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The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18 , 2001 (after the September 11, 2001 Attacks ). Letters containing Anthrax Bacteria were mailed to several news media offices and two US Senator s, killing five people. The crime currently remains unsolved. OVERVIEW The first set of . Two additional anthrax letters, bearing the same Trenton postmark, were dated October 9 , three weeks after the first mailing. The letters were addressed to two Democratic Senators , Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick Leahy of Vermont . More potent than the first anthrax letters, the material in the Senate letters was a highly refined dry powder consisting of approximately one gram of nearly pure Spores . Some reports described the material in the Senate letters as "weaponized" or "weapons grade" anthrax. The Daschle letter was opened by an aide on October 15 , and the government mail service was shut down. The unopened Leahy letter was discovered in an impounded mail bag on November 16 . The Leahy letter had been misdirected to the State Department mail annex in Sterling, Virginia , due to a misread Zip Code ; a postal worker there, David Hose, contracted inhalation anthrax. Twenty-two people developed anthrax infections, eleven of the life-threatening inhalation variety. Five died of inhalation anthrax. In addition to the death of immigrant from New York City; and Ottilie Lundgren, a 94-year old widow of a prominent judge from Oxford, Connecticut , who was the last known victim. The two other deaths were employees of the Brentwood mail facility in Washington, D.C. , Thomas Morris Jr. and Joseph Curseen. Thousands of people took a two-month course of the Antibiotic Cipro in an effort to preempt anthrax infections. The Associated Press reported that members of Vice President Dick Cheney 's staff took Cipro on the night of the September 11th attacks as a precaution, a week before the first anthrax attack. {Link without Title} INVESTIGATION , anthrax was found in the center mailbox.]] , U.S. Postal Service and ADVO, Inc. ]] As of 2006 , the anthrax investigation seems to have gone cold. Authorities have traveled to four different continents, interviewed more than 8,000 individuals and have issued over 5,000 subpoenas. The number of FBI agents assigned to the case is now 21, ten fewer than a year ago. The number of Postal Inspector s investigating the case is nine. The FBI and Postal Inspector s are in the process of preparing an internal report reviewing the history of the investigation. The report will include a list of " Persons Of Interests " and the latest on the scientific tests used on the anthrax material. Investigators still have not determined the lab used to make the anthrax. ("Little Progress In FBI Probe of Anthrax Attacks", '''', September 17 , 2005 {Link without Title} ) A "person of interest" The Justice Department has named no suspects in the anthrax case. Although Attorney General John Ashcroft labeled Dr. Steven Hatfill a " Person Of Interest " in a Press Conference , no charges have been brought against him. Hatfill, a Virologist , has vehemently denied he had anything to do with the anthrax mailings and has sued the FBI , the Justice Department , John Ashcroft , Alberto Gonzales , and others, for violating his Constitutional rights and for violating the Privacy Act . He has also sued '' The New York Times '' and its columnist Nicholas D. Kristof and, separately, Donald Foster , '' Vanity Fair '', and '' Reader's Digest '', for Defamation . (The case against '' The New York Times '' was initially dismissed, but was reinstated on appeal. Nicholas Kristof has been dropped from the suit. [http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/reuters.html#rtr50728 ) Hatfill's lawyers believe the Privacy Act was violated and continue to question journalists that have reported on their client. [http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=25&sid=754167] The anthrax The letters contained at least two grades of anthrax material; the coarse brown material sent in the media letters and the fine powder sent to the two Senators. In addition, it has been suggested the anthrax material sent to the ''National Enquirer'' and then forwarded to AMI may have been an intermediate grade similar to the anthrax sent to the Senate. {Link without Title} The brown granular anthrax sent to media outlets in New York City caused only skin infections, Cutaneous Anthrax . The anthrax sent to the Senators caused the more dangerous form of infection known as Inhalation Anthrax , as did the anthrax sent to AMI in Florida. Although the anthrax preparations were of different grades, all of the material derived from the same bacterial Strain . Known as the Ames Strain , it was first researched at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute Of Infectious Diseases ( USAMRIID ), Fort Detrick , Maryland . The Ames strain was then distributed to at least fifteen bio-research labs within the US and six overseas. Radiocarbon Dating conducted by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in June 2002 established that the anthrax was Cultured no more than two years before the mailings. In September 2003, the FBI disclosed that experiments aimed at Reverse Engineering the process used to produce the anthrax weapon had failed. [http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1102/111102gsn1.htm Controversy over coatings and additives Early reports suggested the anthrax sent to the Senate had been "weaponized." On October 29 , 2001 , Major General John Parker at a White House briefing said that Silica had been found in the Daschle anthrax sample. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge in a White House press conference on November 7 , 2001 , told reporters that tests indicated a binding agent had been used in making the anthrax. Later, the FBI claimed a "lone individual" could have weaponized anthrax spores for as little as $2,500, using a makeshift basement laboratory. [http://www.ph.ucla.edu/EPI/bioter/lonerlikelyanthrax.html A number of press reports appeared suggesting the Senate anthrax had coatings and additives. {Link without Title} [http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/fbitheorydoubted.html Newsweek reported the anthrax sent to Senator Leahy had been coated with a chemical compound previously unknown to bioweapons experts. [http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/sophisticatedstrainanthrax.html] Two experts on the Soviet anthrax program, Kenneth Alibek and Matthew Meselson , were consultants with the Justice Department and were shown electron micrographs of the anthrax from the Daschle letter. They replied to the '' Washington Post '' article "FBI's Theory on Anthrax Is Doubted" (October 28, 2002) claiming they saw no evidence the anthrax spores had been coated. {Link without Title} . One week after Meselson and Alibek had their letter published in the Washington Post suggesting there were no silica coatings in the Senate anthrax the Armed Forces Institute Of Pathology (AFIP), one of the military labs that analyzed the Daschle anthrax, published an official newsletter stating that silica was a key aerosol enabling component of the Daschle anthrax. The AFIP lab deputy director, Florabel Mullick, said "This [silica was a key component. Silica prevents the anthrax from aggregating, making it easier to aerosolize. Significantly, we noted the absence of aluminum with the silica. This combination had previously been found in anthrax produced by Iraq." In February 2005, Stephan P. Velsko of Lawrence Livermore National Labs published a paper titled "Physical and Chemical Analytical Analysis: A key compoent of Bioforensics" {Link without Title} . In this paper, Velsko illustrated that different silica coating processes gave rise to weaponized anthrax simulants that look completely different from one another. He suggested that the difference in the look of products could provide evidence of what method the lab that manufactured the 2001 anthrax used, and thus provide clues to the ultimate origin of the material. In May 2005, Academic Press published the volume "Microbial Forensics" edited by Roger Breeze, Bruce Budowle and Steven Schutzer. {Link without Title} Bruce Budowle is with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Forensic Science Laboratory. Although the volume does not directly discuss the silica coatings found in the senate anthrax of 2001, the contributors to the chapters discuss in detail the forensics of silica coated weaponized bacterial spores. Pictures are shown of silica weaponized bacillus spores that are both mixed with silica and fully coated with silica. Pictures of weaponized Clostridium spores coated with colloidal (spherical) silica are also shown. Again, the aim of these studies is to define the forensic fingerprints of silica weaponization processes. The Princeton mailbox In August 2002 , investigators found anthrax in a Princeton, New Jersey city street mailbox, which was likely used to mail some or all of the letters. All mailboxes that could have been used to mail the letters (over 300) were tested for anthrax, with only one positive result. The mailbox was located at 10 Nassau Street, which adjoins the Princeton University campus. The return address The letters addressed to Senators Daschle and Leahy have the return address: :4th Grade :Greendale School :Franklin Park NJ 08852 The address is fictitious. Franklin Park, New Jersey exists, but the Zip Code 08852 is for nearby Monmouth Junction, New Jersey . There is no Greendale School in New Jersey. The notes The '' New York Post '' and NBC News letters contained the following note: :09-11-01 :THIS IS NEXT :TAKE PENACILIN {Link without Title} NOW :DEATH TO AMERICA :DEATH TO ISRAEL : ALLAH IS GREAT The second note that was addressed to Senators Daschle and Leahy read: :09-11-01 :YOU CAN NOT STOP US. :WE HAVE THIS ANTHRAX. :YOU DIE NOW. :ARE YOU AFRAID? :DEATH TO AMERICA. :DEATH TO ISRAEL. :ALLAH IS GREAT. The notes were apparently photocopied and then trimmed. {Link without Title} JOURNALISTS Several noted journalists have published major articles which have contributed to the public's understanding of the anthrax case. Dave Altimari and Jack Dolan A number of articles on the anthrax case have appeared in The Hartford Courant , many written by Dave Altimari and Jack Dolan. In their reporting they found incidences of mismanagement, racism, and missing pathogens at the Army's biodefense lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland. William J. Broad William J. Broad writes for the ''New York Times''. Gary Matsumoto Gary Matsumoto is a television producer for Bloomberg News , and an investigative journalist who specializes in science and military affairs, who wrote, "Anthrax Powder - State of the Art?" ('' Science '', November 28 , 2003 ). {Link without Title} In his article, Matsumoto discusses the advanced properties of the anthrax found in the Senate letters. Matsumoto reports that the powder in the Senate letters most closely resembled the advanced aerosols now being made in U.S. bio-defense labs. Scott Shane Scott Shane writing for the '' Baltimore Sun '' and '' New York Times '' has written several articles on the anthrax case.
David Tell David Tell writes for The Weekly Standard , a Neo-conservative publication that has been critical of the FBI's profile of a lone domestic terrorist being involved in the anthrax case.
AMATEUR INVESTIGATORS A number of people outside government have taken an interest in the anthrax case, analyzing clues and developing theories. ("Armchair Sleuths Track Anthrax Without a Badge", '' The Wall Street Journal '', October 14 , 2002 {Link without Title} ) Barbara Hatch Rosenberg Dr. Barbara Hatch Rosenberg has been a major figure outside the official investigation. A few months after the anthrax attack, Rosenberg started a campaign to get the FBI to investigate Dr. Steven Hatfill . She gave talks and interviews suggesting the government knew who was responsible for the anthrax attacks, but did not want to charge the individual with the crime. She believed the person responsible was a contractor for the CIA and an expert in bio-warfare. She created a profile of the anthrax attacker that fit Dr. Hatfill. Rosenberg spoke before a committee of Senate staffers suggesting Hatfill was responsible, but did not explicitly provide his name. The highly publicized FBI scrutiny of Dr. Hatfill began shortly thereafter. Don Foster '', October 2003 ). Unlike other amateur investigators, Foster was an insider in the case and has helped the FBI in the past as a forensic linguistic analyst. Foster believes a series of bio-terror hoaxes trails his prime suspect, Dr. Steven Hatfill . According to Hatfill's defamation lawsuit against Foster, Foster had previously argued based on the writing and language of the letters that the perpetrator could be a foreigner who spoke Arabic or Urdu . The lawsuit cited a October 23 , 2001 appearance by Foster on ABC ’s Good Morning America ; an article that quoted him in the November 5 , 2001 issue of '' TIME ''; and a December 26 , 2001 '' The Times '' article that quoted him. Foster has been accused of exaggerating his own importance and providing misleading testimony in other high profile crime cases. [http://liarunlimited.com/page2.html Ed Lake Ed Lake operates the web site http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com, which contains most if not all of the published information relating to the case. Lake maintains Dr. Steven Hatfill is innocent. Lake believes a scientist who lives near Trenton, New Jersey, mailed the anthrax letters. Lake also believes the anthrax mailer obtained the anthrax from another scientist who stole the bacteria from a laboratory as much as 2 to 3 years before the attacks. Lake has self-published a book, ''Analyzing The Anthrax Attacks''[http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/new-book.html , detailing his findings in the anthrax case. Richard M. Smith Richard M. Smith is a computer expert who publishes on his web site, http://www.computerbytesman.com, which includes a number of articles about the anthrax case. Smith suggested that if the perpetrator looked up information such as addresses on the Internet, web Server Log s may contain valuable evidence. Ross E. Getman Ross E. Getman, a New York and District of Columbia attorney, has a web site http://www.anthraxandalqaeda.com, "Al Qaeda, Anthrax and . Getman was making his claim of Al Qaeda involvement in the anthrax attacks before his April 2005 FOIA request. Robert Pate Robert Pate is the author of the article, "The Anthrax Mystery: Solved." at http://www.anthraxattacks.net. Pate believes Israel 's intelligence service was responsible for the anthrax attack and set-up Dr. Hatfill with a series of Anthrax Hoaxes that occurred, starting in 1997. Pate suggests Israel's motive in the anthrax attack was to get the United States to invade Iraq . A number of Israelis believed to have been spies were arrested on September 11, 2001. "The FBI believes that most of the arrested Israelis belong to an Israeli intelligence unit operating outside New Jersey, near where the Anthrax letters were mailed." {Link without Title} Kenneth J. Dillon Kenneth J. Dillon is the author of the article "Was ). Dillon also argues that the anthrax originated in a clandestine British bioweapons program. COMMENTS FROM BIO-WEAPONS EXPERTS Kenneth Alibek "I would say preliminarily that they terrorists are not very highly trained professionals." "It could be homegrown or foreign. I cannot answer this question." "It was a primitive process, but it was a workable process." {Link without Title} William C. Patrick III "It’s high-grade." "It’s free flowing. It’s electrostatic free. And it’s in high concentration." "It appears to have an additive that keeps the spores from clumping." "The only difference between this and weapons grades is the size of the production. You can produce a very good grade of anthrax in the lab. The issue is whether those efforts can be expanded in scale, so you can make large quantities." {Link without Title} "The fact that they have selected the Ames strain, a hot strain of anthrax, indicates to me that they know what the hell they are doing." "Sometimes, I feel that a disgruntled professor who didn't get tenure is working at night in his little laboratory and producing this crud." "But I can't discount the possibility that it could be coming in by diplomatic pouch from a large supply. I can't answer it. I can't make up my mind. I really don't know." {Link without Title} Richard O. Spertzel "In my opinion, there are maybe four or five people in the whole country who might be able to make this stuff, and I'm one of them." "And even with a good lab and staff to help run it, it might take me a year to come up with a product as good." {Link without Title} "I do not believe science will identify the laboratory or country from which the present anthrax spores are derived. The quality of the product contained in the letter to Senator Daschle was better than that found in the Soviet, US or Iraqi BW program, certainly in terms of the purity and concentration of spore particles." "I have maintained from the first descriptions of the material contained in the Daschle letter that the quality appeared to be such that it could be produced only by some group that was involved with a current or former state program in recent years. The level of knowledge, expertise, and experience required and the types of special equipment required to make such quality product takes time and experimentation to develop. Further, the nature of the finished dried product is such that safety equipment and facilities must be used to protect the individuals involved and to shield their clandestine activity from discovery." {Link without Title} COMMENTS FROM GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS Tom Carey Tom Carey was inspector in charge of the FBI Amerithrax investigation from October 2001 to April 2002. On the mailings of the letters, "What we do have and what we do know is that the anthrax was mailed here in the United States; we know it was mailed from 10 Nassar Street, Princeton, New Jersey, from a mailbox. We know the flow of the mail flow, we know the dates that the letters were sent, and it would appear to many of us that have worked this investigation, that it’s much more consistent with someone being an American-born, and having some level of familiarity with the Princeton-Clinton New Jersey area versus a foreign operative coming into the US and being able to successfully conduct such an attack." On an Iraqi connection, "What I would say is the information that came out there that led weapons inspectors and others to suspect the Iraq connection was wrong information. Now it doesn’t say we still wouldn’t look for any potential connection to Iraq, or rather any other States sponsored terrorist, but what they specifically referred to didn’t exist, and it was misinformation." ("Anthrax: a Political Whodunit", ABC Radio National , November 17, 2002. {Link without Title} ) James Fitzgerald FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit "We don't have any evidence at this point linking this to any more than one person." "We're not ruling anything out." "But we're looking in the direction of that being domestic." "He is an opportunist and took advantage of this as a veil of secrecy." {Link without Title} Ari Fleischer White House Press Secretary "The quality anthrax sent to Senator Daschle's office could be produced by a Ph.D. microbiologist and a sophisticated laboratory." {Link without Title} AFTERMATH Contamination and cleanup Dozens of buildings were contaminated with anthrax as a result of the mailings. American Media, Inc. moved to a different building. The decontamination of the Brentwood postal facility took 26 months and cost US$130 million. The Hamilton, NJ postal facility remained closed until March 2005 ; its cleanup cost US$65 million. The Environmental Protection Agency spent US$41.7 million to clean up government buildings in Washington, D.C. One FBI document said the total damage exceeded US$1 billion. {Link without Title} The principal means of decontamination is Fumigation with Chlorine Dioxide gas. Political effects The anthrax attacks, as well as the September 11, 2001 Attacks , have spurred significant increases in U.S. government funding for biological warfare research and preparedness. For example, biowarfare-related funding at the National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases ( NIAID ) increased by US$1.5 billion in 2003 . In 2004 , Congress passed the Project Bioshield Act , which provides US$5.6 billion over ten years for the purchase of new vaccines and drugs. ("Taking biodefense too far", '' Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists '', November/December 2004 {Link without Title} ). Some claim the hysteria and fear caused by the anthrax attacks was a key factor in the passage of the now controversial USA PATRIOT Act and the United States Senate authorizing President Bush to go to war against Iraq. {Link without Title} Many states across the U.S. passed laws making Hoax es more serious crimes than they were previous to the attacks. Health Years after the attack, several anthrax victims reported lingering health problems including fatigue, shortness of breath and memory loss. The cause of the reported symptoms is unknown. ("Anthrax survivors find life a struggle", '' The Baltimore Sun '', September 18 , 2003 ) {Link without Title} . A Postal Inspector , William Paliscak, became severely ill and disabled after removing an anthrax-contaminated air filter from the Brentwood mail facility on October 19 , 2001 . Although his doctors believe that the illness was caused by anthrax exposure, blood tests did not find Anthrax Bacteria or Antibodies , and therefore the CDC does not recognize it as a case of inhalation Anthrax . ("After a Shower of Anthrax, an Illness and a Mystery", '' The New York Times '', June 7 , 2005 ) {Link without Title} TIMELINE Tom Brokaw was one of the targets in the first mailing.]] The attacks
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