* FBI anthrax science to be reviewed; conclusions due 23 months after FBI says it is closing the case (5-8-09)

David Dishneau of Associated Press reports (5/8/09) …

• The National Academy of Sciences said Friday it will review the lab work behind the FBI’s conclusion that Army scientist Bruce Ivins was responsible for the anthrax mailings that killed five people in 2001.
• The FBI will pay the Washington-based society nearly $880,000 for the independent, 15-month committee review of the genetic and chemical studies investigators used to link Ivins to the attacks, academy spokeswoman Jennifer Walsh said.
• The review, which was requested by the FBI, won’t assess the evidentiary value of the bureau’s detective work or the FBI’s conclusion that Ivins acted alone, the academy said.
• The academy said it will evaluate “the reliability of the principles and methods used by the FBI, and whether the principles and methods were applied appropriately to the facts.”

LMW COMMENT …

This scientific review is a welcome step, but it also shows how pathetic the FBI was in reaching conclusions about Dr. Ivins’ guilt without adequate science to support those conclusions.

To pay $880,000 now, after Ivins committed suicide (allegedly) and after the FBI announced that he was the sole perpetrator, is disgraceful. And even now, the Academy’s study will not, in a 15 month review, assess “the evidentiary value of the bureau’s detective work or the FBI’s conclusion that Ivins acted alone.”

Just about every one who has read my novel CASE CLOSED, to be published this summer, has expressed their skepticism as to the validity of the FBI’s case, or the honesty of the investigation.

I don’t claim that my novel tells what actually happened, but it sure lays out a possible scenario to explain the FBI’s ineptness. As one of my characters says in the novel …

“The greatest police force in the land put into ponderous motion a truly massive investigation. Although some think there are only a few real suspects who should be investigated, namely those people with the means and the access to actually prepare and send the anthrax laced letters, the greatest police force in the land looks everyplace but where these prime suspects are known to be. Not surprisingly, no arrests are made. Now why would the best police force in the land look in all the wrong places?”

That’s the question that made me write CASE CLOSED.

 

read the entire news clip at … http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090508/ap_on_re_us/us_anthrax_investigation_2;_ylc=X3oDMTB0NXJpN3Z2BF9TAzIxNTExMDUEZW1haWxJZAMxMjQxODA2MTc5

* should public access to anthrax research info be curtailed?

Critics Upset About Deadly Agents Bill (5-8-09) …

GALVESTON, Texas

• Open government advocates are decrying a bill passed by the Texas Senate that would curtail the public’s access to state laboratories’ information on “select agents” such as the Ebola virus, anthrax and other deadly substances.
• But supporters say the measure protects the security of the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston’s National Lab and the privacy of researchers.
• “We’ve been very open and transparent, and I certainly don’t see this changing,” said Dr. James LeDuc, deputy director of the national laboratory, The Galveston County Daily News reported.
• Federal law, which the bill is supposed to mirror, protects the names of employees, officials say.

LMW COMMENT … There were comments attached to the above post, all in favor of maintaining privacy to the general public. What do you think?

read the entire post at … http://www.click2houston.com/news/19404555/detail.html