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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito who wrote (268162)	6/28/2002 9:12:39 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 769669

ANTHRAX: FORMER USAMRIID SCIENTIST STUDIED ENVELOPE ATTACK nti.org Anthrax: Former USAMRIID Scientist Studied Envelope Attack Steven Hatfill, the former biological weapons defense scientist whose apartment the FBI searched this week, commissioned a study in 1999 examining a potential anthrax attack using a spore-filled envelope opened in an office, the Baltimore Sun reported today (see GSN nti.org, June 26). The study examined the risks of anthrax spores spreading through the air and the decontamination measures that would be needed after various types of attacks, according to the Sun. William Patrick, a former scientist in the U.S. offensive biological weapons program, prepared the study and submitted it to Hatfill and another researcher at the defense contractor where Hatfill then worked (see GSN nti.org, Jan. 25). Investigators have also learned that Hatfill, while attending medical school in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, lived near a school called Greendale School, according to the Sun. The return addresses on some of the letters used in last fall’s anthrax attacks listed a Greendale School at a false address in New Jersey, the Sun reported. During his time in Zimbabwe, Hatfill also witnessed one of the largest outbreaks of anthrax among humans — an estimated 10,000 cases from 1979-1980. FBI agents have searched a public storage facility in Florida that Hatfill rented, the Sun reported. The facility is located in Ocala, Fla., near a farm owned by Hatfill’s parents. Hatfill is one of several scientists that the FBI has investigated, bureau officials said. He consented to the search of his apartment and no incriminating evidence has yet been found, though anthrax tests are still not complete, they said (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun sunspot.net, June 27). Hatfill previously worked in the virology division of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., said USAMRIID spokesman Chuck Dasey. The virology division developed defenses against biological weapons for military personnel, he said. Hatfill’s primary work at USAMRIID did not involve him working with anthrax, though he could have had access in laboratories shared with bacteriology scientists, Dasey said (Gretchen Parker, Associated Press, June 27). FBI Motives The FBI might have decided to conduct a highly public search of Hatfill’s apartment as either a move to appease Congress or as an attempt to jump-start the bureau’s “Amerithrax” investigation, a microbiologist said. “The intent was clearly to put his name in the public eye. The only question is why,” the scientist said. “It was either strictly for show — a bone tossed to Congress and the media — or they want to put pressure on him by starting a public investigation to stimulate the stalled nonpublic investigation.” Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), who was one of the targets of the anthrax-filled letters, said he still has several questions for the FBI on its handling of the investigation. “I have asked for another briefing by the FBI on the anthrax investigation,” Daschle said. “I don’t know if one has actually been set yet. I hope it has, because I have a lot of questions.” The FBI’s reluctance to share information is frustrating, said a source close to Daschle. “In light of yesterday’s news, and in light of everything else that’s going on, we feel we don’t know where things stand,” the source said (Hartford Courant ctnow.com, June 27). For further information, see: CDC Frequently Asked Questions on Anthrax bt.cdc.gov FBI Amerithrax Investigation fbi.gov GSN Anthrax Attack Chronology (Dec. 12, 2001) nti.org