Michelle Malkin reminded me that today is the five year anniversary of the anthrax attacks that claimed five lives. She has an excellent post with lots of pictures and links that jogged my memory. I remember being extra careful during that time when I opened my mail. What it reminded me most of though was what the President and his administration were dealing with leading up to the decision to remove Saddam Hussein.
What might have been lost in the debate over what constitutes stockpiles of WMD is that the decision was made not only in the shadow of 9/11, but in the shadow of the anthrax attacks. There was a real fear of what damage even just one briefcase full of anthrax passed to a terrorist cell in the United States could do. Those responsible for the anthrax attacks were never caught. It is probably not something most think about often these days, especially compared to 9/11 and all the horrible acts of terrorism we have seen since, but it is something we should never forget.
I think you meant 4 years ago in reference to Saddam. Five years ago the attention was on who exactly attacked the WTC, and then whether the Taliban was going to protect AQ or not.
The perps were never captured in the Anthrax incidents — Osama bin Laden still walks free. The pattern of Republican incompetence is staggering.
I saw Michelle’s post and link with this comment.
RBT
*****
No, RBT has not gone off the deepend. But here’s something to consider. At least it would be a good start for a Spy vs. Spy thriller.
Yes, it’s a little conspiratorial but the FBI’s Mad Scientist Theory has gone nowhere. The last we heard they were dredging some pond in the DC Area.
Could there be something more here? There’s no question that AQ was involved in anthrax experimentation (*), but perhaps the stuff that went to the Hill was from another source for an entirely different reason – USAMRID, NIH, Pharma industry cover to experiment with vaccine adjuvants with a captive test population the US Military. Think about it. Spike the anthrax threat to stimulate demand for the vaccine that they are using for dosage range studies of squaline as a vaccine adjuvant.
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I didn’t mean to say anything other than what I said. The decision to remove Saddam was made in the shadow of 9/11 — that shadow not being limited to a few days after the attacks, but being the years immediately following. Now that we are five years away from it, so much has faded, and so many have forgotten, but for the year or two following the attacks, the mindset was entirely different. I happen to believe the President has never left that mindset, by the way, and that he has lived in the 9/11 world since then.
Many Americans have gotten comfortable and have forgotten. Until I read Michelle’s post today I had not thought about the anthrax attacks in quite some time. If you look at what the WMD arguments in favor of an Iraq invasion were though, the one mentioned over and over again was a briefcase, or suitcase, full of anthrax being passed to terrorists and smuggled into the US.
Lee…zero attacks in 5 years. some incompetance….even with people trying to dismantle security measures that have been in place for years and trying to repeal the new laws put in place after 9-11.
The Anthrax perps were never caught. The only two congressmen to receive anthrax in the mail were democrats and they received them right around the time of a critical vote on a bill which they both opposed.
The Anthrax story had nothing to do with a reason for attacking Iraq but still has lots of reason to imply further the incompetence of this administration at best and at worst a “vast horrific right wing conspiracy.”