Wow. I just read Greenwald's posts at Salon. I'd call it a must-read.

The facts are not in yet, and there is likely a huge cover-up going on even now. But this could be the biggie.

Lots of people involved, keeping secrets. Plenty of chances for someone to blow the whistle.

Congress definitely has to step in and investigate. Pronto.

-- ARG

Anthrax, blame it on the ruthless Saddam Hussein and his (nonexistent) dangerous WMD's - but all along the anthrax was a false flag attack by the cheney/bu$$h White House. Oil barons for an Iraq petrol war to increase their bottom line incomes and enrich MIC war mongers and privatized no bid contract war profiteers.

Cheney loves false flag deceptions - dress U.S. Navy Seals as Iranian soldiers - have them attack U.S. troops - that was Cheney's concocted idea to start a war with IRAN. That fake Iranian attack was to be Cheney's justification to begin a "Shock and Awe" - all out U.S. military attack against Iran.

In Cheney/Bu$$h/Rove-land, if you need a reason, you just make one up from thin air.

At this point, when I hear anything with the words "conspiracy" and "cover-up", I stop listening. We have been punked too often by fairy tales involving everything from the "Roswell crash" to the assassination of President Kennedy.

But there are some very odd, very sinister quirks in the anthrax story:

- All guilt for the deadly anthrax attacks is being dumped on an emotionally fragile individual who, in the last weeks of his life, was under constant harassment by the FBI. His house had been searched more than once, he'd been held for intense questioning, and, in the words of a colleague, his resources had been drained by legal costs defending himself. And, yes, his suicide is, as of now, "alleged."

- His colleagues are uniformly doubtful of his guilt.

- Reports that he was a psychopath planning mass murder come solely from a social worker (not "therapist" as has been reported) with her own long history of run-ins with the law. Currently, she's battling the latest of several DUI charges.

Of course, our mainstream media has revived once again its trained dog act - mindlessly transcribing every press release the government hands them.

So many questions and so few answers,

"Mission Accomplished" by Cheney/Bu$$hCo. The Bu$$h Crime Family never leaves any footprints at the scene of the crime.

If the Feds close this case, I'm betting Robert Mueller will resign the same day. And Bush will give him a pardon in January.

The White House pressure to connect these anthrax attacks with Iraq (see the other TPM thread) ties in nicely with the much-ignored attempt to frame Dr. Ayaad Assaad. A letter denouncing Assad as a terrorist was sent BEFORE the anthrax letters and he was questioned immediately after the anthrax attacks. Did somebody in the White House know about that letter?

The FBI quickly discounted this letter, even as the White House was pressuring them to name a Middle Eastern link to the case.

It was only after the case against Assaad fell over that Ashcroft and others (like Kristof) started fingering Hatfill, and only after that case fell over too that they went after Ivins.

The whole think stinks. It looks like someone at the Fort Detrick lab framed Assaad by sending the letter ahead of their premeditated anthrax attack, and it looks like somebody in the White House knew what was happening, and it looks like the people who did that are now being protected, which would explain why the whole FBI case looks so bumbling, incompetent and illogical.

When you compare this anthrax story with the 9-11 attacks, isn't it odd how this anthrax case has the same shady characters and groups on the sidelines, the same anti-Muslim motives apparent, the same lack of investigation from the corporate media on seemingly critical issues, the same bumbling incompetence from government investigators, the same high-level White House push for political capital...?

Very odd indeed. You would almost think the same people were involved, for the same reasons. The highly politicized 911 Commission cleaned up that other mess. But this time they have screwed it up a whole lot worse.

This was not a lone nutcase, this was a concerted effort by people within the US government:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/24273

"case closed"/"mission accomplished"

"same shit"/"different day"

The story doesn't line up, period.

The government is blatantly covering up something -- even if it was someone who mailed the letters of his own or another party's accord.

Regarding "obsessing" over a certain sorority. In 1981 he visited two of three chapters of the sorority regarding a woman he liked. That's the extent of his weird obsession.

That was 27 years ago.

The social worker was told by the FBI all sorts of scary things about a man in her group, and she panicked. She was used.

OK, why don't we talk more about this?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E2DF173BF930A15750C0A9649C8B63

Hopefully this link works. This is a story about 2 of the hijackers going to a Florida hospital one day with one of the hijackers having some sort of "wound" consistent with a case of anthrax poisoning. Why isn't this discussed more? The hospital is also said to be very near the site of the first anthrax mail attack.

Sorry, but this whole thing stinks to high heaven.

Did Ivins really commit suicide or was it a bag job? No one seems to be asking that question (perhaps there's a good reason).

Assuming what's publicly known, it's clear he was severely pushed by the FBI. They have a psych profilers, who must have surmised he was a sufficiently fragile character under pressure and that might well push him over the edge. It's not unusual for especially dedicated professionals, such as scientists, to call it quits under what amounts extreme career-ending pressure.