Iraq 'behind US anthrax outbreaks'
October 13, 2001 9:59 PM   Subscribe

Iraq 'behind US anthrax outbreaks' First story I have seen ascribing responsibility.........maybe we should ask the same Pakistani immigrant student at New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn who, according to MSNBC, shot his mouth off on September 6 about the coming World Trade Center attack.
posted by Voyageman (15 comments total)
 
Note the last paragraph of the article:

"Administration officials close to the group [allegedly the Wolfwitz cabal, including Rumsfeld] told The Observer : 'We see this war as one against the virus of terrorism. If you have bone marrow cancer, it's not enough to just cut off the patient's foot. You have to do the complete course of chemotherapy. And if that means embarking on the next Hundred Years' War, that's what we're doing.' "

If this is accurate, what are they thinking? I feel every hawkish bone in me evaporating. Am I a wuss, or is it ridiculous to think about this whole mess as a potential Hundred Years' War?
posted by thebigpoop at 10:41 PM on October 13, 2001


poop: Well if you're an army general making that statement, it's called being optimistic about job security.

There are a lot of disgruntled generals wanting to finish what they started in Iraq. Iraq was a dream come true, nearly no resistance and use of all those hi-tech toys left over from the Cold War. Iraq is also the only way these generals will be able to use tanks and ground troops.
posted by geoff. at 11:00 PM on October 13, 2001


Somebody's gonna get it... I'm tellin mom....
posted by fooljay at 11:52 PM on October 13, 2001


I would not be surprised if the US were at war with Iraq within the year.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:42 AM on October 14, 2001


(sigh)
I'm going over to the next thread to kill that fly some more.
posted by dong_resin at 1:00 AM on October 14, 2001


Not one high-level source linking Iraq with this anthrax thesis is named. Holy disinfo, Batman.

“US intelligence believes Iraq has the technology and supplies of anthrax suitable for terrorist use. 'They aren't making this stuff in caves in Afghanistan,' the CIA source said. 'This is prima facie evidence of the involvement of a state intelligence agency. Maybe Iran has the capability. But it doesn't look likely politically. That leaves Iraq.'”

That also leaves Pakistan’s ISI, which we know supports terrorism, likely including the hijackers of 9.11. It also leaves the former Soviet states and anthrax was found there.

Watch out for unsourced opinions exonerating new allies at the expense of old enemies. This sounds like the hawks pushing their new-found freedom into a broader war on filmsy evidence and assumptions. Tonkin Gulf Resolution II.

“Scientists investigating the attacks say the bacteria used is similar to the 'Ames strain' of anthrax originally cultivated at Iowa State University in the 1950s and later given to labs throughout the world, including Iraq.”

Man, that’s interesting.
posted by raaka at 4:27 AM on October 14, 2001


Lets not forget there is a religious fundamentalism movement at work in the USA which in recent years has infiltrated the Republican party. Crusade anyone?
posted by stbalbach at 5:50 AM on October 14, 2001


Britain has stated that they refuse to follow the US into Iraq.
posted by crunchland at 6:32 AM on October 14, 2001


And if that means embarking on the next Hundred Years' War, that's what we're doing.

There's something that makes me feel uneasy about anyone in power referring to a 14th/15th century war as a basis for dealing with a 21st century problem.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 7:29 AM on October 14, 2001


“Scientists investigating the attacks say the bacteria used is similar to the 'Ames strain' of anthrax originally cultivated at Iowa State University in the 1950s and later given to labs throughout the world, including Iraq.”

I know we're known for spreading our culture around the world, but come on....
posted by rushmc at 8:20 AM on October 14, 2001


'And if that means embarking on the next Hundred Years' War, that's what we're doing.'

How many of these sorts of comments is it going to take before the cries of "these guys weren't even legitimately elected" start getting louder, from inside or outside the US?

Otherwise this is the frontrunner for today's creepiest quotation...
posted by joemaller at 10:10 AM on October 14, 2001


How many? Oh, a few trillion, since you're dreaming.
posted by aaron at 11:12 AM on October 14, 2001


From the BBC: Mr Thompson (US Health Secretary) suggested that it was not especially difficult for someone to obtain anthrax spores from a laboratory.

"Somebody can have walked out with a vial or some sort of specimen and grew it," he said.

Why are we playing with this stuff?
posted by grahamwell at 1:41 PM on October 14, 2001


grahamwell: We're "playing" with this stuff because it regularly kills our livestock.
posted by realjanetkagan at 2:14 PM on October 14, 2001


Don't we also kill our livestock?

Mmmm. Steak.
posted by Sinner at 9:20 PM on October 14, 2001


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