Inside the Ring

Anthrax terror

The CIA has been quietly building a case that the anthrax attacks of 2001 were in fact the result of an international terrorist plot.

U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports tell us the information showing a terrorist link to the anthrax-filled letters sent by mail in the weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks is not conclusive. But it is persuasive.

Asked to comment, a U.S. official said, “There is no evidence at this point to suggest a foreign terrorist link or connection. But the matter is still under investigation and we’re not ruling anything out.”

Some officials think the intelligence is at least as valid as the FBI’s “mad scientist” theory, which has produced dead ends so far for the G-men after more than two years of investigation. This theory says a U.S. biological weapons scientist with access to highly refined anthrax powder stole some and used it to awaken the U.S. government to the threat of deadly anthrax.

Former weapons scientist Stephen Hatfill was identified by the Justice Department as a “person of interest” in the probe. Mr. Hatfill has stated repeatedly that he had nothing to do with the anthrax mailings. He is suing the federal government for investigating him.

The deadly letters were sent to two U.S. senators and several news outlets in October and November 2001. They ended with the phrases, “death to America, death to Israel, Allah is great.” Five persons were killed after inhaling anthrax spores and 22 others were sickened but survived.

The spores were analyzed and found to be a virulent form known as the Ames strain. Also, the spores were milled into extremely fine powder, making it easier to disperse in the air.

Investigators were hoping the Iraq Survey Group would come up with documents or evidence indicating that Iraq might have acquired the Ames strain. But U.S. officials said so far there are no signs of Ames-type anthrax in Iraq, either from samples or documents recovered from the Iraqi intelligence service. The service was in charge of weapons of mass destruction development.

A report last month to the U.N. Security Council by its Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission concluded that traces of anthrax recovered from a bomb in early 2003 were of the same strain Iraq declared in 1991 it had weaponized. Those were not the Ames strain, U.S. officials said.

Iraq threat

Security officials for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq are warning Americans to be alert for attacks during the holiday season.

“Coalition members are cautioned to be especially alert over the next 10 days and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness,” one warning notice sent out Christmas Eve states. “We are seeing continuing indications following the capture of Saddam Hussein that elements are planning actions against CPA and Iraqi interests in order to demonstrate that they are still a significant force.”

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