Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Did bin Laden buy bioterror? 1999 testimony says he did
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | October 21, 2001 | Erin McCormick and Lance Williams

Posted on 10/21/2001 6:07:14 AM PDT by sarcasm

Edited on 04/13/2004 2:38:54 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Evidence in an Egyptian terrorism trial two years ago included claims that Osama bin Laden already had dangerous biological agents in his arsenal.

Moreover, a ranking terrorist affiliated with bin Laden told a journalist during that trial that the Saudi-born financier of terror and his top aide, Islamic Jihad leader Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, had purchased biological and chemical agents and drawn up a list of 100 U.S. and Israeli targets on which to unleash them.


(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

1 posted on 10/21/2001 6:07:14 AM PDT by sarcasm
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: sarcasm
I'd keep my eye on activities by suspicious characters in the Mid-Hudson region.

I hope someone is closely watching the reservoirs that supply NYC's water.

2 posted on 10/21/2001 6:13:18 AM PDT by syriacus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: syriacus
Just remember, Osama bin Diaper Head, that we already have over 6,500 nuclear warheads and enough VX (that you cannot make) to kill everything in the entire middle east. Plus we can deliver at no cost to you.

How we use them is up to us.

But if you act now, we'll even throw in some new, yes I said new, tactical neutron weapons at absolutely no charge. Delivered right to your door (or cave entrance).(Warning: Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.)

3 posted on 10/21/2001 6:36:43 AM PDT by 11B3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: sarcasm
The worst we can do (IMO) is underestimate our enemies. Whether he has them or not is not to be questioned. How many weapons he might have, if any, is irrelevant. It would be safer to assume the worst and act accordingly. We can not afford to guess wrong.
4 posted on 10/21/2001 6:56:16 AM PDT by 1America
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Great Satan; Nogbad; aristeides; Alamo-Girl; keri; okie01; Shermy; right_to_defend
Check out this article from 5 1/2 months ago, October 21, 2001.

During a 1999 trial in Egypt, evidence was introduced that terrorists associated with Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda "claimed to have made agreements to buy 'samples of anthrax' from a factory in Southeast Asia and a culture of the paralyzing botulinum bacteria from a lab in the Czech Republic for $7,500. "

Where would this factory in Southeast Asia be? Any clues?

5 posted on 04/09/2002 1:16:24 AM PDT by Mitchell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mitchell
It means nothing. Another distraction. Getting anthrax is easy. Weaponizing it another story -- otherwise the history of the world would be quite different. Al-Qaeda is a very effective recruitment organization, bin Laden made some hot videos, but, in the end, they are bumbling amateurs, although they have big fantasies. This is irrelevant.
6 posted on 04/09/2002 1:23:13 AM PDT by The Great Satan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Mitchell
I don't have any details about the Southeast Asia lab. But I'll keep looking!
7 posted on 04/09/2002 7:14:10 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Mitchell
Great find! Satan always works to make us underestimate our enemies.

Perhaps "Southeast Asia" is Thailand, or a mistake for Pakistan. Whatever happened with that Yememi biochemist caught there...?

8 posted on 04/09/2002 11:00:56 AM PDT by Shermy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: The Great Satan
Al-Qaeda is a very effective recruitment organization,
bin Laden made some hot videos,
but, in the end, they are bumbling amateurs,
although they have big fantasies.

Your analysis of bin Laden is good.

However I fail to see why you think Saddam is such a genius.

Name one clever thing Saddam ever did.

(Oh, wait. He invaded Iran. He invaded Kuwait.
You're right, brilliant strategist!)

9 posted on 04/09/2002 1:51:18 PM PDT by Nogbad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Mitchell
"Where would this factory in Southeast Asia be? Any clues?"

Geographically, the region would presumably encompass Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam, Malaya and Singapore.

At a stretch, perhaps Indonesia, Borneo, Sarawak, Taiwan, The Philippines...and China.

There are several suspicious locations on the list, but nobody stands out.

10 posted on 04/09/2002 2:20:51 PM PDT by okie01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Mitchell
"...to buy 'samples of anthrax' from a factory in Southeast Asia"

On second thought, I wonder if the supplier was located in Southeast Asia and the "factory" elsewhere.

Singapore, Hong Kong and, hmmmm, Macao are all likely locations for the "dealers".

11 posted on 04/09/2002 2:26:57 PM PDT by okie01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: okie01
Well, yeah, I meant to be asking where the factory might be, not where southeast Asia is! I hadn't heard of anthrax in southeast Asia before (although the Japanese did make use of biological weapons, including anthrax, in World War II, I think in China and perhaps in southeast Asia).
12 posted on 04/09/2002 2:30:35 PM PDT by Mitchell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Mitchell
"Well, yeah, I meant to be asking where the factory might be, not where southeast Asia is!"

The list was thinking out loud. And identifying the area for other readers.

What do you think of a middleman in Singapore, Hong Kong or Macao, with the factory located elsewhere?

13 posted on 04/09/2002 2:44:26 PM PDT by okie01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: okie01
Yes, I'm thinking that the southeast Asian location is likely to be an intermediary location, in the same way that Prague and the UAE were apparently used as meeting places by the 9/11 hijackers and Iraqi agents.

I have no speculation whatsoever on any particular country, since I've heard nothing else relating to that, and meeting places can be anywhere. The anthrax could actually have been produced somewhere else, as you suggest.

14 posted on 04/09/2002 3:35:04 PM PDT by Mitchell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Nogbad
Name one clever thing Saddam ever did.

Well, he's still running Iraq, while GHWB was given the boot by the voters within a few months of winning the Gulf War. He won the Iran-Iraq war. He's still alive after decades in power, while countless would-be opponents have been gassed, shot by firing squad, hung in public squares until their necks are a foot long, or tortured to death. He still manages to maintain a personal fortune of $7 billion and multiple palaces, while his people starve. He's got Colin Powell running around the Arab world, kowtowing to tin-pot dictators to try and stave off World War III. He pulled off an end run around our entire national security apparatus, destroying the WTC and killing 3,000 people using a handful of agents armed with nothing more than box cutters. He easily out-maneuvered Clinton in order to kick out the UNSCOM weapons inspectors, and he has neutralized are strategic nuclear deterrent in one surprise move.

Inasmuch as Hitler ended up taking his own life in a bunker after starting a war which killed 50 million people, I suppose we could say Hitler was not, on balance, clever, despite the fact that he managed to turn himself from a street person to absolute ruler of the most powerful nation in Europe in less than twenty years, in spite of the fact that he conquered the whole continent in less than a year. Perhaps, in the long run, we'll be able to pass the same final judgment on Saddam Hussein. Somehow, I don't find that thought much of a comfort, however.

15 posted on 04/09/2002 6:30:14 PM PDT by The Great Satan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Shermy
Whatever happened with that Yememi biochemist caught there...?

Good question. I've heard nothing further about him.

16 posted on 04/09/2002 11:09:58 PM PDT by Mitchell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: The Great Satan
Al-Qaeda is a very effective recruitment organization, bin Laden made some hot videos, but, in the end, they are bumbling amateurs, although they have big fantasies.

Are you sure that that doesn't also apply to Saddam Hussein?

17 posted on 04/09/2002 11:13:44 PM PDT by Mitchell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: The Great Satan
[Saddam Hussein] won the Iran-Iraq war.

What did he win? I was under the impression that the war was more or less a stalemate.

18 posted on 04/09/2002 11:16:32 PM PDT by Mitchell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Mitchell; TrebleRebel

Regarding the Egyptian anthrax story, I'm looking - it may be misreportage, maybe influenced by this story, which is still available, about a trial in 1999 in Egypt, and the revelations there. Still looking...


19 posted on 07/12/2004 9:53:08 AM PDT by Shermy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: syriacus

Well, hopefully a keen eye would notice suspicious tanker trucks lining up at the reserviors, since it would take an awful lot of bad stuff to effect an entire water system.


20 posted on 07/12/2004 9:56:40 AM PDT by creepycrawly
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson