Daschle Letter Tightly Sealed; Taped up so anthrax stayed in

The envelope was so thoroughly taped up — its borders, corners, the flaps — that whoever opened it would have had to rip it apart, ensuring that the killer spores burst out in a poisonous cloud.

The use of tape also might suggest the anthrax mailer did not intend to harm postal workers, Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said yesterday.

Six postal workers contracted inhalation anthrax, and two died. Koplan made his remarks during a question-and-answer session after a talk on bioterrorism at Emory University in Atlanta. "The person or persons who did this were probably not expecting the intermediaries in the route to become victims," he said. "It just adds to the tragedy."

The CDC and other agencies have come under fire for not immediately recognizing the lethal danger posed by anthrax spores so tiny they can puff into the air through the pores of paper. The killer apparently also did not recognize the danger.

Two earlier envelopes — mailed to NBC and the New York Post — were not reinforced with tape, according to Daniel Milhalko, spokesman for the Postal Inspection Service.

Koplan seemed to imply yesterday that a fourth letter, mailed to Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), also was reinforced with tape, but Milhalko said he could not confirm that. The Army has the letter.

The Leahy letter, being studied with extra care, had not been opened as of yesterday, but its powdery feel suggests the same finely milled anthrax found in the Daschle letter, Milhalko said. Bacteria cultures in its container registered "high, high amounts of anthrax," he said.

The FBI said yesterday it believes the same person sent both the Daschle and Leahy letters.

In another development, officials said a "scant contamination" of anthrax had been found at two mailroom sites of the Bureau of Prisons in Washington. But they said the amount was so small it was not considered a risk to workers.

The envelope was so thoroughly taped up — its borders, corners, the flaps — that whoever opened it would have had to rip it apart, ensuring that the killer spores burst out in a poisonous cloud

IMO, this is the main reason the anthrax messengers taped up the envelopes so obsessively - the better to kill their intended victims.

No compassionate terrorists here, a la Dr. Koplan of the CDC.

This joker has to be fired ... such idle specualtion from someone in his position in an office of grave responsibility is a dangerous misfeasance.

I agree. And it's not only idle speculation, it's politically correct idle speculation.

Here's another tidbit from andrewsullivan.com...

A HAMAS ODE TO ANTHRAX: Here's a charming "open letter" from a regular columnist for the Hamas Weekly. Usually the columnist writes open letters to various prominent politicians or terrorists. For his latest screed, according to MEMRI (scroll down to item 297), he addressed his thoughts to anthrax:

"Oh Anthrax, despite your wretchedness, you have sown horror in the heart of the lady of arrogance, of tyranny, of boastfulness!
Your gentle touch has made the U.S.'s life rough and pointless. You have filled the lady who horrifies and terrorizes the world with fear, and her feet almost fail to bear [her weight] in horror and fear of you.
Because of you, she has lost confidence in the moment in which she lives, or in which she will live.
You have entered the most fortified of places; [you have entered] the White House and they left it like horrified mice ...
In sound mind, I thank you and confess that I like you, I like you very much. May you continue to advance, to permeate, and to spread.
If I may give you a word of advice, enter the air of those 'symbols,' the water faucets from which they drink, and the pens with which they draft their traps and conspiracies against the wretched peoples ...
Turn the bodies of the tyrants into matches burning slowly and gradually, so that they understand that the truth belongs to Allah and that they should give those entitled to rights their rights."

This is one of the most convincing arguments for extending this war to all such Islamo-fascist terrorist entities that threaten the West. - 11/20/2001 01:46:49 AM [andrewsullivan.com]

What home-grown terrorist would expect a U.S. Senator to open his/her own mail? Is ANY adult individual U.S. citizen that naive? The staff surely can't have been the target. The anthrax must have been intended for the Senators.

I just have trouble believing that anybody smart enough to "work in a lab" and "understand lab procedures" and have access to anthrax in a laboratory setting would also expect a Senator to go through mail personally. I know I could be wrong, here, but it just doesn't add up to me.

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	Police seal off a mailbox yesterday at Church and Worth Sts. in Manhattan, where an envelope with a powdery substance was removed.