Uh, maybe he wrote it after October of last year? BTW, is it really "almost identical"? Looking carefully at West's description, it sounds like she might have given it the "Greendale School" treatment.
Forget Hatfill. In a few days, everybody else will (until he comes back as a Fox commentator in the War on Terrorism Part II).
Maybe he did. Do you know exactly when he wrote it? I'm trying to find more info on that. If it was written before the anthrax attacks on Congress, and if Cooper's description of the scenario in his novel wasn't doctored up as you believe, would you consider him suspicious? Couldn't he have crossed paths with some swarthy characters when he was in Africa? I'm not saying he's guilty or innocent - I just wouldn't rule him out just yet based on what we know about him. And it wasn't just ABC news. There were reports out of the South African newspapers confirming that he did indeed fabricate his credentials. If he is working with the feds and this all is just a staged charade, why would the feds bring this negative publicity upon themselves now if they're planning to go public with hard evidence in the next few weeks? They've stalled the investigation this long.