Bingo. My theory is that it was requested as part of legitimate research (agricultural) and then diverted. Once it showed up in the U.S. and analyzed, they realized, I'd imagine by some type of chemical "flag", that it was derived from the samples provided for the "research." Hence, the knowledge that Iraq was in this up to their necks. The government didn't want to reveal this until they are a position to act. Had this fact been made public right away the outcry for revenge would have been deafening, perhaps encouraging Saddam to take a "use it or lose it" shot with some other nasty substance. Once the hammer is about to fall all the info will be made public. Just my opinion.
I think you mean to suggest that the diversion was without the knowledge of the U.S. government. I think it's much more likely that the U.S. government knew that such diversion was at least likely. Remember, the Iran-Iraq war was in progress at the time.
That is more than just a theory...you are correct. A unclassified version of a classified 1992 GAO report spells out all the details of military shipments to Iraq during the 1980's...anthrax would be no different, as it would be considered a dual use product. Go to the following link:
Iraq: U.S. Military Items Exported or Transferred to Iraq in the 1980s
One of the more important points is that Iraq was removed from State's list of terrorist-supporting countries in 1982 and was therefore able to acquire many things during the 1980's that it cannot get now. I will try to get a specific link to the 1980 anthrax shipments for you from that site, but it may take awhile.
U.S. bioinformatics firms in the 1980s received requests from a wide variety of Iraqi agencies, all claiming the materials were intended for civilian research purposes.
ATCC officials said that in the 1980s, their practice was to sell so-called Class III pathogens -- those that pose substantial risk to public health or crops -- to customers who met a few rudimentary requirements. They had to send a written request on stationery from a credible institution. They had to assume written responsibility for "the receipt, handling, storage and use of the material." They had to pay a fee averaging $78. And they had to demonstrate in a brief telephone conversation that they were scientifically literate. ATCC officials typically did not ask how the germs were to be used.
The country's success emboldened it to take a plunge into the most sensitive end of the bacterial pool with a 1986 order for 24 pathogens, including 13 more bacteria designated Class III. That shipment, which like the others received rapid approval from the U.S. Commerce Department, included the specific strains of anthrax, chlostridium botulinum, and chlostridium perfringens that Iraq later selected for mass production as germ weapons. All were sent to the University of Baghdad, but secretly paid for by the military, according to Iraqi records turned over to the United Nations.
Will try again tommorrow as this is a question for some that needs to be answered.