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I never give time frames, because you never know where you'll have sufficient evidence to go public with a prosecution, " Mueller said.

DUGWAY -- The U.S. Army's Dugway Proving Ground was on lockdown Wednesday evening as part of "an ongoing security operation," according to spokeswoman Paula Thomas. Reports of nearly 1,000 employees stranded at the base, some in their cars, went unconfirmed but Dugway Proving Ground Commander Col. William E. King, IV, said food and beverages were being brought in. "As you know measures like these (lockdown of our gates) are not taken lightly," he said. "No one is in immediate danger but these steps are required." King said he would open the gates "as soon as I can." The gates to...

The U.S. military has begun testing massive high-tech dirigibles — designed to provide battlefield commanders with a bird's-eye view of cruise missiles or other threats — in the skies over the Utah desert. An unmanned 242-foot-long balloon was launched Wednesday morning about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. It stayed aloft for about three hours before it was pulled back down as planned, according to Paula Nicholson, a spokeswoman for Dugway Proving Ground. Vast tracts of military-owned desert were chosen for the testing because of their remoteness and resemblance to the mountainous, arid environment of Afghanistan, the military said...

Still No Suspect in 2001 Anthrax Attacks By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP)--The FBI's investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks has yet to produce a suspect but remains active after 28 months, focusing on trying to determine who could have had the expertise to engineer the deadly spores. FBI Director Robert Mueller is briefed each week on the progress of the investigation, dubbed ``Amerithrax'' by the bureau. The FBI considers the case one of the most complex in its 95-year history. ``It is active and ongoing,'' FBI spokesman Ed Cogswell said Tuesday. Anthrax-laced envelopes were mailed in the...

When the anthrax mailers penned the message, "YOU CAN NOT STOP US. WE HAVE THIS ANTHRAX," the threat included a chilling nuance that remains largely unrecognized. "ARE YOU AFRAID?" asked the attackers. "Yes," should have been the answer, according to some biodefense experts, who think that the anthrax spores mailed to Senators Thomas Daschle (D-- SD) and Patrick Leahy (D--VT) in the fall of 2001 represented the state of the art in bioweapons refinement, revealing telltale clues about the source. This view is controversial, however, because others dispute the sophistication of the Senate powder, and a schism now exists among...

Toxic Tugs - Public Poisons by J.B. Stone - 04/17/02 What do Maryland, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, Johnston Atoll, and the Marshall Islands have in common? BioChemical warfare tests were conducted in all of them behind a blinding haze of Cold War secrecy. And hardly a word of warning was ever issued, before during, or afterward the test conductors, subjects, or citizens living in surrounding areas. Marine jets and Army artillery sprayed "harmless simulants" and live biological and chemical agents on unsuspecting citizens for 15 years on land and sea during Operation Deseret. The randomly selected human test rats onboard ships...

Toxic Tugs - Public Poisons by J.B. Stone - 04/17/02 What do Maryland, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, Johnston Atoll, and the Marshall Islands have in common? BioChemical warfare tests were conducted in all of them behind a blinding haze of Cold War secrecy. And hardly a word of warning was ever issued, before during, or afterward the test conductors, subjects, or citizens living in surrounding areas. Marine jets and Army artillery sprayed "harmless simulants" and live biological and chemical agents on unsuspecting citizens for 15 years on land and sea during Operation Deseret. The randomly selected human test rats onboard ships...