BIF fundraiser Wells’ job involved writing reports about his fund raising trips. In his April 15, 2001 report he writes:
“I was taken on a trip to the woods where a group of twenty brothers get together to play Paintball. It is a very secret and elite group and as I understand it, it is an honor to be invited to come. The brothers are fully geared up in camouflage fatigues, facemasks, and state of the art paintball weaponry. They call it ‘training’ and are very serious about it. I knew at least 4 or 5 of them were ex US military, the rest varied.
Most all of them young men between the ages of 17-35. I was asked by the amir of the group to give a talk after Thuhr prayer. I spoke about seeing the conditions of Muslims overseas while with BIF, and how the fire of Islam is still very much alive in the hearts of the people even in the midst of extreme oppression. I also stressed the idea of being balanced. That we should not just be jihadis and perfect our fighting skills, but we should also work to perfect our character and strengthen our knowledge of Islam. I also said that Muslims are not just book reading cowards either, and that they should be commended for forming such a group.
Many were confused as to why I had been ‘trusted’ to join the group so quickly, but were comforted after my brief talk. Some offered to help me get presentations on their respective localities.”
Al-Timimi was not friends with the Virginia defendants - at least he did not regularly associate with them outside his classes they attended. But they reportedly were awed by Timimi, a man who could both translate 7th-century Koranic Arabic or joke about the Redskins. The prosecutor argued that the paintball defendants “couldn’t figure out how to tie their shoelaces without asking al-Timimi.” The group looked up to Al-Timimi and sought his advice on all sorts of questions - to include whether it was permissible to pray in a moving car and whether one could cut short his prayers due to an approaching scorpion.
After 9/11, although a dinner that night was cancelled in light of the events of the day, Al-Timimi sought “to organize a plan in case of anti-Muslim backlash and to get the brothers together.” The group got together on September 16. Al-Timimi when he came in told the group to turn of their phones, unplug the answering machine, and pull down the curtains. Al-Timimi told the group that Mullah Omar had called upon Muslims to defend Afghanistan. Al-Timimi read parts of the al-Uqla fatwa to the group and gave the fatwa to Khan with the instructions to burn it after he has read it. Al Timimi said the duty to engage in jihad is “fard ayn” — an individual duty of all Muslims. Over a lunch, Al-Timimi with two of the group, Al-Timimi told them not to carry anything suspicious and if they were stopped on the way to Pakistan to ask for their mother and cry like a baby. He told them to carry a magazine. The next day the pair left for Pakistan. The group from the September 16 meeting met again in early October, and a number left for Pakistan immediately after that meeting.
Al-Timimi sent out a February 1, 2003 email in Arabic containing an article that said:
“There is no doubt Muslims were overjoyed because of the adversity that befell their greatest enemy. The Columbia crash made me feel, and God is the only One to know, that this is a strong signal that Western Supremacy (especially that of America) that began 500 years ago is coming to a quick end, God willing, as occurred to the shuttle.”
In 2001, Al-Timimi kept the personal papers of IANA President Khafagi at his home for safekeeping. His taped audio lecturers were among the most popular at the charity Islamic Assembly of North America in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He knew its President, Khafagi, both through work with CAIR and IANA. Al Timimi was close to his former teacher Safar al Hawali. Al Hawali has played a public role in mediating between Saudi militants and the government. Al-Timimi sought to represent and explain the views radical sheik Al-Hawali in a letter he sent to members of Congress. The same nondescript office building at 360 S. Washington St. in Falls Church where Timimi used to lecture at Dar al Arqam housed the Muslim World League.
Al-Timimi met with FBI agents 7 or 8 times in the months leading up to his arrest. Al-Timimi is a US citizen born in Washington DC His house was searched, his passport taken and his telephone monitored. His communications with Sheik al-Hawali were intercepted.
Al-Hawali, was one of the original incorporators of Mercy International. Mercy, as a front for Al Qaeda, was deeply involved in planning the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The two radical sheiks had been imprisoned from 1994-1999. Ali Al Timimi received his PhD in computational biology shortly after his indictment for recruiting young men to fight the US.
Upon his indictment, in September 2004, al-Timimi explained he had been offered a plea bargain of 14 years, but he declined. He quoted Sayyid Qutb. He said he remembered “reading his books and loving his teaching” as a child, and that Qutb’s teaching prevented him from signing something that was false by “the finger that bears witness.” He noted that he and his lawyers asked that authorities hold off the indictment until he had received his PhD, but said that unfortunately they did not wait.
The indictment against the paintball defendants alleged that at an Alexandria, Virginia residence, in the presence of a representative of BIF, the defendants watched videos depicting Mujahadeen engaged in Jihad and discussed a training camp in Bosnia.
Famed head of the former Russian bioweaponeering program Ken Alibek told me that he would occasionally see Al-Timimi in the hallways at George Mason, where they both were in the microbiology department, and had been vaguely aware that he was an islamic hardliner. In the end, Al-Timimi was indicted for inciting the young men to go to Afghanistan to defend the Taliban against the United States. During deliberations, he reportedly was very calm, reading Genome Technology and other scientific journals.
At the same time the FBI was searching the townhouse of PhD candidate Ali Timimi, searches and arrests moved forward elsewhere. In Moscow, Idaho, the activities by IANA webmaster Sami al-Hussayen that drew scrutiny involved the same radical sheik. Interceptions showed a very close link between IANA’s Sami al-Hussayen and Sheikh al-Hawali, to include the setting up of web sites, and the providing of vehicles for extended communication. Al-Hussayen had al-Hawali’s phone number upon the search of his belongings upon his arrest. Sami Hussayen made numerous calls and wrote many e-mails to al-Hawali, sometimes giving advice to him and another dissident Saudi sheik about running Arabic-language Web sites on which they espoused their anti-Western views. Sami al-Hussayen was acquitted of all charges.
George Mason University, Department Listings, accessed August 17, 2003, shows that the National Center For Biodefense and Center for Biomedical Genomics had the same mail stop (MS 4ES). The most famed bioweaponeer in the world — the former head of the Russian bioweapons program (to include anthrax ) — was not far from this sheik urging violent jihad in an apocalyptic struggle between religions. The groups both shared the same department fax of XXX-4288. Dr. Alibek reports that shortly after the mailings, he wrote Director Mueller and offered his services but was advised that they already had assembled a large group.
Charles Bailey, the former head of USAMRIID, formally joined the Center in April 2001. He continued to do research with the Ames anthrax strain after 9/11. Over 13 years, he had served as a Research Scientist, Deputy Commander for Research, Deputy Commander and Commander at the U.S. Army Medical Research Instiute. As a USAMRIID scientist, he designed and supervised the construction of BL-3 containment facilities. His hands-on experience with a wide variety of pathogens is chronicled in 70 published articles. During his 4 years with the Defense Intelligence Agency, he published numerous articles assessing foreign capabilities regarding biological weapons.” When I asked Dr. Bailey to confirm Al-Timimi’s room number relative to his own, his only response was to politely refer me to University counsel. Counsel then never responded to my inquiry regarding their respective room numbers.
In Fall 2001, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (”AFIP”) had detected silicon dioxide (silica) in the attack anthrax - with a characteristic big spike for the silicon. The reason for the silicon dioxide/silica claimed to have been detected by AFIP has never been explained (and it’s been nearly a half decade). Dr. Alibek and Dr. Matthew Meselson (of Sverdlosk fame) report that no silica was observable on the SEMS images that they saw. The Daschle product was “pure spores.” But while the spores were not coated with silica, was silicon dioxide used as part of a microdroplet cell culture process used prior to drying to permit greater concentration? (Is that why it was detected by the EDX?)
Dr. Alibek and the former head of USAMRIID, Ames anthrax research Charles Bailey, had filed a patent application in mid-March 2001 involving a microdroplet cell culture technique that used silicon dioxide in a method for concentrating growth of cells. The patent was granted and the application first publicly disclosed in the Spring of 2002. Weren’t the SEMS images and AFIP EDX finding both consistent with use of this process in growing the culture? It’s been suggested informally that perhaps the silicon analytical peak was more likely due to silanol from hydrolysis of a silane, used in siliconizing glassware.
But didn’t the AFIP in fact also detect oxygen in ratios characteristic of silicon dioxide? Wasn’t the scientist, now deceased, who performed the EDX highly experienced and expert in detecting silica? Hasn’t the AFIP always stood by its report, in which it explained: “AFIP experts utilized an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (an instrument used to detect the presence of otherwise-unseen chemicals through characteristic wavelengths of X-ray light) to confirm the previously unidentifiable substance as silica?” Perhaps the nuance that was lost - or just never publicly explained for very sound reasons - was that silica was used in the cell culture process and then removed from the spores through a process such as repeated centrifugation.
Dr. Morozov is co-inventor along with Dr. Bailey for a patent “Cell Culture” that explains how the silicon dioxide can be removed from the surface. Perhaps it is precisely this AFIP finding of silicon dioxide (without silica on the SEMS) that is why the FBI came to suspect Al-Timimi in 2003 (rightly or wrongly, we don’t know). The FBI would have kept these scientific findings secret to protect the integrity of the confidential criminal/national security investigation. There was still a processor and mailer to catch — still a case to prove, particularly given that their investigation had not produced any evidence against Al-Timimi.
Last year, FBI microbiologist Dr. Doug Beecher commented in a publication that it undermines biodefense preparations to underestimate the danger of simple spore preparations. He provided me a copy when I wrote him as the designated corresponding author. I then distributed it to reporters. The paper reportedly had been reviewed by Professor Meselson at Harvard. Dr. Beecher is right that there is no reason to view it as akin to “militarization” or requiring state sponsorship. The two sentences by Beecher actually did not address the precise issue presented at all. They just go to illustrate and confirm Dr. Alibek’s point that a sophisticated product can result from a relatively simple method. Perhaps the United States biodefense establishment should not let officials commercialize and disclose such dual use technology, whether the patent is assigned to a DARPA-funded program or not — and whether deemed “biofriendly” or not. (The 2001 patent I’ve described, which was not classified, has been assigned to George Mason University). Richard Ebright is right: proliferation of facilities increases the risk of access to know-how. Given that biodefense spending is fueled by the usual politics-driven pork-barrelled spending, it’s a recipe for disaster.
The many bloggers and commentators who have long held strong and divergent opinions may have just been seeing the elephant in the living room from a different angle. Actually, they’ve just been in a position to see the elephant’s rump from outside the living room door.
Ali Al-Timimi has a very substantial appeal pending in a case that involves a sentence that seems way out of proportion to the crime of exhorting young men to go abroad and defend their faith. In a November 30, 2004 letter of appeal circulated in sympathetic circles in the US and the UK, Bilal Philips encouraged Muslims to assist Al-Timimi “financially, morally or politically.” The letter urged that “whatever the charges against him [Al-Timimi] may be, from an Islamic perspective they are false and contrived in order to silence the Da’wah to correct Islam.”
In a June 2005 interview in a Swiss (German language) weekly news magazine, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Ken Alibek addresses the anthrax mailings:
A. “...What if I told you Swiss scientists are paid by Al Qaeda? You could believe it or not. It has become somewhat fashionable to disparage Russian scientists. Americans, Iraqis, or whoever could just as well be involved with Al Qaeda. Why doesn’t anyone speculate about that?”
Q. “But could one of your students build a biological weapon in the garage?”
A. “Let me reply philosophically: Two hundred years ago, it was unthinkable to believe that people would be using mobile telephones, wasn’t it? Everything changes. Our knowledge grows, and technology develops incredibly quickly. These days even high-school kids can breed recombinant microbial strains. I am not saying that a student is in a position to build a biological weapon all by himself. But the knowledge needed to do it is certainly there.”
Al-Timimi’s attorney emphasizes that while they searched for materials related to a planned biological attack when they searched his townhouse in late February 2003 — what he calls Plan A — they came up empty.
He explains that it was only then they turned to Plan B. No one who responded to my inquiries ever knew Al-Timimi to ever have been involved in any biodefense project. For example, former Russian bioweaponeer Sergei Popov did not know of any such work by Al-Timimi, and Anna Popova had only seen him in the hall on a very rare occasion.
Dr. Alibek thought of him as a “numbers guy” rather than a hands-on type. Given that the FBI knows what Al-Timimi had for dinner on September 16, 2001, it is very likely that the past years have involved a continued search for the mailer and/or processor — with all theories explored and no stone left unturned.
At his sentencing, Dr. Al-Timimi spoke in clear and measured tones:
“I will not admit guilt nor seek the Court’s mercy. I do this not out of any disrespect to the Court. I do this simply because I am innocent.
My claim of innocence is not because of any inherent misunderstanding on my part as to the nature of the crimes for which I was convicted nor is it because my Muslim belief recognizes sharia rather than secular law. It is merely because I am innocent.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
I declare the government’s recitation poor as it stripped those words of their meaning.
Imprisonment of any term, as this Court well knows, is a crisis for the incarcerated and his or her loved ones. I am no exception to that.
But the real crisis brought on my imprisonment, I sincerely believe is America’s. For if my conviction is to stand, it would mean that two hundred and thirty years of America’s tradition of protecting the individual from the tyrannies and whims of the sovereign will have come to an end. And that which is exploited today to persecute a single member of a minority will most assuredly come back to haunt the majority tomorrow.”
He was sentenced to life in prison plus 70 years. Dr. Timimi has very substantial pending appeals relating to warrantless wiretapping and the First Amendment. Dr. Timimi’s attorney likely is understandably annoyed that they keep moving Al-Timimi between prisons. KSM invoked George Washington in his statement to a military tribunal in March 2007. That was far less compelling because he was admitting to many serious crimes. Dr. Al-Timimi, on the other hand, was guilty of nothing other than exhorting some young men to go abroad and defend their faith. It seems that his only crime was to put his religion before his nation-state.
As Al-Timimi explained in his eloquent statement upon sentencing, he was convicted out of fear.
The anthrax mailer had asked: “Are you afraid?” The answer was yes.
As one Washington Post reporter said of such cases, the government seems to be engaged in shadow boxing. The only way to get rid of the shadows is to turn on the lights.
As described in “The Center of the Storm,” after 9/11, Tenet said that the CIA needed analysts who didn’t just think out of the box, he needed analysts to think out of the zip code. He gathered a small group of senior analysts and dubbed them “The Red Cell.” Their job was to walk in the shoes of Ayman Zawahiri.
Heck, Ed, you don’t even think outside the envelope.
You need to read.
On extraordinary rendition (go to 3:58) where Scheuer is questioned on “extraordinary rendition” recently
http://www.slate.com/id/2165964/entry/0/
This is the House committee.
Senator Leahy chairs the counterpart Senate Committee that has jurisdiction over the same issue.
Which you definitely need to do. You clearly only view one possibility: that al Qaeda did it.
Putting yourself in their shoes and only looking for ways they could have done things which are totally out of character for al Qaeda terrorists won't get you anywhere near reality.
Try putting yourself in the shoes of a microbiologist in Central New Jersey who works with dangerous pathogens every day and who knows how such viruses and germs could wipe out millions if someone launched a bioweapons attack upon Central New Jersey. Think about how he lives and works less than 50 miles from where THOUSANDS were killed by al Qaeda on 9/11. Think about how he feels that the 1993 World Trade Center bombing was planned not far from where he lives, and how some of the 9/11 hijackers stayed in Paterson, not far from where he lives. And think about how "Experts say [nearby] Jersey City is a breeding ground for terrorist cells" Think about how worried he might be that people kept talking about the danger of a biological attack, but NOBODY WAS DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT! Think about how concerned he must have been for the six-year-old child who wrote the letters. Would schools be the points of attack!? It would certainly make the DRAMATIC point al Qaeda likes to make. And it would definitely create the TERROR which is the only reason for a terrorist's existence! And then think about how upset he must have been when Daschle and Leahy tried to water down the Patriot Act instead of using the Patriot Act to round up every Muslim in New Jersey who might possibly be a terrorist.
Instead of just trying to figure out some way to twist the facts to fit them into the mind of some careful, thoughtful and conscientious al Qaeda terrorist who takes all sorts of precautions to avoid harming anyone, try looking at how well the facts fit the reasoning of a NORMAL but very worried microbiologist who lives and works among Muslims in Central New Jersey.
I had written:
“To correctly profile modus operandi in a true crime matter, you have to put yourself in the shoes of the others who you are considering as possibly responsible for the mailings.”
You wrote:
“Which you definitely need to do. You clearly only view one possibility: that al Qaeda did it”.
To the contrary, Ed, I exhaustively investigated a Hatfill theory and found that there was no “there there.” I even called the fellow you suspect — and profile on your webpage — and found that you made basic assumptions that had no factual basis. I’ve looked into every theory to include Professor Boyle’s theory and found that he had not conducted the most inquiry relating to the destruction of the ISU inventory.
You write:
“which are totally out of character for al Qaeda terrorists won’t get you anywhere near reality.”
But, Ed, you don’t know anything about EIJ’s modus operandi. The terrorist events, the names of EIJ leaders and their methods, have never passed your lips. You steadfastly avoid any discussion of the Taliban supporter who had access to the Center for Biodefense and ATCC facilities and a security clearance.
As a public interest advocate and attorney, I know full well what people do when they perceive a threat and urgently seek to communicate the danger to the public. And what they do not do is send lethal pathogens to people. (A deep concern for the public interest guides one conduct in life). You have absolutely no basis to think so poorly of this guy in NJ, and likely know no more about him than you do the Wisconsin fellow, and you were way off base about him. Your capitalization of the word NORMAL to describe the fellow in Central New Jersey highlights how stupid your theory is. A NORMAL person would not send an aerosolized lethal agent in a letter to newspapers and US Senators.
In contrast, there is documentary evidence confirming the intent of Ayman Zawahiri and his supporters to use weaponized anthrax against US targets in retaliation for the rendering of EIJ leaders.
Educate yourself, Ed. Address the merits. Don’t just keep rehashing your false premises like “Leahy had nothing to do with foreign policy” etc. because that flies in the face of the facts.
And go ahead. Address the argument on the facts relating to the al Hayat letter bombs to newspapers in DC and NYC and people in symbolic positions relating to the detention of WTC 1993.
That’s the reason you didn’t posted the “The Faithful Spy” story above — you just have no response on the merits that makes any sense.
The only way you can keep your theory about a 1st grader writing the letters is by avoidng the facts. (But has there ever been a second person who credited the theory?) “But it’s block lettering!” you’ll be arguing for the next half decade while the capture of Al Qaeda operatives in several countries continue to move forward. Well over 100 million people credit an Al Qaeda theory, Ed. Not even a second person credits the 1st grader theory. Do the math and engage in a reality check.
It is absolutely clear that YOU are the one who needs to check facts. That "theory" is actually a careful and detailed examination of FACTS, and was first put forward on November 1, 2001, by a person very familiar with the writings of first grade children who calls himself "Brother Jonathan."
You can discount his FACTS because you do not like his beliefs, but the FACTS about the handwriting are solid, even though his conclusions about the culprit are unverifiable. All that I did was look at the FACTS, find more FACTS and verify that the FACTS say that a child wrote the anthrax letters. Admittedly, you can refuse to believe the FACTS and rationalize other explanations, but the FACTS do not change.
Everything else you write deliberately twists the facts to make them fit your beliefs, so I won't bother to address them.
Ed,
Phew. So there IS a second person, you suggest, because you stole that idea too. (Like you borrowed much of the rest of your profile from
Barbara Rosenberg in December 2001.)
Point goes to Ed. There is a second person who agrees with his 1st grader theory.
But if you consider that a “Fact” material to analysis, let’s consider the “fact” of what I find at the link you cite:
“LETTER TO THE EDITOR
You are obviously not familiar with the handwriting of a six year old child. The penmanship in the anthrax letters is far too controlled and mature to be that of a six year old. Please note how well formed the letters themselves are, with little or no ambiguity or unsteadiness. The o’s are perfect little circles, the letter A is perfectly formed with all strokes meeting precisely and correctly. A six year old child is not yet capable of this level of mastery. Even a quick glance told me that this was written by someone much older. The formation of the letters shows an ease and a familiarity with forming those letters that comes from experience. Additionally a six year old would never substitute larger upper case letters because of not having yet learned lower case letters. They learn both at the same time, and if they were not familiar with upper and lower case then they wouldn’t have the knowledge to even make a substitution of an upper case for a lower case. I think your theory is ludicrous. A7G5T901X”
But you’re catching up on an Al Qaeda theory. Now it’s 2 versus 100+ million. With the recent revelations, it’s closer to 180 million + in the US but I wanted to give you cause for hope.
But given that you are still unwilling to address an Al Qaeda theory on the merits, let’s review some of the mistaken factual assertions you’ve made here on the FreeRepublic.
1. You write: “While al Qaeda would probably have picked The New York Times, the American terrorist chose The New York Post probably because it’s the newspaper he reads.”
Wrong. It’s the New York Post that takes the pro-Israel stand, features Daniel Pipes etc.
2. “And Patrick Leahy was targeted because between the two mailings Leahy opposed AG Ashcroft’s plans to trash all laws preventing illegal search and seizure. For someone deathly afraid of a bioweapons attack, Leahy’s actions probably seemed traitorous. Al Qaeda would probably have seen it as a good move and gone after Ashcroft.”
Wrong. It’s the Leahy Law that governed appropriations where a state tortured a rendered EIJ leader. This was the stated motive for using anthrax against US targets But you knew nothing of the stated motive due to a lack of research alternative theories.
3. “And the fact that the media letter told Bob Stevens to take penicillin indicates that the anthrax terrorist didn’t really want to kill Bob Stevens, either. That by itself says that Iraq and al Qaeda were not behind the anthrax mailings.”
Wrong. The al Hayat letter bombs to NYC and DC newspapers were the same thing — little risk of death... use of the identical envelope etc. allowed the other envelopes to be collected. You have always been unaware of and have never discussed the 1997 letter bombs sent in connection to the detention of KSM’s nephew and the other WTC plotters. Tenet says Saif Adel is a AQ CBRN player. In the Arab paper fielding denials of responsibility, he denied responsibility for the al Hayat letter bombs saying that they would not stoop to mere “flirtation.” The real Vanguards spokesman called him on it and said — speak for yourself. You’re not even a member. You can either join through normal organizational channels or you’ll be hearing from the Big Guy! So the feds might look past Saif Adel, notwithstanding his CBRN role in nuclear matters, and focus on the other Vanguards spokesman and his closest associates.
4. “Why not just pour the anthrax in the envelope? Why wrap it in the letter?”
The tri-fold was also used by the militants in January 2001 — in the anthrax threat letter that led to the February 2001 PDB on the subject. You were unaware of the circumstances of the January 2001 threat letter and unaware of the February 2001 PDB. You also never address it even though you’ve known for years that many FBI Special Agents are working full time on an AQ theory and spending many tens of thousands of hours on it. You haven’t spent more than 15 minutes writing about an AQ theory.
5. The weaponized anthrax sample was a warning.
“Right. But a warning by whom?”
Okay, we’ll give you this one. So long as you avoid making declarative statements and only are asking a rhetorical question, you tend to be on course.
6. “But if it was a warning by the al Qaeda or by Iraq, then it was a pointless warning and a total failure, since it didn’t prevent us from blowing the crap out of every al Qaeda member we can find, and it isn’t preventing Bush from doing everything he can to restart the war with Iraq.”
Yes, Ed, violence tends to be pointless and not accomplish its aim. Now if only the terrorists and world leaders would take that to heart.
7. Posted by EdLake to TrebleRebel
On News/Activism 01/23/2004 11:44:17 AM PST · 88 of 218
TrebleRebel wrote:
Ed Lake likes to spread misinormation on the internet. He’s already said on this thread that the September 19 JLo letter did not contain anthrax.
The CDC say the exact opposite of this, and there is no evidence that they have ever changed their minds from that conclusion.
You wrote: “You are right. The CDC says the exact opposite.”
Okay, at least you concede to TrebleRebel that your position is the opposite of the CDC on this key issue of the JLo letter (which without more establishes an Al Qaeda theory).
8. You write: “ The FBI has said again and again that Dr. Hatfill is NOT and never has been a “suspect” in the case.”
Talk about cognitive rigidity and major denial.
They obviously suspected him enough to spend hundreds of thousands investigating him, including $250,000 to drain a pond. Duh. The rest is semantics. You’re in denial because you stole BHR’s theory and were annoyed that it was her theory that got traction where the FBI never pursued your theory.
9. Here, Ed says he got the information on his suspect from the newspapers. Yikes! We at least thought you had personal knowledge of material facts.
Posted by EdLake to TrebleRebel
On News/Activism 01/23/2004 3:14:16 PM PST · 108 of 218
And he was of interest to the FBI long before I ever heard of him.
I know this from what I’ve read and from the fact that the FBI stated to Time Magazine that I’ve told them nothing about the case that they didn’t already know.
Ed
10. Just this past year, you said “I’ve been saying for years that the FBI KNOWS who sent the anthrax letters, but knowing it and proving it in a court of law are two very different things. I believe they have known who sent the letters since November or December of 2001. ***: They are keeping the identities of their suspects secret until they have enough evidence to go to court.
A couple months ago, Director Mueller said that the case was before a grand jury. Other grand juries have been hearing evidence for years.”
[He actually has said it was before two grand juries. One of them is in New Jersey.]
But, see, Ed, what Director Mueller said was: “Think 9/11. Think Oklahoma City.” Did you neglect to tell your readers that?
Why do you think that suggests an intent by a watcher of Bill O’Reilly to increase spending on biodefense — to sound an alarm?
It doesn’t — Director Mueller is pointing to the motive of a deep hatred of US policy.
Now I’ve address your 1st Grader Theory.
You still have not address an Al Qaeda theory.
Errata -
The Editors suggested that Ed stole his silly 1st Grader theory. His history of changes indicate that he did not steal it — and first discovered the earlier article in 2004.
The Editors regret the error and apologize to Mr. Lake for suggesting that he plagiarized the ludicrous theory. He came up with it all his own. (The reality is that a murderer does not involve a 6 year old unnecessarily. They can’t keep a secret from their Mom).
Apologies also to BroJon also which looks to be a wonderful and widely read publication with only that one silly theory.
You still have not address an Al Qaeda theory.
So, you believe that if I agree with someone or if they agree with me, or if I learn something from someone else, that means I stole their ideas? Do you realize how mindlessly stupid that belief is? It means you can never learn anything new from someone else! It makes you absolutely closed-minded!
I didn't believe BHR when she first started spouting her conspiracy theory, and time has proven that she was full of crap. The only similarity between her beliefs and mine is that neither of us believes that al Qaeda sent the anthrax. So, I guess in your mind, that means we think alike. That is stupid beyond belief!
I didn't believe Brother Jonathan when I first visited his web site after someone told me about it. It was just another "theory." But as time went on and I accumulated more FACTS, the FACTS all seemed to CONFIRM what Brother Jonathan wrote about the handwriting.
In the comments section of my web site I mentioned the updates to my site as more FACTS were accumulated:
December 15, 2001: Made some minor additions about the handwriting. There are indications that the writer is accustomed to writing on lined paper (as a child would be), plus the use of serifs on the number "1" but not on capital "I" could indicate home schooling.
December 30, 2001: People responding to this page have stated they have difficulty believing that a child could have written the letters and addressed the envelopes, so I revised the page to address that subject more precisely and coherently - adding a new graphic to the Letters section.
January 11, 2002: I started a new page which includes handwriting samples from children and goes into greater detail on that subject. That page is HERE.
It eventually became clear that it was most likely that a child wrote the letters, and I began using the term "most likely". When I published my book in March of 2005, I listed 18 FACTS which pointed to a child having "most likely" written the letters. Then on September 25, 2005, someone made me aware of some information I hadn't noticed before and suddenly I had FACT #19, which changed things. From that point on I would state that it was a "near certainty" that the letters were written by a child.
I realize that no matter what the facts say, you and most others will believe what you want to believe, but ever since I found FACT #19, the picture has changed and NEARLY ALL the emails I now get on the subject are from people who accept my evaluation OR who can add to it with experiences of their own from watching their own children.
It's true that no one in the MEDIA has embraced the idea that a child could have written the letters, but 99 percent of the people in the media didn't accept my evaluation that the Daschle anthrax powder was "ordinary stuff" until Douglas Beecher from the FBI labs stated that it was. Then suddenly everyone in the media was accepting it -- while falsely claiming that the FBI had just discovered that fact.
It doesn't matter who believes what. All that matters is what the FACTS are. The FACTS speak for themselves. And the FACTS say that the person who wrote the anthrax letters was almost certainly a child who was just starting first grade at that time.
At one time, everyone on EARTH believed that the earth was FLAT. That didn't mean their beliefs were true.
Here's a good demonstration of how you do not even seem to understand what a FACT is. You wrote:
8. You write: “The FBI has said again and again that Dr. Hatfill is NOT and never has been a “suspect” in the case.”
Talk about cognitive rigidity and major denial.
They obviously suspected him enough to spend hundreds of thousands investigating him, including $250,000 to drain a pond. Duh.
I talk about the FACT that the FBI repeatedly stated that Dr. Hatfill was not a suspect, and you say that is not true because of what you BELIEVE is "obvious" to you. So, aren't you confirming that you believe that your beliefs outweigh all facts?
Ed writes:
” The only similarity between her [BHR] beliefs and mine is that neither of us believes that al Qaeda sent the anthrax. So, I guess in your mind, that means we think alike.”
Ed, the reason I suggest that you posit the same motive as BHR is because you cited her theory, linked her website, and then posited the same motive.
http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/fas-01.html
This is from BHR’s theory:
Motivation-Late last summer the Suspect had a career setback that challenged his high ambitions and left him angry and depressed. Quite possibly he interpreted the event as indicating lack of appreciation both for him and for the magnitude of the biological weapons threat. Perhaps he decided to mount an anthrax attack that would kill few people, if any, but would wake up the country and prove that he was right.
In March 2002, you cited her webpage approvingly and adopted the same theory as your own.
http://web.archive.org/web/20020327050110/http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/#theories
You wrote:
6. Who did it?
A Working Theory for who the anthrax terrorist might be:
The terrorist could be someone formerly with the U.S. military bioweapons development program, or he knows someone who worked there.
***
“America had been attacked by foreign terrorists! Bioweapons attacks could be next, but, in his eyes, no one cared! No one was paying any attention! He had to make them pay attention.”
So your basic premise was the same as BHR’s — sounding a wake-up call.
Continuing, you specifically suggested:
1. The terrorist is probably in his 40s.
2. The terrorist may currently work in the health industry or in academia.
3. The terrorist probably lives in New York City or within commuting distance of NYC.
***
12. The terrorist thinks that voting is a waste of time. If he belonged to a political party, it would be the Fascist Party.
13. The terrorist probably has a bumper sticker on his car that reads something like “Clean Up The Environment! Kill a Liberal!”
14. The terrorist may be a manic-depressive.
15. The terrorist may be divorced.
16. The terrorist may have a small child and visitation rights with the child.
17. The terrorist may have used his child to address the envelopes and to write the letters.
18. The terrorist’s child is probably home schooled.
Now, admittedly, BHR had not surmised the guy’s kid was home schooled but the motivation is the same. You added the details not based on “profiling” but as a way of describing the particular person you read about. That is a totally invalid approach to developing a criminal profile. See John Douglas book. If you are going to make noises like one of those odd FBI profiling ducks in the basement of Quantico, you need to walk like one and not frame the profile around a particular suspect.
So it is ironic and surprising that you are so harsh in your criticism of her theory. It would be as if you spent 5 years criticizing Brother John for a difference in opinion over how “R’s” are taught to be made in Catholic school — even though you both believe a 1st grader wrote the letters.
I’ve only skimmed through some of the data and arguments
and let me say I’m happy you two are “friendly rivals”.
Will read in all soon...
However, when i start relating what i witnessed: there
will be a tome of info to be told of the period between
October, 1999 and the Spring of 2002....JJ61
I regularly correspond with Ed on a daily basis. He has provided a valuable and widely read coverage of the Hatfill matter, to include those all-important breaking news/original source documents. I visit his website every day, sometimes several times a day checking for new info from the Hatfill docket. If he doesn’t have the courage to post “Faithful Spy” on his website or at least address the merits, I understand. But he shouldn’t try to pass off his website as an objective presentation of the anthrax investigation, when it is a BHR-like advocacy piece focused on some guy he read about. He should address the merits of an Al Qaeda theory (e.g., al Hayat letter bombs, claim first released in 2006, January 2001 anthrax threat and its connection to the February 2001 PDB etc., discovery of Kandahar anthrax and connection to hijacker Ahmed’s leg lesion etc.
His propaganda misleads a lot of busy people who don’t take time to read further.
And I say all this only because I know if I tell him what to do he’ll start using that big red font of his I love so much.
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