FBI mystified by anthrax attacks

USA Today ^ | 24 June 2002 | Ana Radelat, Gannett News Service

[Ordinary_American]

WASHINGTON

[Solid Oak]

Does anybody know why the FBI continues to dismiss the possibility of a foreign (terrorist) source. Didn't they find anthrax lab materials in Afganistan? I don't understand why the FBI is so sure the terrorist is domestic. Anybody have a clue?

[from occupied ga]

I don't understand why the FBI is so sure the terrorist is domestic. Anybody have a clue?

Couple of reasons. One, the strain was a Fort Detrich strain. Two, in any crime follow the money. Who gets the money after biowar attack? Why, what a surprise - government agencies. The freedom hating CDC gets hundreds of millions. The NIH gets a big chunk of change. The various federal secret police agencies get lots money that was looted from the taxpayers.

My guess that it was some government scientist who decided to cut his/her agency in on the free flow of taxpayer pelf after the 9/11 attack. It's the only scenario that makes sense.

Further, it explains why the FBI is having such a difficult time tracking down the guilty. They don't really want to.

[My Identity]

the FBI says it has no suspect and hopes the public will provide a missing clue.

Um...try looking at Islamist terrorists.
Especially those from al Qaeda with Iraqi connections.
I'm told someone there has a list of names.

Oh, and send my reward money to Jim Robinson at Free Republic.

[Ordinary_American]

Various possibilities provided by My_Identity include:
- Smarts: the FBI, at the behest of the admin, is sowing disinfo while the military prepares for war.
("disinformation" is a comforting possibility, but not nearly a certainty)
- Liberalism: FBI management, promoted during the 90s, really believe the RW nut scenario.
(unfortunately, this is at least as likely as the "disinfo" campaign)
- Organizational vanity: The FBI, pop-psych profile in hand, is forcing the case to fit the profile.
(profiles have media glamour, but are easily subjected to political forces)
- Bureaucratic entropy: The FBI's mission and training focus is on domestic crime-fighting.
(when all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail)
- Revisionism: FBI's focus on domestic extremists led to disasters at Ruby Ridge and Waco.
(therefore, a domestic, RW, anthrax nut would prove the FBI was "correct" all-along)
- Policy Problems: Faulty evidence rules and case policies from the 90's badly affect investigations.
(Rank-and-file grumblings: Trie; Wen-Ho Lee; Moussaoui; flight schools; OKC; etc.)
- Stoolie: The FBI is attempting to protect a mole or some other source of info.
(maybe they have someone on the inside, but it seems unlikely)
- CYA: They're covering for some yet-unknown, internal lapse or action.

[Silverdrake]

I wondered about the domestic focus, myself. Could be (as irt Jewell) an instance of CYA by not pointing fingers before they have their ducks in a row. Remember, also, that when the Oklahoma City bombing occured, the first accusations regarded foreign terrorism, and they wound up with egg on their faces when it turned out to be domestic.

Then again, perhaps orders came down from 'on high' not to rock the international boat before everyone else's ducks (tanks, bombers, etc.) are in a row. Should something turn up that leads overseas, it would be more effective irt international relations that they did first look domestically. This is assuming, of course, that no muckety-muck ties his reputation into the domestic hypothesis to the point where foreign leads wind up getting quashed. >:p

It just burns me up that Boxer, et al. are now screaming "the FBI is spending too much time reorganizing itself into an anti-terrorism bureaucracy" when it was *they* who demanded the FBI do just that! >:{~

[Ordinary_American]

"Harp and the rest of his team hope someone comes forward with the "small kernel of information that we need" to break the case — just like Kaczynski's brother did."

Or maybe the FBI, quite literally, doesn't have a clue.

[John H K]

Um...try looking at Islamist terrorists. Especially those from al Qaeda with Iraqi connections. I'm told someone there has a list of names.

They already did. The domestic focus didn't begin immediately after the attacks started (though I'm sure you'll see people who enjoy being outraged spin it that way); they knocked themselves out trying to find the slightest credible link to the 9/11 hijackers or any foreign terrorists, and turned up absolutely nothing.

[maica]

Your various reasons for apparent FBI focus on a domestic source of the anthrax, sadly ring so true. So often when I think that professionals, within their sphere of expertise, can't possibly all miss the point, I am proved wrong.

I would hope that their message is disinformation and they already know that Mohammed Atta got it on his last trip to Europe before Sept 11. That it originated from Iraq and the accomplices who dropped the letters in the mail are either dead or incarcerated.

[Semper Paratus]

Or maybe the FBI, quite literally, doesn't have a clue.

Right now the FBI couldn't find their ass if they had a map and a flashlight.

They need a new Hoover.
Is Rudi G. available?

[The Great Satan]

Yes, officer, that's the man!