Suspect In 2001 Anthrax Attacks Conveniently Turns Up Dead

I always knew that someday I might join the ranks of the conspiracy theorists regarding the US decision to invade Iraq, and today is the day.

What was the tipping point? Well, the reported suicide of Bruce Ivins, a government scientist who works with Anthrax, and was reported to be a "person of interest" by the FBI in the 2001 Anthrax attacks pretty much did it for me.

Those who have good memories will recall that right after September 11, a series of letters showed up in the offices of news organizations and government officials. The hand written missives included sayings like "Allah is Great" and "You will die now". The kicker was that the envelopes contained powdered, weaponized anthrax. The whole thing added a real sense of panic to the country .

Much of that panic was directed at Iraq. Several people made veiledand not so vieled references to Iraq's bioweapon capabilities, including the president in the State of the Union speech that winter. Follow that with a report by ABC news that bentonite had been found in the samples and Saddam Hussien was the only person who used bentonite in his chemical weapons and the smoking gun pointed at Iraq.

How convenient! Now it is well known that the Bush administration wanted to invate Iraq long before 9/11 and Bush operatives had even been quoted as saying that they wanted to find a connection between the World Trade Center disaster and Saddam. Now ABC claimed it had numerous sources in the government who confirmed the bentonite component which would fingerprint Iraq as the culprit.

Follow this with Colin Powel shaking his bottle of white powder in the UN General Assembly and even more sabre rattling and things get pretty suspicious.

Meanwhile the FBI kept up its investigation and first suspected Dr. Steven J. Hatfill a former researcher for the Army's bioweapons division in Ft. Detrick, Md. Though they never brought charges Dr. Hatfill was under intense scrutiny and his status as "Person of Interest" was leaked by the Justice Department when the Iraq connection went cold.

Seems there was no bentonite in the Anthrax that was sent in the attacks. Apparently there never was, and ABC news was duped by at least 4 sources both in the government and outside it.
Glen Greenwald at Salon.com has the full story about that. The troubling thing is that ABC News will not release the names of the sources that gave them the phony story. Again, how convenient.

Meanwhile, Bush had his war going full steam and the Anthrax investigation dissappeared from the public eye. Still the FBI toiled in private seeking the culprit.

Then this June, the government pays off it's "Person of Interest" Dr. Hatfill to the tune of $5.82 million. Dr. Hatfill, is now silent on the whole matter, though that is understandable since his character was assissinated by the Justice Department leak making his life less that fun for the past 7 years.

That leaves us today with this news of Ivin's apparent suicide. According to reports, Ivins suspected that he would be charged opr at least harrassed by the FBI in connection with the case and took an overdose of Tylenol and codine. It is important to note that Ivins was one of the researchers assisting the FBI in the investigation of the anthrax samples in the first place.

Does it take a rocket scientist to connect the obvious dots here?

Whoever sent the Anthrax laden letters wanted them to incriminate Muslim expremists. Apparently they intended terror as the result. Why would a microbiologist worling with Anthrax want to do such a thing?

Here is my theory.

1. Bush wanted war with Iraq, that is no secret, and in a growing number of tell all books former administration officials show a good number of incodents where his intent was clear and how 9/11 became a good excuse to do it.

2. Letters that crudely implicate Islamic terrorists and contain weaponized Anthrax suddenly show up at the National Enquirer, government offices and major new outlets.

3. Someone in the government close to the investigation feeds a false story to ABC news about bentonite and the Iraq connection to the attack.

4. Bush gets his war. Saddam has no Anthrax operation otherwise he would have used it on the invading troops.

5. Meanwhile questions still linger and the public wants someone to blame for the attacks. Conveninetly the DOJ leaks Dr. Hatfill's name. The press drops the issue.

6. Dr. Hatfill is paid off to stay quiet. He most likely has nothing to do with the attack and was by all counts a scapegoat.

7. Bruce Ivins, another "Person of Interest" is found dead of an apparent suicide. How convenient! Perhaps the only other person who could answer the questions of who and why the attacks took place turns up dead.

OK Rocket Scientists, start connecting the dots. When they lead you to the door to Dick Cheney's office, call me. Of course that is unless you decide to committ suicide.