Cheney and Rove are the epitome of evil. Pure evil. They would have fit very well in the movie CONSPIRACY. (Go read about it at imdb.com)

So if it ever came out that he was indeed the architect of the evil behind the anthrax attacks I would not be even a little surprised.

Vindicated yes.

Surprised....no.

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But, I also think that Scooter Libby may have been involved too. Remember they nicknamed him "Germ Boy." Now why is that?

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Either it's a conspiracy theory, or Cheney grossly overestimated the resolve of Democratic senators to fight for our right to privacy.

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"9/11 happened on Bush's watch...but they did nothing -- absolutely nothing."

You not only lose the bet but the entire shooting match. BushCo did far more than "absolutely nothing". Their NeoCon machine stonewalled and obstructed even the official DC 9/11 whitewash that Kean and Hamilton don't stand behind.

GW BushCo starring Cheney and the rest of that sordid NeoCon crew were certainly capable of aiding and abetting any number of treacherous acts including the Anthrax business and (of course) a 9/11 coverup directly responsible for utterly false 9/11 "war on terror" that has turned the globe upside down for blood money genocide on the public nickel.

HOWEVER, Bush/Cheney remain temp mid-level players in or out of Washington. Hence the weekly visits by Henry Kissinger and others for their ruling class playbook.

The last genuine president that occupied the White House was JFK and anyone with a remote clue well understands no magic bullet brought him down.

Here's the official JFK stand on the subject of conspiracies:

“For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence, on infiltration instead of invasion; on subversion instead of elections; on intimidation instead of free choice…It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned. No rumor is printed. No secret is revealed.”
President JFK (address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association 4/27/1961)

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Obviously we have a considerable number of pure "nuts" within the US. One of them has written this article. If I were Bush or Cheny I'd ask you to meet me out by the woodshed where I'd just pound you to dust. What an idiot!

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I have always contended that the anthrax attacks were designed to do one thing: Bug the Congressional Offices of all the members of Congress. If I had any doubt of that, you only need to see how people from both parties caved in to BushCo over the years, against their otherwise sane judgments. It would only take one breakfast or working lunch in private with Bush and Cheney and the next thing you know, impeachment is off the table; torture bills and surveillance bills are passed; war funding bills are passed. And, lest we forget, John McCain sells out on every bill that BushCo wants! Gee, think there is a pattern here!?!

BushCo has bugged DC and is blackmailing half of Congress, and they used the lives of those who died from anthrax exposure not only to test a WMD, but to cover up their Congressional surveillance. Maybe that is why the Congress has no problem passing surveillance bills - they want everyone to feel like they do now!

It is time to arrest these madmen, and let the Congressional skeletons fall where they may. If not, count on the November election either being stolen or nullified with a declaration of martial law when this Administration causes another man-made disaster that kills thousands!

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Hindsight and Logic are a few of the Of Our species unique abilities- it's time we use them.
so there is irrefutable proof they lied about Iraq, Corp record breaking profits,numerous Constitutional rights & freedoms revoked, economic drain circling,too many to count politicians indicted or implicated in corruption, another (Oil) drum beat towards two more military interventions (Iran & Russia)...Need I go on? and of course this convenient Suicide of the 'mad Scientist'- who apparently the military could not idenitfy and had no protocals in place to avoid such a possiblity.
Isn't it time we take the yellow brick road back a few more miles ...to 9/11.
I have no idea if this admin (CheneyCorp) worked directly with his old buddy Binny for the attack which began this 7 yrs of criminal activities- this quest for a New World Order, but it sure came in handy to get the ball rolling. Also the FACT that the reason we suffered those attacks were a direct result of Corps flying our flag in the M.E. with the help of the Royals who have also benefited greeatly fromthis business venture.I distinctly remember Americans Screaming to get out of that region in the '70's. I was shocked but not surprised on 9/11. But instead of admitting the targets were PURELY the MIC's the admin and their minions mantra was "They hate US forour freedoms"- Who has shown they have hated US for our way of life more than this admin with their actions since.
If you can finally admit to yourself this admin had something to do with the Anthrax attacks, logic dictates they may very well have been involved with the 'ground zero' event too.
The first time I ever heard "New World Order" it came out of Cheneys old puppet 41, H.W.- a slip, a confession , a Warning?
I was creeped by W & DICK as soon as I laid eyes on them together and have spent the last 7 yrs having my worst fears realized and vindicated.When it comes to this admin the 'Tin Hats' explaination adds up far more easily then any 'logic' they have claimed
KISS- Keep it simple stupid- these guys have committed crimes against US & Humanity. Hitler was just a Man too- History has given us all examples of these diabolical tendencies- it's time to admit it - we have home grown Evil men in Power and we have inflicted them on the rest of the world.

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I always thought it was rather interesting that the politicians who received anthrax powder in the mail were all Democrats. The only people who died, however, were innocent civilians.

I am still questioning why it took until the end of Bush's second term to "close" this case.

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Cheney is capable-and has proven willing,to do whatever is "necessary" to further his own agenda.This white house has no scruples,no morals,no regards for human life,etc. As Cheney said "it's our due". They should be impeached,and when found guilty,put in prison where they belong.
This,from the party that was "outraged" that the Clinton's lost $$ on a land deal,and that Bill had an affair? Horrors!

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PNAC has pushed for the use of bioweapons as a
"politically useful tool" since 1997. The 2001
attack via spore laced letters were not the last
time it was deployed. In September '05
tularemia was released on an antiwar march on
the mall in DC. The neocons will use them again.

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Has the FBI pinpointed their man--after hounding him to suicide? No way! As soon as the anthrax attacks occurred it was obvious that the attacks were aimed at killing public figures perceived as liberals.

Who does that sort of thing? Only fanatically NeoCon(federate) domestic terrorists with connections to the DOD. As for connections, we all knew that Bush, Cheney, Rummy and our sweetly-singing Attorney General Asscrap--sorry, spelled that wrong, I think--adored the militia mentality. Other than the bloated super-rich, the religious nuts and paranoid fanatics are their most avid supporters.

If Obama is elected, watch out! Domestic terrorists, fearing the end of their 8-year coddling, will set off terrorist episodes to make Oklahoma City look like a picnic in the park.

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This is the kind of article progressive alternate media should be presenting. It is about time.

This type of analysis about the anthrax attacks and 9/11 have been kept from the public by our traitorous mainstream media.

Maybe other news sources will now muster the courage to follow Alternet's lead.

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How about calling it what it is:

The first terrorist attack using WMD against Americans by the American government.

American media is complicit in the Anthrax attack.

As published in Counterpunch:

"If the now-deceased Ivins really was the culprit behind the attacks," Greenwald writes, "then that means that the anthrax came from a U.S. Government lab, sent by a top U.S. Army scientist at Ft. Detrick. Without resort to any speculation or inferences at all, it is hard to overstate the significance of that fact. From the beginning, there was a clear intent on the part of the anthrax attacker to create a link between the anthrax attacks and both Islamic radicals and the 9/11 attacks."

Greenwald continues: "Much more important than the general attempt to link the anthrax to Islamic terrorists, there was a specific intent -- indispensably aided by ABC News -- to link the anthrax attacks to Iraq and Saddam Hussein."

ABC claimed it had been told by "four well-placed and separate sources" that the anthrax used in the September attack contained bentonite, which therefore suggested it was produced in Iraq. As Greenwald points out, "That means that ABC News' 'four well-placed and separate sources' fed them information that was completely false." In all likelihood, "the same Government lab where the anthrax attacks themselves came from was the same place where the false reports originated that blamed those attacks on Iraq. ... Surely the question of who generated those false Iraq-anthrax reports is one of the most significant and explosive stories of the last decade."

Yet, Americans are falling for the US government propaganda coming out against Iran.

Hopeless...

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There is an enormous gap between contending what someone COULD do and proving what they DID do. Mr Karlin doesn't seem able to differentiate the two. I hope he never has the opportunity to preside over a case involving anything I am charged with.

Chaney and Bush are demonstrably ignorant, incompetent, and dishonest in much of their work, but it does not help our cause to adopt their sloppy uses of evidence and logic to make challenging cases against them. So, let's start by getting Mr Karlin's "facts" right.

1. I believe Karlin was referring to Richard C. Clarke, not a Robert Clarke, regarding the briefings warning Rice and Bush about Bin Laden's pending attacks. That may seem small, but if you blow the evidence that can easily be checked, you lose the credibility necessary to believe what is harder to check.

2. The Bush administration was lazy and dishonest in using the yellowcake documents as evidence, but they got them from the Italians. A credible case has never been established that the Bush Administration bothered to create them, just that they were purely selective and opportunistic in their evidence gathering, and unwilling to reconsider their position once the British, Italians, and ultimately the CIA began to question their authenticity.

I recognize that the mere idea that such a dishonest and damaging administration is still in power can generate an acute emotional response, and I personally hold ALL current Representatives and Senators accountable for the fact that they are not already in jail, based on what can be legally established. Having conceeded that, I think it behooves us all to set one standard of justice for everyone (independent of party, rank, or ideology) and then get back to the hard work of holding officials accountable through a consistent system of due process. To get there, we need to be responsible in forming the charges we assert, lest the legitimate chages get thrown out with the fantasy charges.

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I used to think this sort of stuff was pure nut-cluster tinfoil hat looney.

Then I learned about Operation Northwoods. That sounded absolutely looney too, but it is an official document, signed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and certified by the Dept. of Defense. That's when I realized just what our government is capable of, even before Bush and Cheney.

Now that I know the new rules, I can easily believe this, but it would take an all out revolution on the scale of France in 1789 to uncover the evidence.

So we'll never know for sure.

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I used to poo-poo all these types of articles. And then Bush and Cheny came to town. Now I accept many conspiracy theories that come by- because I have seen so many things that I now have to believe them. If you had told me 10 years ago that America would defend torture as acceptable and right- and almost no one in the media would challange it- I would have laughed you out of town.

There are so many things that have happened that prove conspiracy- like the missing weapons of mass destructions- that I have to pay attention to them.

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"We don't generally get into conspiracy theories, because by their very nature they are theories for which factual evidence doesn't exist. If the corroborating details are there, then it isn't a theory; it's fact."

How interesting -- if the author would do some reading and watch a couple of DVDs, he would see that the FACTS do not support the administration's explanation of 9/11. Not only that, but the very authors of the official story wrote a book explaining why they couldn't really get at the facts --i.e., the administration withheld both funding and information, as well as actively impeding the investigation itself by destroying crucial evidence. No, the FACTS point towards direct involvement of the Bush administration in planning and implementing the 9/11 attacks. Check it out for yourself -- 9/11 truth. Why is is so hard for Americans to see the Cheney hand in 9/11? Why can't we confront the truth of this event? Until we do, we will not be able to take back this country.

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Just when I thought Alternet could not be more idiotic, an article like this is written. Anyone who believes all the conspiracies you tout here are complete morons.

For one thing, the "conspiracies" you claim, if they were true, are clumsy, ill-planned, and horribly executed. There would have to be far too many people involved to keep these "evil plans" a secret. Take this anthrax case. One man, who was disturbed, carried it out.

You watch to many Dr. Evil movies. No one is sitting around laughing with evil laughs, trying to plot the enslavement of mankind. Get a life, and get a job. Good grief!

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A little history please.... Remember the Reagan/Bush era? As an adult? Then we must recall Arab Scam. The little game of 'both ends anainst the middle' we played with Iran and Iraq. We also remember it was deemed illegal for any American company to dealarm and other death toys to the folks in Iran.
Well.... as head of haliburton,Dick did just that. Commited TREASON and sold arms to Iran making millions i personal wealth. His punisment?? becomming VP.
Now we know from past documentation that better than half of the so-called 'terrorists' learned to fly passenger jets right here in the
good ol' USA, HMMMMM. The anthrax that was allegded to be used as a weapon was made here too,HMMMM. We also know the Dickster has a few underground bunkers to live in,HMMMM. We also know at the height of the anthrax scare the Dickster was no where to be found,HMMMM.
Dickster has a man-sized safe in his office,HMMM As well as making his own topsecret security stamps for ALL his messages,HMMM,and of course the whole shot a top Texas republican in the face thingy.
This asshole thin ks he's above the law,beyond the law ans superceeds the law.
How could we even trust that he's not behind the anthrax attacks or 9/11 for that matter. This slimeball has been in DC for generations,his best friend was head of the CIA, Lil Bush's daddy, and his total 'worth' in over a billion dollars. He worked for and still has his fingers in a corporation that makes gobs of money supplyinggear to the sub- militaries of the world,not just us, They make money off disasters and have a private army.
So tell me again why this grub that's not fit to wear the human costume he's in is still with us. Great protection. This guy is a walking,talking double condom wrapped Dick.
He has the blessings of the RNC and almost blanket immunity. If McCain gets in he'll pardon the whole bunch of them like Ford did to Nixon,and we all know how that worked out for the American people. This Dick is a blight on the American people. If you think he's not involved up to his eyeballs in this anthrax 9/11 scam,then my friend,you're being pissed on and loving it.

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AlterNet will not tolerate attacks on writers or readers but will tolerate personal attacks on the people they write about.

Is this news or just complaining?
We vote these people into power and complain about it, act as if there is nothing we can do.

Is our government base on having three branches agree in order for bills and laws to pass?

How can one point the finger just at the president when it is our congress and senators voting to pass the laws? so if you blame one blame them all.

If the people in your state will not stand up for you, their own state and/or for the constitution, why are you supporting them?

You are apart of this country so

when are you going to starting acting instead of complaining?

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that if Cheney had been born in Germany and in the pre-Hitler era, he'd have "grown up" to be in charge of at least one of the death camps. Further, he'd have enjoyed his "responsibility".

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Cheney exposed himself on Meet the Press when he talked about working the dark side. Because of his comment, we must suspect dick of commanding that dark side. He was in the underground bunker on the morning of 9/11 shouting the stand-down orders to the young man while poor puppet bush was in the classroom reading My Pet Goat.

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Please note how many of Bush & Cheney's poorly organized plans have already been exposed. Illegal wire taps. Torture, Secret military trials etc.

The only thing that really would surprise me would be if they ever hatched a plan that could remain hidden.

They are inept bunglers, made all the more dangerous by a Congress that let's anything they do slide.

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I wish someone at Alternet could explain why their "editorial policy" is to treat 9/11 truthers as conspiratorial nut jobs and then entertain thoughts that our vice president is a villainous murderer. Which is it.. Are you thinking that he is capable of this plan and not one that insures the take over in the middle east would be accepted by the Ameican people?

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From where I stand, I am a conspiracy fan of what this government and the elite are doing to this earth. Whether 9/11 was an inside job is actually irrelevant to me now, because, I know that either way they used the events to further their own agenda.

I could take the bet that weaponized anthrax was made by our own government and whether or not directly used by "terrorists." Its all very clear, that safety is the number one concern to Americans and that government will provide that "safety" even if it means making an example out of a few Americans.

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He merely points out that they have the moral depravity to do something like that. It's a valid point but not even close to being the same as arguing that they were the actual culprits.

In fact, at no point to the author make any argument that the anthrax attacks were a Bush & Co. act. Of course, the resident conspiracy-mongers are so desparate for anything even remotely resembling validation that they'll grasp at any straw.

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I haven't read anything in here that implicates them in the attacks. This article seems to be conspiracy theory run amock again. When some evidence comes in let me know and we'll start procedures for mass trials and executions.

Anyway, it is irrelevant if the only thing we can get out of it is the removal and execution of Bush/Cheney etc. They have already broken enough laws to attain that result if we only had the political will to make it happen. We don't need some unproven theories to add to what we already have.

Provide evidence, however, and it won't mean squat whether you are a democrat or republican. We may disagree but we all love our country and want to protect it. The fury and fear generated by actions like this would be an excellent way to unite Americans, at least long enough to face a common enemy. God have mercy on these people in that case because we wouldn't.

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Why are Americans so willing to believe the US government's "official story of 911" or the anthrax attacks for that matter?

We all know that the US government lies like a rug. Does anyone really take their unemployment statistics at face value? Or their inflation statistics? The Kennedy assassination was never properly investigated. The story of the King assassination was proven bogus by William Pepper.

The question we need to ask is Cui bono? (literally "as a benefit to whom?")

Who profited from 911 and the anthrax attacks? Who stuffed their pockets with gobs of money? That's the ONLY question.

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Especially when applied to THIS 'Government' and FACTS support them!

You COULD have easily added the Risin incident that happened in Nevada last year. ANOTHER Weapons grade chemical 'found' its way into the Public domain and was blown off as ONE Guy 'processing' it into weapons grade on His Kitchen table! I have no doubt He could MAKE Ricin on His Kitchen table, But I sincerely DOUBT it would be WEAPONS GRADE!

'Conspiracy Theories' do NOT ALL fall into the category of GARBAGE, regardless of how HARD People TRY to make them SEEM that they do!

IF Cheney (or anyone in this adminstration with access) WAS behind the Anthrax incident, couldn't it be possible the Ricin incident was given out as a reminder People could STILL be 'controlled' or 'targeted'?

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As Glen Greenwald writes in Salon:

"Much more important than the general attempt to link the anthrax to Islamic terrorists, there was a specific intent -- indispensably aided by ABC News -- to link the anthrax attacks to Iraq and Saddam Hussein.

During the last week of October, 2001, ABC News, led by Brian Ross, continuously trumpeted the claim as their top news story that government tests conducted on the anthrax -- tests conducted at Ft. Detrick -- revealed that the anthrax sent to Daschele contained the chemical additive known as bentonite. ABC News, including Peter Jennings, repeatedly claimed that the presence of bentonite in the anthrax was compelling evidence that Iraq was responsible for the attacks, since -- as ABC variously claimed -- bentonite "is a trademark of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's biological weapons program" and "only one country, Iraq, has used bentonite to produce biological weapons."

ABC News' claim -- which they said came at first from "three well-placed but separate sources," followed by "four well-placed and separate sources" -- was completely false from the beginning. There never was any bentonite detected in the anthrax (a fact ABC News acknowledged for the first time in 2007 only as a result of my badgering them about this issue). It's critical to note that it isn't the case that preliminary tests really did detect bentonite and then subsequent tests found there was none. No tests ever found or even suggested the presence of bentonite. The claim was just concocted from the start. It just never happened.

That means that ABC News' "four well-placed and separate sources" fed them information that was completely false -- false information that created a very significant link in the public mind between the anthrax attacks and Saddam Hussein. And look where -- according to Brian Ross' report on October 28, 2001 -- these tests were conducted:

And despite continued White House denials, four well-placed and separate sources have told ABC News that initial tests on the anthrax by the US Army at Fort Detrick, Maryland, have detected trace amounts of the chemical additives bentonite and silica.

Two days earlier, Ross went on ABC News' World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and, as the lead story, breathlessly reported:

The discovery of bentonite came in an urgent series of tests conducted at Fort Detrick, Maryland, and elsewhere.

Clearly, Ross' allegedly four separate sources had to have some specific knowledge of the tests conducted and, if they were really "well-placed," one would presume that meant they had some connection to the laboratory where the tests were conducted -- Ft. Detrick. That means that the same Government lab where the anthrax attacks themselves came from was the same place where the false reports originated that blamed those attacks on Iraq.

It's extremely possible -- one could say highly likely -- that the same people responsible for perpetrating the attacks were the ones who fed the false reports to the public, through ABC News, that Saddam was behind them. What we know for certain -- as a result of the letters accompanying the anthrax -- is that whoever perpetrated the attacks wanted the public to believe they were sent by foreign Muslims. Feeding claims to ABC News designed to link Saddam to those attacks would, for obvious reasons, promote the goal of the anthrax attacker(s)."

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because Unfit McCain will win in November and continue hiding Dick Cheney's criminal activities. Not spreading anthrax spores, in my opinion, but most certainly his reasons for getting us into Iraq (money, money, money). Plus there's that secret 2001 meeting he had with oil company bigwigs.

Since the rightwing GOP has so much to lose in November -- most importantly, exposure of White House crimes and misdemeanors -- I contend the RNC will do anything short of assassination to win the election.

I especially feel that way after watching Christopher Dickey recently on C-SPAN. Newsweek's Paris bureau chief, he was new to me but not his father, James Dickey, author of the unforgettable 1970 novel, Deliverance.

Like me, the younger Dickey was raised in the Deep South. Using his childhood experience to open doors and minds, he recently toured Republican red states and chatted with the locals. Based on numerous interviews during the trip, he anecdotally concluded that racism is alive and well throughout the South.

Combining frank conversations with various opinion polls, Dickey believes even if 100% of black people vote for Obama, they won't offset the number of white citizens -- Democrats, Republicans and independents -- who don't want a man of color in the White House.

Yet, at the same time, many bigots favor a Democrat-controlled Congress. Never mind that Herr Busch and the goose-stepping GOP has turned the U.S. presidency into a "unitary" executive, with virtually unlimited dictatorial authority over our lives. Thanks to the War Powers Act, Patriot Act, signing statements and Republican Stepford wives in the Senate and House of Representatives, four years under a McCain administration will probably be our nation's tipping point.

While the rest of the world shakes its collective head in disbelief, this sweet land of liberty my ancestors fought and died for, starting with the American Revolution, will plunge into the dustbin of history as a failed democracy.

With love,

*Hugh E. Scott, Vietnam vet, lifelong registered Republican and ardent Obama supporter.
Seven Reasons to Vote Against Unfit McCain

*For the benefit of first-time AlterNet visitors to give context to this comment.

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Crazy conspiracy theories continues to haunt us and does us no good - 9/11 insider job theories make us look like fools. This one is no better!

Dream as we want, there are other nuts out there besides Bush and Cheney that are capable of terrorists acts.

I'm still trying to figute out if LBJ had anything to do with JFK's death, thats the most plausable of them all.

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John Gotti & the Gambino mafia are probably just dumbfounded that "they" are the people that have been prosecuted and hounded, and yet, the thugs and gangsta's that are running this government are walking around like their hands have no blood on them. The Mafia had hit-men, these thugs have the U.S. Military along with their own mercenary Army doing their hits!

According to Bush's own pre 2000 election -"the adults" are taking over, ha, ha, ha,! Bush the illiterate, non-quisitive, doesn't feel he should apologize for anything, and his handler Chaney should both be under the jail!

While I wouldn't be surprised that they did this, I'm upset that "IMPEACHMENT is OFF THE TABLE", frankly from what I see IMPEACHMENT is the table, any other talk is useless!

Finally - you know it's terrible when the felons from the Nixon Administration are agreeing that these goons need to be IMPEACHED!!!!

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i have a prioblem with your definition of "conspiracy theory". you say:

by their very nature they are theories for which factual evidence doesn't exist. If the corroborating details are there, then it isn't a theory; it's fact.

before any "conspiracy fact" has all the pieces put together, it is conspiracy theory. however, between these two points, the facts do not change. therefore, conspiracy theories use fact.

anyone who is a conspiracy theorist would probably be insulted by your statement because they are dedicated to the facts. there is no point in devising a theory that is not based in fact because the whole point of conspiracy theories is to uncover the truth. i argue the opposite of what you say, which would be: conspiracy theories by nature use facts to find the truth about events.

readers, for a history of publicly proven conspiracies, start at this wikipedia page...

from wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory

Some theorists, like Charles Pigden argue that the reality of such conspiracies should caution against any casual dismissal of conspiracy theory. Pigden argues that not only do conspiracies occur but that any educated member of society will believe in at least one of them; we are all, in fact, Conspiracy Theorists. Authors and publishers, such as Robert Anton Wilson and Disinfo, use proven conspiracies as evidence of what a secret plot can accomplish. In doing so, they demonstrate that the label "conspiracy theory" does not necessarily indicate that a theory is false.
These arguments also suggest that interested readers do their own research to come to their own conclusions.

The argument is often advanced there cannot be a conspiracy without leakers or whistle blowers. Given the success of the British government in getting thousands of people to keep the ULTRA secret -- and thereby ensuring that no reliable history of World War II could be published until the 1970s -- it is apparent that this is not necessarily a reliable indicator.

--end wiki article--

conspiracy theories are perfectly normal because conspiracies are perfectly normal.

what is even more normal is illegal private meetings of the global elite to determine policy i.e. Bilderberg etc.

other than your definition of "conspiracy theory" i LOVE the rest of the article! im actually kind of surprised that such an article would be on alternet given their history publishing articles against 911 conspiracy theories, and downplaying the power of the anglo-american global elite.

keep up the goOd work, mark karlin!

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The 911 attacks instilled fear into large number of people living on the east coast. They were designed to have this effect and laid the basis for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Congress, MSM, and American citizens reacted according to the script. But where was the fear for those living in Idaho, New Mexico, South Dakota, etc? No one living in small town America had reason to fear international terrorists. The Anthrax attacks suddenly brought fear to all Americans as your mailbox could bring disease and death to anyone. Thus all Americans had an ax to grind. The other useful purpose of the Anthrax attacks, besides disrupting Democrat politicians opposing the patriot act, was to move the FBI’s investigation away from 911 to the new threat – Anthrax. You have to give credit, certainly not to some distant cave dwellers, as these attacks were well planned and achieved their intended purpose. Most of Congress, MSM, and the American people remain clueless as to the manipulations of the neocons. Unfortunately, we are such an ignorant nation and the truly sad part is that we want it that way. Most people just will not face the possibility that we were attacked by rogue elements of our own government

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Reading all the above comments made me wonder what Bush/Cheney and gang would have done for the last 8 yrs. if 9/11 hadn't happened. ANNA

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I'm concerned that the scientist who committed suicide, Mr. Ivins, at his memorial service, none of his co-workers and friends could believe either that he was the type to commit a conspiracy of murder or the type to commit suicide. The idea was not possible. Ivins cared about his co-workers and had a wicked sense of humor, but these are not exactly criminal traits.

That inconsistency needs to be added to a previously long and obvious trail of deliberate misleading of the media by multiple government operatives. Any cop or citizen would ask what the heck is going on.

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Come on now. There has been some truly terrible journalism on alternet before but this is without question the silliest article I have ever read.

Don't you think that there are better ways for George Bush to off his Democratic senate opponents than to SNAIL-MAIL them a curable infection and just hope that the Senators themselves open the mail (which they never, ever do) and, when they do, they have open wounds on their fingertips? Couldn't they at LEAST have tried putting it in the coffee maker or something?

This is just like the 9/11 twoofers. They go from a ridiculous, highly implausible motive to GEORGE BUSH DID IT! They have a theory that just happens to fit their political biases and that has absolutely no evidence of any kind beyond "well, George Bush didn't rush out and demand that the Postal Service start scanning all snail mail for anthrax after a whopping four letters were mailed, so he must have done it deliberately for literally no gain and at incalculable risk to himself."

That bit about the anthrax being a pretext for blaming Islamic terrorism is the most laughable part of this childish tirade. If Islamic terror is already responsible for flying four planes into various parts of the United States in a massive, coordinated assault on our sense of security, I really don't think a few, highly ineffective anthrax spores being disposed of by the EPA are going to shake things up much more than that. Besides, the author provided no evidence that the government did actually blame Muslims for the anthrax attack, but then, who needs evidence when you have a populist-appeal joke of a pseudo-hypothesis?

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There is zero evidence that Cheney engineered the anthrax attacks

What he and others were guilty of was using the attacks to beat the war drum against Iraq.

The incompetent Mr Cheney shot his Texas lawyer friend in the face-a small but sad metaphor for the repetitive mistakes Mr Cheney made during his tenure as VP . No one THAT incompetent could pull off the anthrax attacks.

Dr.Bruce Ivins-rest ihis soul- was mentally ill for a long time and had no business being in that top-secret US government bio-lab. On that latter point the government is culpable also.

Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
ralippin@aol.com

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I'm very disappointed in Alternet for featuring a poorly written and under-researched "article" such as this.
The writing is disjointed and hard to follow.
Far worse is the writer's negligence in checking his own data (Robert Clarke? Is he related to Richard Clarke?).
Any valid points being addressed here are totally undermined by the presentation.
If you truly care about your subject matter, please get a real writer (or a good editor).

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similar to be accidents. The right accuses me of being a conspiracy theorist. I accuse them of being conspirators.

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First were the bad guys to attack someone with anthrax you would reasonably expect the Republicans at the head of the line for invasion would be the natural targets. I have to agree it is surprising there was no worries of a domestic terrorist, the administration would have no reason to eliminate that possibility, unless they knew who was behind the mailings. This is similar to the situation with Joe Wilson and his wife Valarie Plame. We know Valarie was the section chief at CIA -- in charge of spies in Iraq looking for Nukes. Joe Wilson was a career diplomat, he stood up against Saddam when Saddam took american hostages in Desert storm (photos on you tube) This means he was obviously CIA, using diplomatic immunity. Knowing all of this the administration had no problem exposing this high level agent (Valarie Plame) and ending her mission. THE ONLY WAY YOU COULD JUSTIFY THIS MOVE IS IF YOU KNOW THERE WERE NO NUKES OR ACTIVE PROGRAMS IN IRAQ. An alternate conclusion doesn't exist.

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It's been a while since I posted, but I thought I'd drop a thought or two in on this...

All of this discussion over who may or may not have been behind the Anthrax letters won't matter in the long run. The "true" culprit has been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. Ivins is dead, and with him dies any hope of finding out the true story.

On a side note, found this curious bit of info at Crooks and Liars about Ivins:

On March 14th, 2003 Bruce Ivins, the alleged anthrax killer and anthrax vaccine inventor, was awarded the highest civilian honor of the Pentagon by Army Secretary Thomas White.

I guess if all this is true, they were a little off the mark when they gave him that, huh?

Also, isn't it amazing how for 6 years Scott Hatfill was the main culprit in this case, only to be exonerated and then awarded a $5.82 million dollar settlement from the Government.

Did Ivins do it? Who knows? We sure won't And the truth is, most people won't care one way or the other because life goes on as usual...

One last thing: Someone posted this question earlier in the comments "Why someone would go through all the trouble of mailing anthrax instead of killing off the targets in an easier, less risky way?

Answer: Instilling fear. And not just in the direct targets, but in everyone. Suddenly everyone, everywhere was terrified of getting mail that they weren't sure about. And this fear, like the fear from 9/11, crossed all boundries of race, class, location. Anyone could be targetted.

Keep the fear coming, because fear means control. We're on orange alert now folks! Wait, now it's yellow! No it's orange again! When a population is afraid, they are easy to manipulate and coerce.

My theory has always been that the anthrax attacks were meant spread panic and fear, especially through the democrats. And lo and behold, the Patriot Act passes, practically unread.

The deaths that the Anthrax attacks caused were irrelevant. If no one died, it didn't matter. Because the fear was there.

So after all is said and done, do you think we'll ever hear how a civilian in a military institution managed to gain access to weaponized powedered anthrax (which he supposedly didn't have access to, only the less deadly liquid form) and managed to steal it out of a military facility?

I seriously doubt we'll ever know.

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9/11 was a well planned CIA "black op". You can't "warn " anyone about anything that might happen, when they already knew about it and they were in on the planning of it. Katrina, anothe CIA black op.

"We don't generally get into conspiracy theories, because by their very nature they are theories for which factual evidence doesn't exist. If the corroborating details are there, then it isn't a theory; it's fact."

People who say stuff like this and throw out "conspiracy theory"rhetoric have issues facing reality and believes this kind of crap which originated in the WH as propaganda and debunking of intelligence and counterintelligence operations. We were spoon fed this notion to throw us all off track of what was really happening back then, and it's still effective even now. "Deny Everything"

The truth is out there. Those who can't handle the truth, dismiss it as a conspiracy theory. When are you people going to wake up? When the nukes hit maybe?

These black ops have been happening long before the formal creation of the CIA. Bushies have always been entrenched in the CIA, though I can't figure that one out since they're so ignorant.

I suggest anyone who uses the term "conspiracy therory" do some reasearch of it's origin and the purpose for which it began being used. Research Intelligence and Counterintelligence ops as well. You might even read about Roswell.

Al Qaeda=Al CIAda

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The VP Dick Cheney is a freaky creature and very sinister; absolute power has triggered the raw underbelly of this criminal.

I, too, also think he was behind the anthrax scare. Bush would not have come across as so totally inadequate and incompetent if he had followed others advice as opposed to Cheney. Cheney is one sick man and should never have anything whatsoever to do with running the government unless as a sweeper, i.e. cleaner of dirt from the floors.

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a congressional investigation per Rush Holt is a good start but if Obama wins, we should demand a complete independent investigation of FBI handling of anthrax investigation. maybe some fired US attorneys can lead it. I am really mystified by why the FBI harassed Ivins for past year but did not arrest him after he was discharged from mental hospital after his PSW turned him in for threats against his co workers. They drove him crazy but enabled his suicide rather than arresting and charging him imho.

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There is nothing so corrupt that Cheney's malignant fingers would not be all over!

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