* At the Porton Down-sponsored Dangerous Pathogens 2000 Conference, Dr. Zawahiri’s infiltrating scientist Rauf Ahmad, in addition to presenting on the isolation of Bacillus Anthracis, presented on the detection of bacterial contamination in water.
Posted by DXer on November 15, 2014
CASE CLOSED ... what really happened in the 2001 anthrax attacks? 
DXer said
If the issue is the decontamination of wastewater, perhaps they could hire Dr. Ayman Zawahiri’s infiltrating scientist who attended the Porton Down conferences organized by the scientist who would be the FBI’s key scientist on genetics (after he moved from the UK to Maryland in Fall 2001).
https://www.fox5dc.com/news/top-army-germ-lab-shut-down-after-failing-inspection-neighbors-say-they-werent-notified
The United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick wrote in a statement that: “Research is currently on hold and that the shutdown is likely to last months.”
***
Alderman Ben MacShane tells FOX 5, “There are some big question marks. What is exactly happening? Are there safety concerns? How widespread is this shutdown? We have a LOT of questions!”
Some residents in Frederick echoed those concerns, with one woman saying, “You’ve got the people that work there that they probably can’t say anything, then other mentalities, people that don’t care about it and others that are informed about what’s going on and are a little nervous about it.”
FOX 5 requested to speak with the Garrison Commander at Fort Detrick. That request was not responded to.
The Army did write in a statement that “research is currently on hold and that the shutdown is likely to last months.”
As of now there is no information, as to when or if that military laboratory would reopen.
DXer said
Novichok that killed woman came from bottle, police believe
Object found in Amesbury home of Charlie Rowley held nerve agent, officers say
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/13/novichok-that-killed-woman-came-from-bottle-police-believe
DXer said
Two critically poisoned by same nerve agent used in Sergei Skripal attack, police say
“The possibility that these two investigations might be linked is clearly a line of inquiry for us,” police say.
by Francis Whittaker and Jon Schuppe / Jul.04.2018 / 6:23 AM ET / Updated Jul.05.2018 / 5:49 AM ET
The town is seven miles from Salisbury, where former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok in March. The British government blamed Russia for the attack. Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement.
*** after observing their symptoms ─ police didn’t describe them ─ authorities took samples for lab testing. Those tests came back positive for Novichok, Basu said.
Investigators are now focusing on how and where Burgess and Rowley came into contact with Novichok, Basu said.
As a “precautionary measure,” police cordoned off sites in the Amesbury and Salisbury areas that they believe the two visited just before they were sickened, Basu said.
“I do want to reassure the public, however, that there is no evidence that either the man or woman recently visited any of the sites that were decontaminated following the attempted murders of Sergei and Yulia Skripal,” Basu said.
‘SHE’S DOING WELL’
Novichok victim Yulia Skripal ‘intends to return to Russia soon’ even after two more poisoned with same nerve agent in Amesbury
The unverified claims – which appeared in Russian newspaper MK – come as two Brits fight for life after being struck down by Novichok near where Yulia and her ex-KGB colonel dad Sergei were poisoned
By Will Stewart
5th July 2018, 12:02 am
Updated: 5th July 2018, 12:02 am
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6699826/yulia-skripal-sergei-salisbury-poisoning-russia-novichok/
Security chiefs suspect the pair – who live near Salisbury – may have stumbled across the ‘method of delivery’ used by Russian assassins who tried to kill Yulia and Sergei.
Police say 2 hospitalized Britons exposed to nerve agent used on Russian spy
Authorities confirm Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley poisoned with military-grade toxin developed in the Soviet Union
https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-say-2-hospitalized-britons-exposed-to-nerve-agent-used-on-russian-spy/
By MATT DUNHAM and Jill Lawless Today, 6:13 am
****
Neighbors on Muggleton Road in Amesbury, where Rowley is believed to live, said they did not know the couple well and didn’t know what they did for a living. Most residents have only recently moved to the new houses and apartments.
Sam Hobson, a friend of the couple, said he was with them on Saturday, when Sturgess fell ill first. He told Sky News she was “having a fit, foam coming out of her mouth.” Rowley collapsed later the same day.
“He was sweating loads, dribbling. … He was rocking backwards and forwards,” Hobson said. “There was no response from him. He didn’t even know I was there.”
DXer said
Skripal nerve attack ‘taught jihadists power of poison plots’
The Sydney Morning Herald-Jun 21, 2018
Aimen Dean said the use of chemicals and poisons in alleged plots in recent months … a 29-year-old who had allegedly manufactured the toxin ricin in Cologne.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/skripal-nerve-attack-taught-jihadists-power-of-poison-plots-20180622-p4zn2n.html
DXer said
Ezra Cohen-Watnick,
R. Scott Decker knew in Fall 2001 that Porton Down not only had Ames strain but was distributing abroad to other labs. Yet he did not collect Ames samples from labs abroad (to include CAMR) for over two years! Guess where Dr. Ayman’s infiltrating scientist Rauf Ahmad visited (the second lab he visited) when he wrote back that he had achieved his targets!
The FBI Agents interviewed Porton Down scientists in Spring 2002 and then didn’t collect samples of the strains!
Congress should order Amerithrax reopened. The Attorney General too. #2020Hindsight
Ames Strain Of Anthrax Limited to Few Labs – The Washington Post
FBI anthrax attack team to question Porton Down scientists
By Rajeev Syal
12:01AM GMT 31 Mar 2002
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1389433/FBI-anthrax-attack-team-to-question-Porton-Down-scientists.html
FBI agents tracing the source of deadly anthrax attacks in America want to question scientists at Porton Down, the British defence establishment over fears that the spores may have been smuggled out of a British laboratory.
They have established that the Ministry of Defence’s centre in Wiltshire has experimented on the Ames strain of anthrax – identical to that sent to American journalists and politicians. Agents in Washington will request a list of scientists who have had access to the samples of anthrax used in MoD laboratories over the past 15 years. The British Government is currently developing a new vaccine against the disease.
FBI officials confirmed that they would approach British scientists while tracing the anthrax strain. A spokesman said that officers are aware that the strain was kept in Britain and are covering all possible outlets.
Sue Ellison, the spokesman for Porton Down, confirmed last night that the authorities were aware of FBI inquiries and would help when approached. “We keep a full list of where the anthrax samples are sent, and would give these details to the relevant authorities. In the UK, we work closely with our American partners and we will continue to do so.”
Nov 30, 2001 – Turnbull, confirming the transaction in an interview last week, said Porton Down shared Ames with “very few” researchers, whom he declined to name.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/ames…anthrax…/366556bd-8e99-4e62-b59f-55bf7…
DXer said
When Comey and Decker are next interviewed selling their respective books, they should be asked why two years after Robert Stevens death, the FBI still had still not obtained any of the Ames known to be abroad. A delay in collecting evidence risks that it is not preserved — that is used up. That records are lost..
The USAMRIID and Porton Down conducted annual in-person exchanges. Ivins, Ezzell and the others would go to the UK. Or they would come here.
Those exchanges were provably infiltrated by a scientist sent by Ayman Zawahiri. He presented on the isolation of anthrax.
R. Scott Decker knew this — though he has not yet admitted it.
A leading Ames researcher from Porton Down in Fall 2001, Les Baillie, started working for the FBI to work on the genetics in Maryland.
Decker’s failure to not collect the samples from abroad — that Mueller would allow it — is breathtaking.
There needs to be disclosure of the second lab that Ayman Zawahiri’s infiltrating scientist infiltrated.
Amerithrax constitutes the greatest counterintelligence failures in the history of the United States.
Anthrax, Al Qaeda and Ayman Zawahiri: The Infiltration of US Biodefense
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
Russian spy: Skripal asked Putin if he could return home
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43523923
He said the laboratory had the “highest levels” of controls and security.
In updated advice, Public Health England (PHE) said people who had been in the Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury visited by the Skripals wearing clothing that can only be dry cleaned should arrange to have their items collected by the council.
It said anyone in either venue between 13:30 GMT on Sunday 4 March and closure on Monday should arrange to have their clothes collected and they will be compensated.
PHE’s earlier advice had been to wash possessions as a precaution and double bag in plastic clothes that needed dry cleaning until further notice.
DXer said
British troops ‘could get anthrax jabs’ amid UK terror threat and mounting tensions between US and North Korea
• Kim Jong-un is believed to have a range of biological weapons including anthrax
• Terror groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda could be planning to use it for attacks
• Only specialist forces like SAS and SBS are currently vaccinated against disease
• But Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson wants to roll them out across the board
By Lara Keay For Mailonline
Published: 11:46 EST, 24 February 2018 | Updated: 12:08 EST, 24 February 2018
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5430293/UK-soldiers-anthrax-jabs-North-Korea-threat.html#ixzz5830oSI4X
Anthrax vaccine link feared to Gulf War syndrome
Deborah Haynes
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anthrax-vaccine-link-feared-to-gulf-war-syndrome-cswbppl0m
Troops ‘need anthrax jabs’ as North Korea and terrorism threat grows
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/troops-need-anthrax-jabs-as-north-korea-and-terrorism-threat-grows-wsqq6lnzn
Britain has drawn up plans to vaccinate thousands of troops against anthrax to be better prepared to respond in the event of a war with North Korea or a terrorist attack at home.
DXer said
Recently discovered North Korean drone made up of parts from various countries
Posted on : Jun.22,2017 14:46 KST Modified on : Jun.22,2017
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/799822.html
While some have raised fears of a possible biochemical attack with drones, the threat was seen as minimal.
“While you could place 4 to 5 kg of chemical agent on a drone, it would be dispersed by the wind if deployed in midair, resulting in not much more than a burning sensation in the eyes,” explained a military official who attended the announcement.
“In the case of a suicide bombing, the region in question would be partially contaminated,” the official added.
The same official explained that while North Korea currently possesses 13 varieties of chemical agents, “all of them except for anthrax are destroyed by UV rays when exposed to the atmosphere.”
“As far as anthrax goes, only the US and Russia have the technology to weaponize it in spore form,” the official said, adding that there was “no evidence North Korea currently possesses that technology.”
Comment:
Is this quote by some [South Korean?] military official accurate? Is it credible, for example, that the experts in aerosol technology at Porton Down, to include one or more (e.g., PT) of those hired by the US Government in 2001, did not have cutting-edge know-how on the subject?
See generally Michael Osterholm’s 2001 book “Living Terrors” and its discussion of crop-dusters.
Is the technology any different than that used in pesticide distribution?
As someone with a family member serving in South Korea next month, I hope everyone takes care in sourcing such facts.
DXer said
Microbiol Spectr. 2017 Apr;5(2). doi: 10.1128/microbiolspec.EMF-0010-2016.
Forensic Approaches to Detect Possible Agents of Bioterror.
González AA1, Rivera-Pérez JI1, Toranzos GA1.
Author information
Abstract
Many biological agents have been strategic pathogenic agents throughout history. Some have even changed history as a consequence of early discoveries of their use as weapons of war. Many of these bioagents can be easily isolated from the environment, and some have recently been genetically manipulated to become more pathogenic for biowarfare. However, it is difficult to determine accidental outbreaks of disease from intentional exposures. In this review, we examine how molecular tools have been used in combination with forensic research to resolve cases of unusual outbreaks and trace the source of the biocrime. New technologies are also discussed in terms of their crucial role impacting forensic science. The anthrax event of 2001 serves as an example of the real threat of bioterrorism and the employment of bioagents as weapons against a population. The Amerithrax investigation has given us lessons of the highest resolution possible with new technologies capable of distinguishing isolates at the base-pair level of sensitivity. In addition, we discuss the implications of proper sanitation to avoid waterborne diseases. The use of new methods in forensic science and health-related surveillance will be invaluable in determining the source of any new disease outbreak, and these data will allow for a quick response to any type of public health threat, whether accidental or purposely initiated.
DXer said
In 2001, Martin Pearce, co-author of “Molecular Techniques for the Detection of Bacterial Pathogens in Drinking Water,” was at Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire.
https://books.google.com/books?id=NbjENKaJjGQC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=%22Martin+Pearce%22+++%22Porton+Down%22++Rapid+Detection+of+Microbial+Pathogens%E2%80%99.&source=bl&ots=R2IM827YcX&sig=YnJm9y-vfJ-lOwi0D8cksHHKjOI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUz_Sg6sHTAhXHQyYKHUvAB80Q6AEIIjAA#v=onepage&q=%22Martin%20Pearce%22%20%20%20%22Porton%20Down%22%20%20Rapid%20Detection%20of%20Microbial%20Pathogens%E2%80%99.&f=false
Does Dr. Pearce know the identity of the second lab with the B-3 that hosted Rauf Ahmad — the scientist who reported back to Dr. Ayman Zawahiri that he had achieved the targets?
DXer said
The sample in this 1917 sugar cube that was the subject of Dr. Pearce’s work was actually Ames, nearly identical to the mailed anthrax. Did Rauf Ahmad visit Porton Down? Was that the second lab he visited — the one with the virulent anthrax? The one where MI5 seized equipment and samples from Rauf Ahmad’s luggage?
Who was the scientist who hosted him?
Why do taxpayer funded employees think that they have the right to keep this information secret from the taxpaying public?
Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 1998
… a tiny glass tube holding anthrax microbes, were also identified. It seems, however, that the single specimen that we tested was the only one to have survived to the present day. The baron claimed that he was an activist for Finnish independence and that their objective was to destroy lines of communication and transport, especially to Russian-controlled areas. According to his companions, the expeditions to these areas were in fact organized by the Germans and there had been several previous visits to Finland with sabotage equipment. Berlin had approved a proposal to use B. anthracis against reindeer used for sledging British arms through northern Norway 2. The Norwegian newspapers at the time were convinced that the contaminated sugar cubes were to be used to disrupt the transport of merchandise by horses and reindeer between Skibotten and the Finnish border. The grinding of the sugar and its glass insert between the molar teeth of horses would probably result in a lethal infection as the anthrax spores entered the body, eventually facilitated through the small lesions produced in the wall of the ali- mentary tract by the broken glass. It is not known whether reindeer eat sugar lumps but presumably the baron never had the chance to carry out this piece of research. Even if all the tubes had been used by the sabotage team it is unlikely that they would have caused much disruption to transportation, as anthrax is not transmissi- ble directly from horse to horse. However, if the meat from a dying animal had been consumed without adequate cooking, it is likely that human fatalities from gastro- intestinal anthrax would have followed. At that time Norway’s foreign policy was one of neutrality, but the commercial traffic across northern Norway was advantageous to the countries at war with Germany. This covert breach of neutrality, coupled with negotiations in progress in Kristiana (now Oslo) that were to bring Norway closer to the allies, resulted in the massive torpedo- ing of Norwegian ships in the Arctic Ocean. After the baron was apprehended he was sent to Kristiana and held in custody for three weeks. He was then released and expelled to Sweden as a result of diplomatic pressure. Unfortunately the complete story was never officially discovered by the Norwegian authorities. It was clear that the baron was involved in acts of sabotage in Finland but the full nature of the contents of the baron’s ‘hunting equipment’ was not revealed until after his expulsion. The disclosure of the dangerous biological agents in his luggage provoked heavy criticism of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice. This small but relatively important episode in the history of biological warfare is one of the few instances of where there is confirmation of the intent to use a lethal microorganism as a weapon, albeit 80 years after the event.
DXer said
April 25, 2017
A team of international researchers has found that a strain of anthrax-causing bacterium thought to have been viable 80 years after a thwarted World War I espionage attack, was, in reality, a much younger standard laboratory strain. The team speculates that the mix-up was due to commonplace laboratory contamination.
***
However, DNA sequencing of entire organism’s genome was in its infancy at this time, so the exact genetic identity of the strain was never defined. In 2001, Keim was tapped to help investigate the anthrax-containing letters mailed by a terrorist across the US. At the request of the FBI, Keim’s team categorized all known anthrax-causing strains, which included the Porton Down ‘sugar’ samples and other samples from around the world.
At that time, Keim noted a very close genetic similarity between the Porton Down strains and what had become the standard laboratory reference strain used in experiments and vaccine development, known as the Ames Ancestor strain. Amidst the urgency of pinning down which strain was used in the letters—it turned out to be the Ames strain—he forgot about the strange similarity.
“As we learned more and more about the Ames strain, it became obvious that it had to be a contaminant,” in the Porton Down samples, says Keim. Then, at a 2013 conference, he was approached by German biodefense researchers, who had sequenced what they thought was the original German spy’s strain. They too had noticed its genetic resemblance to the Ames strain.
***
Working in tandem, Keim’s Arizona team and Herman Meyer and Markus Antwerpen at the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology in Munich, sequenced the strains using next-generation sequencing (NGS), a technique that allowed them to analyze every genetic difference at the level of single letter changes to the genetic code. It also allows them to sequence a strain’s entire genome, not just a handful of times, like the previous technology used in 2001, but 100 times over. The new technology also costs about 10,000 times less per genome sequenced.
Both labs confirmed that the Porton Down ‘sugar’ strains differed by only two genetic letters from the Ames Ancestor strain—a near identical matching. The researchers speculate that during the intense culturing attempts of the sugar samples in 1997, spores from the Ames Ancestor strain, which were likely to be abundant in the Porton Down military defense laboratory facilities, fell into the culture media and grew.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-04-year-old-viable-anthrax-strain-debunked.html#jCp
DXer said
2 Investigators: Water Plant Trespasser Is Released, Then Vanishes
November 10, 2016 10:00 PM By Brad Edwards
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/11/10/2-investigators-suspicious-man-caught-at-water-plant-released-then-vanishes/
Comment: But what was in his duffel bag?
DXer said
Tom Ridge on Fox News says that Al Qaeda was experimenting with anthrax in animals. What strain was Al Qaeda using? Where did AQ get it? The CIA detected Ames in the Afghan lab but the FBI disregarded the finding. Guess who was working for the FBI that chose to disregard it?
http://sendvid.com/zu3aob5h
DXer said
WMD Britain: How MoD scientists tested chemical weapons including anthrax and the PLAGUE on soldiers and members of the public – and even released dangerous bacteria on the Tube
• Scientists experimented on 21,000 servicemen between 1939 and 1989
• New book reveals horrors of unwitting Ministry of Defence test subjects
• ‘Plague-like’ bacteria spores were even released on London Underground
• Volunteers suffered agonising chemical burns, breakdowns and even death
By IMOGEN CALDERWOOD FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:09 EST, 8 August 2015 | UPDATED: 10:00 EST, 8 August 2015
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3190243/WMD-Britain-MoD-scientists-tested-chemical-weapons-including-anthrax-PLAGUE-soldiers-members-public-released-dangerous-bacteria-Tube.html#ixzz3iLxX19RD
Teenager soldiers and servicemen unwittingly volunteered to be human ‘guinea pigs’ for a series of experiments at Porton Down, in Wiltshire, in the hope of a bit of extra cash.
But the unsuspecting volunteers were exposed to Sarin gas, anthrax and even the Black Death, a new book has revealed.
***
Historian Ulf Schmidt, a leading academic of modern history at the University of Kent, has revealed exactly what the shocking experiments entailed and the horrific effects they had on their ‘participants’.
The historian, who acted as an expert witness in the Porton Down investigation, has revealed his findings in a new book ‘Secret Science: A Century of Poison Warfare and Human Experiments.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3190243/WMD-Britain-MoD-scientists-tested-chemical-weapons-including-anthrax-PLAGUE-soldiers-members-public-released-dangerous-bacteria-Tube.html#ixzz3iLy0bHPa
DXer said
As explained by Mark A. Gabriel, PhD, who once taught at Al-Azhar in Egypt, Ayman Zawahiri has written a booklet on covert operations in Arabic that is published online. (Note to self: why do Romulans speak English?) In Journey Into The Mind Of An Islamist Terrorist, Gabriel discusses a booklet Zawahiri wrote titled COVERT OPERATIONS. If you want to know how Zawahiri views deceit on such issues as battle plans and intelligence gathering and how he would go about infiltrating US biodefense, read his own words online.
Gabriel explains:
“Ayman al-Zawahiri leads a busy terrorist organization, and he must solve practical problems. For example, he may want some Al-Qaeda members to blend in and live in the United States. If these men wore full beards and went to ultraconservative mosques to pray, they they would arouse suspicion and get put on a watch list. Instead, al-Zawahiri would want these operatives to go undercover and blend into society. However, these devout Muslims will not go undercover unless they believe they have permission to do so from the teachings of Islam. As a result, al-Zawahiri wrote a booklet titled COVERT OPERATIONS, which goes deep into Islamic teaching and history to describe how deceit can be a tool in Muslim life.”
The entire book by al-Zawahiri is posted in the Arabic language website for al-Tawheed Jihad (The Pulpit of Monotheism and Jihad). Zawahiri concluded that “hiding one’s faith and being secretive was allowed especially in time of fear from prosecution of the infidels.” Indeed, his student group in Cairo in the 1970s was known as the “shaven beards.” (Ayman’s friend, the founder of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, was the lead writer for microbiologist Al-Timimi’s charity.)
Al-Zawahiri discussed two specific ways Muhammad used deceit in battle: (1) keeping battle plans secret, and (2) spying. The author writes: “Al-Zawahiri specifically gave radicals permission not to pray in the mosque or attend Friday sermons if it would compromise their position.” He noted that Al-Zawahiri sealed his argument with a very important quote from Ibn Taymiyyah (who was quoted by Al-Timimi upon his indictment). Ever the practical man, Muhammad approved lying in three circumstances (1) during war, (2) to reconcile between two feuding parties, and (3) to a spouse in order to please her.
DXer said
J Water Health. 2014 Dec;12(4):618-633.
Inactivation of bacterial biothreat agents in water, a review.
Rose LJ1, Rice EW2.
Author information
1Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA E-mail: lrose@cdc.gov.
2National Homeland Security Research Center, US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Abstract
Water supplies and water distribution systems have been identified as potential targets for contamination by bacterial biothreat agents. Since the 2001 Bacillus anthracis bioterrorist attacks, additional efforts have been aimed at research to characterize biothreat organisms in regards to their susceptibility to disinfectants and technologies currently in use for potable water. Here, we present a review of research relevant to disinfection of bacteria with the potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety, and their potential surrogates. The efficacy of chlorine, monochloramine, chlorine dioxide, and ultraviolet light to inactivate each organism in suspension is described. The complexities of disinfection under varying water conditions and when the organisms are associated with biofilms in distribution systems are discussed.
Chris Sapp said
It should be a time of prayer for all of us Americans while we wait for the report from the Government Accountability Office on its review of the FBI Anthrax Attacks investigation.
We have surrendered our privacy and liberty and due process of law in exchange for a false sense of security imposed by our Federal government.
An honest and accurate report from the GAO will likely show that our highest officials, at least in previous administrations, have betrayed our trust and committed most serious of high crimes.
We should pray that God forgive us, the people, and grant us the wisdom and courage to show all the world that in this Country no one is above the law – – especially former presidents.
If such persons should be indicted, let us have the moral courage to indict them. If they should be tried in a court of law, let it not be some secret star chamber in Washington or on a remote military base in a Communist nation. They should have access to all that fairness is fair and legal in their defense. If convicted, they should be sent to prison for extended periods of time, including the balance of the remaining lives.
We should once more regain our standing as a people that can rightly trust its own government. We should have a government that is trusted and respected by the rest of the world.
Let us pray accordingly.
DXer said
And for those of us who don’t believe in God, let’s rely on contemporaneous documents and never allow our assertions or assumptions go beyond the documentary evidence — even when cloaked in piousness.
Like religion, politics has no role in true crime analysis.
Chris Sapp said
Mr. Weinstein,
When you are in Southwest Florida, may we have a cup of coffee together?
Chris Sapp
DXer said
There is nothing perfect about the flow of information relating to powder mailed in envelopes.
J Forensic Sci. 2014 Nov 24. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12608. [Epub ahead of print]
Comparing Electronic News Media Reports of Potential Bioterrorism-Related Incidents Involving Unknown White Powder to Reports Received by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Bureau of Investigation: U.S.A., 2009-2011.
Fajardo GC1, Posid J, Papagiotas S, Lowe L.
Author information
Abstract
There have been periodic electronic news media reports of potential bioterrorism-related incidents involving unknown substances (often referred to as “white powder”) since the 2001 intentional dissemination of Bacillus anthracis through the U.S. Postal System. This study reviewed the number of unknown “white powder” incidents reported online by the electronic news media and compared them with unknown “white powder” incidents reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during a 2-year period from June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2011. Results identified 297 electronic news media reports, 538 CDC reports, and 384 FBI reports of unknown “white powder.” This study showed different unknown “white powder” incidents captured by each of the three sources. However, the authors could not determine the public health implications of this discordance.
Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
KEYWORDS:
electronic news media; forensic science; law enforcement; potential bioterrorism; public health; unknown “white powder”
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Author Information
• 1Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch (EPRB), Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections (DPEI), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
• 2Office of the Director (OD), Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections (DPEI), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
• 3Laboratory Preparedness and Response Branch (LPRB), Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections (DPEI), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
GAO: What genetic strain was the anthrax reportedly sent to Prime Minister Gilani? Did guinea pigs die when exposed to it so as to rule out possibility of a false positive? Was there a Silicon Signature?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on February 2, 2012
GAO: What strain of anthrax was this anthrax powder reportedly in possession of detainee who had been in Kandahar?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on June 10, 2012
Rahmatullah Sangaryar denies he was in possession of anthrax powder when captured.
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 25, 2011
“The detainee was in possession of anthrax powder that he planned to distribute to al Qaeda and Taliban operatives in preparation for future attacks on United States and Coalition forces.”
Posted on April 25, 2011
DXer said
This article is written by government employees and expressly noted to be in the public domain (so I’m unclear as to why it is behind a pay-wall) — serving as another reminder of the unhelpful compartmentalization of information.
Here are some highlights:
— There is no statutory requirement for the CDC to be notified about unknown “white powder” incidents, and unknown “white powder” is not a notifiable disease.
–The fact that CDC and the FBI use a shared asset (i.e., LRN member laboratories) to test suspicious biothreat agents enhances the likelihood that FBI and CDC will know about the same incidents. However, some incidents are ongoing FBI investigations and for reasons of national security, information about them cannot be shared with other government entities nor divulged to the public. Therefore, it is not possible for the authors in this study to determine how many discrete incidents reported to FBI were also reported to CDC and/or covered by the electronic news media because of the sensitive nature of the FBI data.
–The collaborative efforts between law enforcement and public health during the 2001 anthrax attacks were something new at that time, and it required venturing into unfamiliar territory for many public health and law enforcement officials (13–15). Nevertheless, it showed the importance of an effective collaboration between public health and law enforcement or on hospital col-laboration with public safety organizations on bioterrorism response (16–20). This limitation is partially offset by an ongo-ing dialog between CDC and FBI. The working relationship that blossomed during the 2001 investigation of B. anthracis through the U.S. Postal System has evolved to the institutionalization of …
Comment:
Although people can reasonably disagree, I guess some people may see that as a problem if the Center for Disease Control cannot be relied for reliable information on the subject of mailed biothreat agents. For example, many people would deem that it was incumbent upon the CDC to accurately report the number of mailed letters containing anthrax sent in Fall 2001.
CDC was — and remains — the “go-to” agency for reliable information in that regard.
Chris Sapp said
Thank you for not changing the spelling of the word “Chairman” to “Chairmen” in my recent note to you.
Since the person that orchestrated the 9-11 attacks is the same person responsible for the anthrax attacks, the cover-up of those crimes is intertwined with the case of KSM and other detainees in Cuba.
Do you know if the GAO has received information from General Holder and the Judiciary Committees in the last four months relevant to its investigation of the anthrax situation? If it has not, I can fax GAO the information directly.
Since the US Attorney General had the full name of the person responsible for introducing Atta and al-Shehhi into Southwest Florida before the first anthrax attack was discovered, the FBI’s investigation should have been a matter of hours and days; the second attack on the two US Senators should never have happened.
I don’t believe that the Gannett newspaper chain is going to handle the expose’. However, much of the background information is available at its Ft. Myers, Florida newspaper, The News Press. Terry Eberle is Editor.
DXer said
Hi Chris!
But let’s cut to the chase: What is the full name of the person you suggest is responsible for introducing Atta and al-Shehhi into Southwest Florida before the first anthrax attack was discovered. Was it Adnan El-Shukrijumah?
If you have some relevant source documents, if you and Lew like, they could be uploaded directly by Lew. His features tend to be limited to source documents.
There is greater latitude for juicy rumors in the comments
This blog favors documents — the last filing in the Broward Bulldog FOIA lawsuit is June 2014 as I recall and since there has just been a long delay.
Maybe there are filings in the Gitmo motion practice that shed some light? Maybe Hawsawi is getting chatty in his severance motion?
Here is some possibly relevant background from History Commons:
2000-2001: 9/11 Hijackers Atta and Alshehhi Attend Florida Mosque
Gulshair Shukrijumah’s mosque in Miramar, Florida. [Source: Fox News] The Congressional Joint Inquiry will later find that several of the hijackers, including Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi, attend mosques in the US and that at least one of the mosques is in Florida. [US Congress, 7/24/2003, pp. 169 ] The Florida mosque attended by Atta and Alshehhi is the Al Hijrah mosque run by Gulshair Shukrijumah in Miramar, Broward County, Florida. Mohamed Atta and several other hijackers live near the mosque (see April 11, 2001) and train at nearby Opa-Locka airport (see December 29-31, 2000). After 9/11, the FBI will visit the mosque and ask Shukrijumah and his wife if they recognize the hijackers and if their son, Adnan, knew Atta or had mentioned trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan. [Miami New Times, 4/3/2003; Los Angeles Times, 9/3/2006] Atta is seen with Adnan Shukrijumah, a suspected al-Qaeda operative, in 2001 (see May 2, 2001). His father previously served as an imam at the Al Farouq mosque in Brooklyn. In addition to working as a translator for Sheikh Abdul-Rahman, he also testified as a character witness at the WTC bombing trial for one of the defendants, Clement Rodney Hampton-El, who attended Al Farouq. [FrontPage Magazine, 10/27/2003; Los Angeles Times, 9/3/2006] Gulshair Shukrijumah is receiving money from the Saudi embassy in Washington at this time. [Newsweek, 4/7/2003] In 2009, an FBI informant will claim that he tried to get close to both Atta and Adnan Shukrijumah at the Al Hijrah mosque in early 2001, but the FBI had him work on easier cases instead, because both of them were secretive and wary (see Early 2001). [ABC News, 9/10/2009] The army’s Able Danger data mining program identifies Atta as a member of an al-Qaeda cell centered on Brooklyn. Exactly how it does this is never disclosed, although Atta’s apparent association with Gulshair and Adnan Shukrijumah is one possibile explanation (see January-February 2000).
DXer says: Adnan El-Shukrijumah is the anthrax mailer … on or about 9/13/2001, he phoned from KSM’s house to tell his mom he was coming to the US
Posted by Lew Weinstein on June 6, 2014
Al Hawsawi, who had the anthrax processing documents scanned on his laptop, was closely affiliated with Adnan El-Shukrijumah
Posted by Lew Weinstein on September 22, 2014
DXer said
Hawsawi worked at As Sahab (“Clouds”), the media organization. It was his laptop that had the spray drying documents.
capture of Mustafa Hawsawi and laptop with anthrax spray drying documents
Posted by Lew Weinstein on March 18, 2010
He was instrumental to both the 911 and the anthrax program.
Atta’s Wire Transfer Of Funds On 9/8/2001 — A Time The FBI Reports He Was Filmed Copying At A Laurel, MD KINKOS — Was To KSMs Assistant Mustafa Ahmad (Hawsawi) Whose Laptop, When Seized, Contained Scanned Notes Detailing Drying Liquid Slurry Of Anthrax To Create Dried Powder Suitable For Dispersal
Posted by Lew Weinstein on January 25, 2012
Hawsawi lived with El-Shukrijumah in Karachi from Feb-April 2002 when Shukrijumah returned from his mission to the US.
Paracha Detainee Assessment: Al-Balucchi (PK-10018) consulted with Aafia Siddiqui “about Pakistan’s biological weapons lab in Karachi”
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 26, 2011
Hawsawi shared two Karachi safehouses with Adnan El-Shukrijumah from Feb – April 2002.
DXer said
Attorney Sapp,
If I’m allowed a second guess…. is the person behind both 9/11 and the anthrax mailings KSM? I believe he would have known Atta and Al-Shehhi from visiting them in Germany at the apartment. And he travelled widely in connection to warm climes with his honey distribution front business.
Did KSM’s front business Konsonjaya and his wide travels in connection with his honey distribution bring him to Southwestern Florida?
June 1998: KSM Almost Caught in Brazil; Using Exposed Bojinka Front Company as Cover
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) is almost caught in Brazil. Apparently, the Malaysian government discovers that KSM is in the country using an alias and an Egyptian passport, and that he has obtained a Brazilian visa. So on June 25, 1998, the US asks Brazil to help capture him. A former US official will later say, “We were fairly convinced… that he was there” in the town of Foz de Iguazu, a criminal haven that he had visited at least once before (see December 1995). [LOS ANGELES TIMES, 12/22/2002; KNIGHT RIDDER, 3/13/2003] However, KSM gets away. Time magazine reporter Tim McGirk will later claim, “They almost nailed him in Brazil. They knew that he’d left from Malaysia to Brazil….” [NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, 3/3/2003] “He had supposedly gone there to promote Konsonjaya, a Malaysian company that secretly funded Muslim rebels in Southeast Asia.” [PLAYBOY, 6/1/2005] Konsonjaya was the front company used for the Bojinka plot in 1995 (seeJanuary 6, 1995 and June 1994), and it supposedly dealt in Sudanese honey and palm oil. [LOS ANGELES TIMES, 2/7/2002; FINANCIAL TIMES, 2/15/2003] The Telegraph, in an apparent reference to Konsonjaya, will later report that KSM “acted as financier and coordinator, through another [Malaysian company] which traded Sudanese honey. He traveled widely, including at least one trip to Brazil….” [DAILY TELEGRAPH, 3/2/2003] The honey distribution business had a base in Karachi, Pakistan, and employed KSM’s nephew Ali Abdul Aziz Ali (a.k.a. Ammar al-Baluchi). [US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, 4/12/2007, PP. 17 ] It is remarkable that KSM would be connected to this company in 1998, considering that the company’s records were introduced as evidence in a public trial of some Bojinka plotters in 1996. [LOS ANGELES TIMES, 2/7/2002]
DXer says: Adnan El-Shukrijumah is the anthrax mailer … on or about 9/13/2001, he phoned from KSM’s house to tell his mom he was coming to the US
Posted on June 6, 2014
Yazid Sufaat was happy with the anthrax work when he stayed with KSM for 6 days in 2001 and when he reported to Dr. Ayman on the results of his research with virulent anthrax in August 2001 with Hambali; in his correspondence with DXer, he seems happy today also (and very much in love).
Posted by Lew Weinstein on May 1, 2012
The Hunt For KSM: Inside The Pursuit and Takedown of The Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed … by Terry McDermott and Josh Meyer
Posted by Lew Weinstein on March 17, 2012
What biological laboratory equipment did Atef ask KSM to move to the special laboratory near Tarnak Farm that KSM came to think was related to the anthrax development efforts?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 26, 2011
DXer said
If I had to choose between my present four or five guesses, I would go for Shukrijumah — because I believe he was at Norman, Oklahoma before they shifted to Florida.
But as my fourth guess — as a man behind 911 and anthrax — and someone who might have introduced Atta and Al-Shehhi to Southwestern Florida — is Hambali. Like the others, he used a honey trading business front for operations. The CIA’s report on honey trading companies as Al Qaeda fronts was out prior to the second mailings to the US Senators.
Atta and Al-Shehhi were initially reportedly learning to fly planes in Philippines.
Whatever the answer, it seems reasonable that an accomplished honey trader would have the buzz.
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a98mabalacat
Factsheet on Hambali
Prepared by the SITE Institute
“Hambali allegedly hosted the Malaysian meeting of al-Qaeda leaders in January 2000 when the September 11 plot and U.S.S. Cole bombings were discussed. Reportedly in attendance along with Hambali were two of the 9-11 hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, and the 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.”
…
“Hambali was one of the co-founders of Konsojaya, an import-export company based in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, importing goods such as Sudanese honey and exporting palm oil to Afghanistan. The other founder of the company was Wali Khan Amin Shah, an al-Qaeda operative who was convicted in the United States for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Founded in 1994, Konsojaya was primarily funded by al-Qaeda official Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Investigators discovered that phone calls were made to Konsojaya by Mohammed Jamal Khalifah, Osama bin Ladens brother-in-law, who is alleged by law enforcement to have financed the 1995 Bojinkaplot to blow up a dozen U.S. airliners over the Pacific Ocean simultaneously. The company was an alleged front to help finance terror operations in Southeast Asia, including the Bojinkaplot. Hambali reportedly gave the go ahead for the Bojinka plot to begin, putting into motion Khalid Sheikh Mohammeds al-Qaeda terror cell in Manila, Philippines, headed by his nephew Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind and bomb expert behind the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing.”
NSA ORCON: CIA and FBI Dropping the Ball In Anthrax Mailings and 9/11 Involved Same Failure To Track And Intercept Al-Midhar And Nawaf After Meeting At Kuala Lumpur Condo Of Anthrax Lab Tech Sufaat and Anthrax Planner Hambali
Posted by Lew Weinstein on January 27, 2012
Yazid Sufaat was happy with the anthrax work when he stayed with KSM for 6 days in 2001 and when he reported to Dr. Ayman on the results of his research with virulent anthrax in August 2001 with Hambali; in his correspondence with DXer, he seems happy today also (and very much in love).
Posted by Lew Weinstein on May 1, 2012
Hambali: Recommendation for Continued Detention (excerpt)
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 25, 2011
DXer said
I’ve pointed out that Moussaoui’s email “greenlab@usa.net” was accessed by the FBI on September 18, 2001.
But I’ve neglected to note that so was Yazid Sufaat’s email.
Yazids2000@yahoo.com
He then was captured trying to enter Malaysia in December 2001.
On September 18, 2001, when the FBI accessed the email of the Al Qaeda anthrax lab director (whose name they knew from the letter of introduction that Yazid Sufaat provided Moussaoui), what did the FBI learn?
DXer said
“Isolation and identification of Yersinia enterocolotica and the Yersinia enterocolitica-like bacteria”
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1365-2672.1988.tb04653.x/asset/j.1365-2672.1988.tb04653.x_p1.png?v=1&s=2a70b5bd9d239d15597b111ef99cb1166f5d1372
“The genus Yersinia was named after the French bacteriologist A.J.E. Yersin who first isolated the causal organisms of the plague in 1894.”
DXer said
Did Bruce Ivins work with plague in his B3? (I will look at the wonderful USAMRMC Electronic Reading Room but do not recall offhand).
Why did the University of Michigan researchers working with Dr. Ivins with virulent Ames in the B3 in May 1998 also have to be vaccinated for plague? Were they doing related research relating to their decontamination agent with Yersinia/plague bacteria?
Why did the University of Michigan researchers working with Dr. Ivins also have to be vaccinated for plague?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 29, 2011
Anthrax, Al Qaeda and Ayman Zawahiri: The Infiltration of US Biodefense
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
USAMRIID this week says it did not keep any records of the DARPA-funded JHU-APL project with USAMRIID. That agreement expressly required it to provide virulent strains to unidentified contractors. How can USAMRIID keep track of its distribution of virulent pathogens — whether virulent Ames or plague — if records are not kept?
EPA, USAMRIID and University of Michigan Have All Failed To Produce Under FOIA Documents Relating To the 1998 Research By The Former Zawahiri Associate Alongside Bruce Ivins In The Bio-Level 3 At USAMRIID
Posted by Lew Weinstein on October 31, 2012
In 2004, USAMRIID Advised The FBI That It Could Not Locate The Documents, Laboratory Notes Or Other Papers Of A USAMRIID Laboratory Technician Who Participated In the “Biological Warfare Decontamination Efficacy Study”. Who Was The Laboratory Technician? What Research Involving The Efficacy Of A Decontamination Agent Was Done?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on January 5, 2012
from DXer … the lifelong friends of Dr. Tarek Hamouda, supplied virulent Ames by Bruce Ivins, actively denounce their former medical school associate Ayman Zawahiri as a fanatic – one serving as President of CAIR-St. Louis and the other as author of INSIDE JIHAD.
Posted by Lew Weinstein on May 7, 2010
Under the Agreement between JHU/APL and USAMRIID’s DSD, USAMRIID was to include work with virulent strains, and not just the Ames from Flask 1029 (Dugway Spores) that had been irradiated. Under the DARPA-funded project] 98 vials of Dugway spores are missing, claimed to have been destroyed the previous year.
Posted by Lew Weinstein on October 27, 2014
DXer said
On June 13, 2003, I described the lead relating to Adnan El-Shukrijumah and the scientist who said he was researching bacteria that was hard to detect in water:
I wrote:
Authorities are investigating El Shukrijumah’s possible ties to Adham Amin Hassoun, who attended the same mosque and has been held on immigration violations at a federal detention facility since June 2002.(418) Hassoun, a computer programmer, allegedly planned an assassination, provided material support to terrorist groups, and was a member of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman’s Islamic Group.(419) Hassoun, a Palestinian of Sunrise, Florida born in Lebanon, allegedly tried to recruit Egyptian Mohammed Yousseff, a friend of Padilla’s. Hassoun reportedly had ties to charitable groups with alleged links to terrorist groups. (420)
Then there was the case of a mysterious Egyptian associated with the members of an alleged terror cell in Detroit. Sometime before 9/11, the Egyptian made repeated attempts to obtain maps of the water supply system of Canton, Ohio. At the library, he studied books dealing with biological subjects, especially those relating to disease spread to human by animals such as anthrax. Akron Beacon Journal reported that after 9/11, a librarian in Canton alerted authorities who called in the FBI after the man visited the library as many as a half dozen times and asked for detailed maps of Canton’s water system and books concerning microbiology and animal borne diseases. . Among the things the man sought were maps of waterlines running under Interstate 77 to Canton’s Mercy Medical Center.The article quoted the librarian: “The questions we normally get from (foreigners) are about green cards or learning English, usually people don’t come in asking about water maps.” About 50 and balding with a slight paunch, he asked for the maps and books between May and July, the unnamed librarian reported. Was the scientist ever identified and questioned? According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the man told the librarian that he worked at a place called Case Farms. The Egyptian reportedly had lived with Hannan and Koubriti in Canton in the past year or so, according to the librarian. The FBI has never confirmed the story. What news, if any, came out of the recently concluded trial of members of the Detroit terror cell? During the same period, two of the men on trial reportedly had enrolled in a four-week truck-driving course.
The arrests of these doctors has been very unpopular in Pakistan, particularly in light of the humanitarian work done in providing medical services or soliciting donations for the poor. In the case of Dr. Aziz, who was trained in the west, there were regular protests by doctors, engineers, and lawyers.(421) The political opposition by the Islamist parties in Pakistan poses a grave complication in apprehending those who have engaged in the mass murder of civilians in the US and those who harbor or assist them. In Harrap, Pakistan, a Dr M Khan Mahmood Ahmed Kathia and his son were arrested. (422)
It will not be possible to overcome the religious zealotry that has led to murder until we first “walk in the shoes” of the people who think their actions were justified. More to the point at issue here, it won’t be possible to correctly profile the criminal matter.
Source:
“Al Qaeda, Anthrax and Ayman: Means, Opportunity, Motive and Modus Operandi,” dated June 13, 2003.
Anthrax, Al Qaeda and Ayman Zawahiri: The Infiltration of US Biodefense
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com