by Plutonium Page [courtesy of Daily Kos]

Since the "FBI Says It Finally Figured Out Who The 2001 Anthrax Killer Was" story broke last week, there has been some absolutely exceptional analysis of the story, namely by Glenn Greenwald, whose piece "Vital unresolved anthrax questions and ABC News" reminds us:

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."

We all know now that this is classic pre-Iraq war bullshit propaganda, something that not enough people questioned as we were still reeling from the September 11 attacks.

Marcy Wheeler ("Emptywheel" of Firedoglake) has carefully put together an "anthrax timeline" to help us understand more about why the FBI's investigation changed course in 2006.  What is so useful - and disturbing - about the timeline is that it shows us the general "blame Iraq" trend.  Note the part in bold (my emphasis):

by David Neiwert [courtesy of Firedoglake]

You all remember Richard Jewell. He was the hapless guy who made the mistake of being a security guard in the vicinity of right-wing nutcase Eric Rudolph when the latter set off a bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and wound up getting blamed for it, wrongly. Now it seems they're trying to do the same thing with Ivins.

by David Neiwert [courtesy of Firedoglake]

It's becoming increasingly apparent that the Bush administration -- including the FDI, Homeland Security, and the Pentagon -- all want the anthrax-killer case to quietly die with the person of Bruce Ivins. Yep, case closed, move along, folks. Right? Well, if you don't mind, we still have a few questions:-- Was Ivins, as Marcy and Glenn Greenwald have wondered, a conscious part of the disinformation campaign to

by tremayne [courtesy of Open Left - Front Page]

Once again, let's go back to the beginning. The beginnings of the war in Iraq where American soldiers are still dying today in the latter half of 2008 and will still be dying in 2010, even if we elect Barack Obama and he ends the war on his stated 16-month timetable.

Back to 2001, in the days after 9/11 when the anthrax scare begins. A small group of people start spreading the story that the anthrax was connected to Iraq and Saddam Hussein. This cabal, if you will, operated not unlike the Cheney-centered one tasked with fomenting public opinion against Iraq. Same cabal? You decide. Anyway, they got their message to the media, specifically ABC News, as Glenn Greenwald has capably described. But you know who was spreading this (false) rumor weeks before ABC News? The "Maverick," John McCain. Follow for details.

In the interview Letterman keeps going back to the situation Afghanistan (where U.S. military action had recently begun) while McCain keeps moving the focus to "second phases" and other countries. He concludes that maybe we can scare these other countries back into just "selling camels."

by johnalive [courtesy of Open Left - Front Page]

[courtesy of Blog for America]

It will take all of us...doing something every day..to make a difference! 

What action will you take today...to take back our country??

Saturday~

***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ August 2,  2008 

another ‘we may never know’ to add to the American saga…

 

Suicide of Microbiologist Demands Thorough Investigation of 2001 Anthrax Attacks

From The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

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