codeorama Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Army Says Small Operation Made 2001 Anthrax 2 hours, 49 minutes ago Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo! BALTIMORE (Reuters) - U.S. Army scientists have reproduced the anthrax powder used in the deadly 2001 postal attacks and concluded the germ warfare agent was made with inexpensive equipment and limited expertise, the Baltimore Sun reported on Friday. The newspaper quoted an unidentified government source as saying research at the Army's biodefense center at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah suggested that the anthrax was produced by "a pretty small operation" and at a cost of "no more than a few thousand dollars." The findings reinforced a theory among FBI (news - web sites) investigators that the anthrax was probably produced by renegade scientists and not a military program such as Iraq (news - web sites)'s, the Sun said. However, former U.N. weapons inspector Richard Spertzel told the newspaper he had heard the Army research in Utah failed to match the exact purity and small particle size of the mailed anthrax. He told the Sun the FBI should not rule out Iraq or other states as the source of the anthrax powder. Anthrax-laced letters were mailed from New Jersey to Congress and media organizations in September and October 2001. The attacks killed five people and sickened 17 others. Initially, authorities believed the letters to be linked to the Sept. 11, 2001 hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington. But a federal probe later focused on Dr. Steven Hatfill, a germ warfare expert who once worked at the nation's biological warfare defense research center at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Hatfill, identified as "a person of interest" in the investigation, has denied involvement in the attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Interesting. I was wondering recently what was going on with that investigation. Didn't Hatfill pass one or two lie detector tests some months ago? Has there ever been any other individually named suspect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted April 11, 2003 Author Share Posted April 11, 2003 I haven't seen either. It's pretty scary to think that something that deadly can be made so cheaply. I honestly thought that it would be tied to Al Queda. But I guess, this article doesn't necessarily rule that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted April 11, 2003 Author Share Posted April 11, 2003 I was sure Bin Laden was responsible.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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