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Did White House Officials Pressure the FBI to Blame Anthrax Attacks on Al Qaeda?

By Chris Nolan, Majikthise. Posted August 6, 2008.


The source's account seems plausible in light of the Bush administration's extensive record of public deception.
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An interesting item from Saturday's New York Daily News:

WASHINGTON - In the immediate aftermath of the 2001 anthrax attacks, White House officials repeatedly pressed FBI Director Robert Mueller to prove it was a second-wave assault by Al Qaeda, but investigators ruled that out, the Daily News has learned.

After the Oct. 5, 2001, death from anthrax exposure of Sun photo editor Robert Stevens, Mueller was "beaten up" during President Bush's morning intelligence briefings for not producing proof the killer spores were the handiwork of terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden, according to a former aide.

"They really wanted to blame somebody in the Middle East," the retired senior FBI official told The News.

On October 15, 2001, President Bush said, "There may be some possible link" to Bin Laden, adding, "I wouldn't put it past him." Vice President Cheney also said Bin Laden's henchmen were trained "how to deploy and use these kinds of substances, so you start to piece it all together."

But by then the FBI already knew anthrax spilling out of letters addressed to media outlets and to a U.S. senator was a military strain of the bioweapon. "Very quickly [Fort Detrick, Md., experts] told us this was not something some guy in a cave could come up with," the ex-FBI official said. "They couldn't go from box cutters one week to weapons-grade anthrax the next. [NYDN]

This item relies on anonymous sources. I'd like to a name attached to these claims.

The source's account seems plausible in light of the Bush administration's extensive record of public deception on matters pertaining to national security.

Digg!

See more stories tagged with: bush, saddam hussein, anthrax, fbi, al-qaeda, bruce ivins

Lindsay Beyerstein a New York writer blogging at Majikthise.

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Trying to tie this to Al Qaeda makes sense if you consider...
Posted by: Quannah on Aug 6, 2008 11:02 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
what Ron Suskind has said in his new book. If you factor in that the White House phoneyed up the document from the Head of Iraqi Intelligence, Mr. Habbush, to Saddam Hussein, telling him that Muhammed Atta had "completed his training in Iraq" -- which attempted to tie 9/11 to Saddam Hussein, they could have said that Saddam Hussein supplied Al Qaeda with the weapons-grade anthrax used in the letters here.

The administration was trying to make as many connections as possible between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein in order to justify the attack on Iraq. This was supposed to be just one more piece in that puzzle.

The fact that it didn't go anywhere is irrelevant. They were going to do it anyway.

The hubris with which this administration operates on a daily basis is stunning. Look how much of what they have done has been known for years, but the dam is about to burst. There is a steady stream of information coming out now about the extent of their crimes.

If this country has ever needed a Special Prosecutor to dig into the crimes committed by a sitting President and his administration, IT IS RIGHT NOW.

This administration is a criminal syndicate that would make the Cosa Nostra green with envy.

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