WILL FORMER ARMY SCIENTIST SUE THE WASHINGTON TIMES AND BARBARA HATCH ROSENBERG? Scientist says anthrax probe ruined his life Guy Taylor and H.J. Brier THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 8/12/2002 Bioweapons expert Steven J. Hatfill said yesterday that his life has been ruined by what he and his attorney called the sloppy and unprofessional nature of the FBI's anthrax investigation and the irresponsible reporting by the media. "I never worked with anthrax," Mr. Hatfill read from a statement before about 100 reporters gathered outside his attorney's Old Town Alexandria office. "I had nothing to do with the anthrax letters, and it is extremely wrong for anyone to contend or think otherwise," he said. "I am appalled at the heinous acts of biological terrorism that caused death, disease and havoc in America." Attorney Victor M. Glasberg also publicly declared Mr. Hatfill's innocence and decried the FBI for making "outrageous official statements and calculated leaks to the media" about the investigation without naming the former military scientist as a suspect. During the bureau's Aug. 1 search of Mr. Hatfill's apartment - the second in six months - investigators scanning the hard drive of his laptop discovered a half-finished novel "about bioterrorism and such" by him, Mr. Glasberg said. The attorney also said he received phone calls from reporters during the past week inquiring about the novel. "The only way [the reporters] could have got it is if the FBI leaked it to them after peeling it off Steve's laptop," Mr. Glasberg said. He added that, judging from the "many, many leaks" in the investigation, it appears that the FBI does not know what it is doing. Officials at the FBI's Washington Field Office, which is leading the anthrax investigation, said such assertions are taken seriously. "Credible allegations concerning the mishandling of evidence will be investigated thoroughly," FBI spokesman Chris Murray said in a statement. It was not clear whether Mr. Hatfill, who once worked as a researcher at Fort Detrick, the Pentagon's top biodefense research center in Frederick, Md., plans to sue the FBI for hounding him without naming him a suspect. Mr. Glasberg said a formal complaint is likely to be lodged with the Justice Department's office of professional responsibility. "After eight months of one of the most intensive public and private investigations in American history, no one has come up with a shred of evidence that I had anything to do with the anthrax letters," Mr. Hatfill said. He said he has done everything in his power to cooperate with the FBI, but the bureau's scrutiny of him - particularly the most recent search of his apartment - has set off a "media feeding frenzy." "The FBI agents had promised me that the search would be quiet, private and very low key. It did not turn out that way," Mr. Hatfill said. A day after the search, he was suspended with pay by Louisiana State University's National Center for Biomedical Research and Training, where he was hired recently as an associate director. Law-enforcement officials have said that Mr. Hatfill, 48, is one of about 30 scientists being looked at in the investigation into who sent anthrax-laced letters to media outlets in Florida and New York and to two senators in Washington in October. The letters killed five persons, including two postal employees, and sickened more than a dozen others. Mr. Hatfill said he is bothered that the FBI's increased interest in him apparently stems from "a woman named Barbara Hatch Rosenberg [who] saw fit to discuss me as a suspect in the anthrax case in a meeting with FBI agents" in June. "I don't know Dr. Rosenberg. I have never met her," he said. "I have never spoken or corresponded with her. I am at a loss to explain her reported hostility and accusations." Mrs. Rosenberg is the chairman of the biological-arms-control panel for the Federation of American Scientists and has been an adviser to the government on biological weapons issues. She has served on a weapons panel under President Clinton and, more recently, has been involved in tracking those responsible for the anthrax mailings, having on at least one occasion briefed FBI agents and staffers with the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees. In January, Mrs. Rosenberg told The Washington Times that the FBI was working on a "short list of suspects" and had identified the culprit as a former scientist at Fort Detrick. It has been reported that FBI interest in Mr. Hatfill originated with a report he commissioned in 1999 with a colleague. The report includes a description of how anthrax could be sent in the mail. Mrs. Rosenberg told The Times last week that FBI agents recently asked her whether she thought scientists could be trying to frame Mr. Hatfill. The FBI neither confirmed nor denied that the interview took place. Mr. Hatfill refused to field questions yesterday. Mr. Glasberg said he "can't imagine why anybody would want to frame [Mr. Hatfill]. For Steve, it is a total puzzlement why anyone would." Mr. Hatfill was introduced to reporters by Patrick Clawson, a friend, who described him as "tremendous scientist" and "a healer and not a killer." Ex-Army Scientist Denies Role in Anthrax Attacks 'My Life Is Destroyed' by Probe, Media By Tom Jackman Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, August 11, 2002; Page A01 Reporters bang on Steven J. Hatfill's door at all hours. An Internet Web site labels him "Steven 'Mengele' Hatfill, Nazi swine." Cable talk shows routinely discuss whether he is last fall's anthrax mailer. And twice, the FBI has very publicly swept into Hatfill's Frederick apartment. Hatfill was once a highly respected researcher and teacher of biological warfare. Now he is doing neither. Since February, he has lost one job and been suspended from another. He had seemingly dedicated his life to combating biological terrorism, but his has become the leading name in the investigation into the most dramatic act of bioterrorism that America has ever seen. Speaking out for the first time since his name became public, Hatfill said he did not send the anthrax-laced envelopes that killed five people last fall. "I went from being someone with pride in my work, pride in my profession, to being made into the biggest criminal of the 21st century, for something I never touched," Hatfill said. "What I've been trying to contribute, my work, is finished. My life is destroyed." It is impossible to assess with certainty Hatfill's version of events. FBI officials have declined to say publicly why they have raided his home or discuss any other evidence. Law enforcement officials have said privately that Hatfill is one of as many as 30 "persons of interest" in the investigation, all of whom are being examined because of potential access and expertise in handling anthrax. Authorities say Hatfill has attracted particular attention because of his work in the biological weapons program and his general level of expertise with biological agents. They have painted him as disgruntled and frustrated, with an inflated ego and résumé -- the kind of person who might wage such an attack. But Hatfill's attorney, Victor M. Glasberg of Alexandria, said the reasons don't make sense. In fact, Glasberg said, when Hatfill worked at the Army bioresearch lab at Fort Detrick, "he did not do anthrax work. Steve has never worked with anthrax. He has never cultured anthrax. He has never handled anthrax." Hatfill hasn't been charged. But even so, Glasberg said, "Steve's life has been devastated by a drumbeat of innuendo, implication and speculation. We have a frightening public attack on an individual who, guilty or not, should not be exposed to this type of public opprobrium based on speculation." Glasberg said Hatfill had no motive to commit bioterror. He said Hatfill was not disgruntled or unhappy. "He was totally satisfied that this was an all-out effort to move the [bioterror] program forward," Glasberg said. "You're going to find no expression of frustration." Hatfill was initially interviewed by investigators in January, and then given a lie-detector test as part of a wide-ranging FBI review of the scientific community. Hatfill was told he gave satisfactory answers on the test. But his name kept resurfacing, both among scientists and on the Internet, and the FBI returned for a two-hour interview in March, and then a voluntary search of his apartment June 25. The FBI search -- accompanied by reporters, cameras and hovering news helicopters -- thrust Hatfill into an international spotlight. When the attention died down, Hatfill decided to try to salvage his reputation, and Glasberg approached The Washington Post for an interview. On Aug. 1, four days before the scheduled interview, the FBI raided Hatfill's apartment with a criminal search warrant, again accompanied by the media, which had been tipped to the raid. "My friends are bombarded," Hatfill said. "Phone calls at night. Trespassing. Beating on my door. For the sheer purpose of selling newspapers and television." Hatfill, 48, still wanted to tell his side of the story. But during an interview at Glasberg's office, Glasberg did most of the talking, saying it was for Hatfill's protection in case authorities decide to prosecute him. Hatfill sat next to Glasberg throughout the three-hour interview, sometimes trying to answer and being told by Glasberg to stop. Only when asked about the impact of the investigation did Glasberg allow Hatfill to answer. The FBI declined to respond to Hatfill's or Glasberg's statements. "We've not confirmed anyone's identity," said Van A. Harp, head of the Washington field office, which is leading the investigation. Hatfill began his career as a medical doctor, receiving his degree from a school in Zimbabwe and adding postgraduate degrees in microbial genetics, medical biochemistry and experimental pathology from colleges in South Africa. His 15 years in southern Africa, at a time when apartheid still existed, has raised eyebrows among Hatfill's accusers. Glasberg declined to discuss those years, saying it was irrelevant to the anthrax investigation, but noted that Hatfill developed his interest and specialty in viruses such as Ebola while in Africa. Hatfill's résumé detailing those periods has created another storm. Hatfill claimed on a 1997 résumé that he served in the Army Special Forces. Army records show that he enlisted in the Reserve in 1975, served a year of active duty and attended -- but dropped out of -- Special Forces training. Glasberg declined to comment on Hatfill's military record. In the mid-1990s, Hatfill's résumé listed a doctoral degree. Glasberg said Hatfill had submitted a thesis to Rhodes University in South Africa and thought he had received the degree but later learned it was never awarded. He amended the résumé in 1999 to "Ph.D. thesis." Hatfill returned to the United States in the mid-1990s, working first as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. In September 1997, under a two-year grant from the National Research Council, he began working at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, the Pentagon's top center for investigating deadly pathogens. At Fort Detrick, "there's bacteriology research and there's virology research," Glasberg said. "They each have their separate labs. They each have separate decontamination chambers. The lab Steve had access to dealt with viral diseases. . . . The two were separate and didn't mix. . . . He never worked with anthrax at Fort Detrick. He's a viral guy. That [anthrax] is a bacteria." Chuck Dasey, a spokesman for Fort Detrick, confirmed Hatfill's work history. "It's true he didn't work on anthrax and was never issued vials of anthrax," Dasey said. He said Hatfill was assigned to the virology division as a research associate. Before Hatfill's grant expired, he took a job with Science Applications International Corp., a defense contractor with an office in McLean. Glasberg said Hatfill became lead instructor for a course in national preparedness for weapons of mass destruction, developed a biological warfare curriculum for the State Department and helped the Air Force design a biological weapons defense program. In 1999, Glasberg said, a series of hoax letters claiming to contain anthrax were mailed across the country. Hatfill realized that fire and police departments didn't know how to respond. Hatfill commissioned William Patrick III, a biological weapons expert, to write a report on how to deal with anthrax sent through the mail. "It was a public service," Glasberg said, and Patrick was paid only $500. Hatfill and a colleague took Patrick's report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and submitted it to its bioterrorism preparation center. The CDC was working on the same project, Glasberg said, and produced the same findings and recommendations as Patrick. The guidelines were distributed to fire and police departments, published on the Internet and remain unchanged today, Glasberg said. But the concept of a report on anthrax mail attacks -- two years before last October's mailings -- intrigued the FBI. In particular, Patrick's report discussed mailing 2.5 grams of anthrax powder, about the same amount contained in the deadly anthrax letters. Glasberg said Patrick used 2.5 grams because that was the amount of talc he poured into an envelope, as a test, to see how much could pass unobtrusively through the mails. Some media reports have called Patrick's report a "blueprint" for the fatal mailings. "That lacks any sense at all," Glasberg said. "There is zero data in the report. It shows you what you do after it happens." Boris Lederer, who worked with Hatfill at Science Applications International, recalled his colleague's reaction when the anthrax mailings occurred. "It was just shock and complete disbelief that this was happening," Lederer said. Because he had worked at Fort Detrick, Hatfill understood that he would be questioned by investigators. Glasberg said that after Hatfill took a lie-detector exam in January, the agent told him, "I'm satisfied. I believe you had nothing to do with the anthrax." But as the investigation ground to a halt, accusations about Hatfill were relayed to investigators, which Hatfill rebutted in a two-hour meeting in March. Among those allegations: That he had unfettered access to the Army bioresearch lab at Fort Detrick after his grant ended in 1999. He did not, Glasberg said. "After he stopped working there, he had to be escorted, like everybody," Glasberg said. Dasey confirmed that. That he had been given a booster vaccine for anthrax. He did not, Glasberg said. His last anthrax vaccination was in December 1998, and he has not received a shot since then, making him as vulnerable as anyone else, Glasberg said. That he removed cabinets from Fort Detrick that could be used to culture anthrax. The cabinets, weighing more than 350 pounds, were moved by truck to a training site for a military exercise and then blown up, Glasberg said. That the "Greendale School" listed as a return address on the anthrax mailings is in Harare, Zimbabwe, near Hatfill's medical school. "To the best of our knowledge, there isn't any Greendale School," Glasberg said. "There is a subdivision near Harare called Greendale, but there are Greendales everywhere." That Hatfill was disgruntled at losing his security clearance. At Fort Detrick, Hatfill never had nor needed security clearance, Glasberg and Dasey said. Once at Science Applications International, he got low-level security clearance for one project. When he was detailed to work for the CIA on another project, a CIA lie-detector test was ambiguous when he was asked about his days in Africa, Glasberg said. His clearance was revoked pending an appeal. Virtually none of Hatfill's work at Science Applications International required a clearance, Glasberg said, but the company used its revocation as a reason to fire Hatfill in February. He said the company has since offered Hatfill settlement payments, which he rejected, and more work, which he accepted. In May, Esteban Rodriguez, a supervisor at the Defense Intelligence Agency, wrote a letter lauding Hatfill's "unsurpassed technical expertise, unique resourcefulness, total dedication and consummate professionalism" in helping the military prepare for possible biowarfare in Afghanistan. In June, still with no anthrax suspect in sight, scientist Barbara Hatch Rosenberg met with the staff of Sens. Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). Rosenberg is a biological weapons expert from the Federation of American Scientists and had published two scathing letters attacking the FBI's lack of results. Rosenberg said she has been careful never to mention Hatfill's name, but several media reported that his name was raised in the meeting, which the FBI also attended. Several days later, agents asked for and received Hatfill's permission to search his apartment. "They cart out 23 bags of stuff from his apartment," Glasberg said. "They swab the walls for anthrax. And if they came up with something, we don't know about it. The agent in charge told Steve, 'This is on instruction from on high.' " Next, the agents asked Hatfill to take a second lie-detector test. Glasberg wanted to know why, and advised against it. He said the FBI called Hatfill on July 31 and wanted to talk. Glasberg called the agent and left a message offering to schedule a meeting. The next day, the second search occurred. Glasberg said Hatfill's father received a phone call from a reporter the night before the search, warning him that "something significant" was about to happen. The day of the search, Hatfill hired another Alexandria lawyer, Jonathan Shapiro. Shapiro called Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Kohl to introduce himself, Glasberg said, and not long after, Shapiro received a call from a reporter. Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, said his office was not speaking to reporters about Hatfill. Glasberg said, "It's just absolutely clear this stuff is being leaked to the press for the purpose of giving their investigation high profile, to demonstrate the FBI is on the case, without any regard to the consequences to this man." Hatfill found a new job at Louisiana State University, teaching federal agents and police how to handle bioterror for $150,000 annually. But after the second search, LSU put him on paid leave for 30 days. At both Science Applications International and LSU, Glasberg said, Hatfill has been laid off because they were in "the difficult position of having to contend with unproved, defamatory allegations against someone who's becoming increasingly visible." Glasberg compared the case to that of Richard Jewell, the Atlanta security guard who was a suspect in the 1996 Olympic Park bombing and who became a household name even though he had done nothing wrong. "One would think that incidents like Richard Jewell," Glasberg said, "would alert the authorities to the importance of proceeding fairly and discreetly in these investigations." Staff writers Guy Gugliotta, Susan Schmidt and Dan Eggen contributed to this report. Scientist Steps Up Anthrax Defense Grievances Aired Before Media Throng By Tom Jackman Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, August 12, 2002; Page B01 Scientist Steven J. Hatfill yesterday intensified his efforts to clear himself of any connection to the anthrax-laced envelopes that killed five people last fall, calmly standing before a battalion of cameras, microphones and reporters as he read a statement saying he didn't send the envelopes and never worked with anthrax. Beneath a blazing sun, Hatfill spoke in tones of barely restrained indignation to a live national cable television audience and did not answer questions. "I am a loyal American, and I love my country," Hatfill said outside his attorney's office in Alexandria. "I had nothing to do, in any way, shape or form, with the anthrax letters. And it is extremely wrong for anyone to suggest otherwise." Hatfill, 48, became the subject of international speculation after the FBI twice searched his apartment in Frederick, once in June with his permission, and then again Aug. 1 with a search warrant. Each time, scores of reporters and photographers have documented the searches, thrusting Hatfill into the spotlight, although he has not been charged with a crime. Hatfill's statement included a chronology of his interaction with the FBI. He said that his girlfriend was manhandled when the FBI searched her residence Aug. 1, and that ABC News had obtained a fictional manuscript that he had been writing about biological terrorism. Hatfill's attorney, Victor M. Glasberg, said that the manuscript could have come only from Hatfill's computer, which the FBI seized in its most recent search, and that investigators were leaking information to the news media. The FBI declined to respond to the allegation yesterday. Hatfill, trained as a physician, worked at the Army's top biological research center, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, at Fort Detrick, Md., from 1997 to 1999. He said it was logical for the FBI to question him in its investigation into the anthrax mailings, because anthrax is made and studied at Fort Detrick. After meeting with FBI agents early in the probe and passing a lie-detector test in January, he said, "the FBI told me they believed I had nothing to do with this incident of terrorism. . . . I assumed my involvement in the investigation was over." But while Hatfill was working for Science Applications International Corp., a defense contractor with an office in McLean, reporters began asking him and others at the company about his possible involvement in the anthrax mailings. "Shortly thereafter, SAIC laid me off," Hatfill said. Glasberg said last week that SAIC told Hatfill he was being fired because his security clearance had been revoked. But little of Hatfill's work involved secret matters, Glasberg said. And Hatfill said he believed he was ousted because of the attention he was attracting. Hatfill's expertise was in helping combat biological terrorism, and he had taught U.S. diplomats and officials how to prepare for germ warfare. After leaving SAIC, he took a job with Louisiana State University to help train "first responders" to handle bioterror incidents. He started there July 1. In late June, the FBI had returned to ask him whether agents could swab his apartment walls for anthrax spores. Hatfill agreed, although, he noted, he had not been immunized against anthrax in more than two years, and his cleaning ladies had not shown any symptoms. "The FBI agents had promised me that the search would be quiet, private and very low key," Hatfill said. "It didn't turn out that way. Within minutes of my signing the release to have my residence and property searched, television cameras, TV trucks and an overhead news helicopter were swarming around my apartment block." That search launched "a written and televised media frenzy," Hatfill said, filled with "defamatory speculation and innuendo about me." Results from the swabbing test have not been released, Glasberg said. Many recent media reports have focused on Hatfill's résumés, which once wrongly claimed that he had received a doctorate and that he had served in the military in the United States and Rhodesia. He and Glasberg declined to address those matters specifically. "Like yourselves, there are things I would probably do or say differently than I did 10, 20 or more years ago," Hatfill said. "Anyone's life and work [can be] picked apart for every error, wrinkle, failed memory or inconsistency. Mine can. So can yours. Does any of that get us to the anthrax killer?" The FBI contacted Hatfill again July 31, seeking a meeting. Glasberg said he called the agent to arrange one. Instead, search warrants were served on Hatfill and his girlfriend the next day. Again, reporters swarmed Hatfill's apartment complex. In addition, he said, his girlfriend "was manhandled by the FBI. . . . Her apartment was wrecked. FBI agents told her that I had killed five people." The next day, Louisiana State University suspended him with pay. "If I am a 'subject of interest,' I also am a human being," Hatfill concluded. " . . .I acknowledge the right of the authorities and the press to satisfy themselves as to whether I am the anthrax mailer. This does not, however, give them the right to smear me and to gratuitously make a wasteland of my life in the process." Hatfill, wearing a dark blue sport coat and tie, stood to the side as Glasberg then answered questions. Glasberg said ABC News had called him yesterday for comment about Hatfill's fiction manuscript. Glasberg said he planned to file a formal complaint with the federal Office of Professional Responsibility over what he believes are repeated leaks to reporters about the investigation, including information from the sealed affidavit used to obtain the search warrants. He cited a report in the Aug. 12 issue of Newsweek, that bloodhounds with a scent from the anthrax letters "went crazy" when taken to Hatfill's apartment, as another example of a leak by the FBI. "That's bogus," Glasberg said, that the suspect's scent theoretically would have remained on the letters after numerous other people had handled them over 10 months. "It's untenable. It doesn't work that way." AIM MEDIA MONITORS ON THE CASE: MEDIA MONITOR: The awarding of visas to two of the 9/11 hijackers, six months after their deaths in the suicide attacks, generated headlines. On March 23, however, the New York Times disclosed a major blunder by the FBI that helps explain why the perpetrators of the anthrax attacks have escaped justice, and why the major media keep focusing on alleged right-wing or current or former U.S. government personnel as the culprits. Correspondents William J. Broad and David Johnston disclosed that a Florida doctor told the FBI last October that he had treated one of the 9/11 hijackers for an anthrax-like infection. The paper noted that a report prepared by experts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies concluded that the diagnosis of cutaneous anthrax, which causes skin lesions, was "the most probable and coherent interpretation of the data available" in the case of the 9/11 hijacker.The report added, "Such a conclusion of course raises the possibility that the hijackers were handling anthrax and were the perpetrators of the anthrax letter attacks." Incredibly, the Times said the FBI was still dismissing the possibility that the 9/11 hijackers or their associates were behind the anthrax attacks that killed 5 people. It appears the FBI doesn't want to admit it may have made a serious mistake. It still wants the public to believe that the anthrax attacks came from a domestic source. This is typical of an attitude developed under the Clinton Administration, when the bureau warned that right-wingers might be planning violence for Y2K. An FBI report singled out pro-second amendment and anti-U.N. activists for scrutiny. No violence from them occurred. But a terrorist linked to al Qaeda was caught trying to cross the Canadian border into the U.S. to bomb Los Angeles airport. Although the anthrax letters appeared to have been written by a foreigner, many dismissed that, saying it was too obvious and a diversion. The letters called for Death to America and homage to Allah. But we also learned that documents referring to anthrax vaccine-maker Bioport Inc. were found in the possession of the Al Qaeda in Kabul, Afghanistan. Two Pakistani scientists were arrested in Kabul and had the documents in their possession, according to published reports. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Edward J. Epstein noted that Bioport's owner has had dealings with Saudi Arabia, where most of the hijackers came from, and has an interest in biowarfare. On February 25th, Jerry Seper of the Washington Times ran a much-publicized story that the FBI's prime suspect in the anthrax attacks was a former government scientist. He claimed his sources were "law enforcement authorities" and "leading biochemical experts." But you had to read deep into the article to discover his main source for this charge - Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, a left-winger with the Federation of American Scientists. Rosenberg recently suggested to the BBC that the anthrax attacks were a secret CIA project to investigate methods of sending anthrax through the mail which went madly out of control. She cited no evidence for this sensational charge. MEDIA MONITOR: Media coverage of the anthrax investigation is starting to resemble the chaotic investigation itself. Jerry Seper of the Washington Times began the circus by reporting that the FBI had narrowed its probe to one person - a former U.S. scientist who worked at a government laboratory. One day later, Seper said the former scientist is the "focus" of the FBI investigation. But the FBI said it doesn't have a prime suspect. Mail handlers at the U.S. Army Reserve Command headquarters found a suspicious package there and said initial field tests indicated that anthrax could be present. The building was locked down with about 200 people still inside, and stricter security measures were imposed. Six people who handled the package were sent to a hospital for further examination. The building was closed, and people were asked to remain in their offices. But tests determined that the substance was not anthrax. Desperately searching for leads in the anthrax investigation, the FBI has asked the U.S. Postal Service to distribute a flyer about the case to more than 500,000 people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The FBI also doubled the reward to $2.5 million for information leading to the capture of whoever sent the anthrax-tainted envelopes that terrorized the nation and killed five people last year. The Christian Science Monitor reported last November that although the FBI still has not ruled out the possibility that al Qaeda may be involved, certain experts were convinced it was probably domestic. The paper claimed the targeting of Senator Leahy, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, pointed to an attacker with "strong domestic political views in line with certain right-wing extremists." That was typical of the FBI attitude under Clinton, when the bureau warned that right-wingers might be planning violence for Y2K. None occurred. But a terrorist linked to al Qaeda was caught trying to cross the Canadian border into the U.S. to bomb Los Angeles airport. The FBI had no role in catching him. That was due to an alert border guard who noted the terrorist was sweating in cold weather. That led to a search that found bomb-making materials in his trunk. One thing we know is that the anthrax letters appeared to have been written by a foreigner. Another thing we do know is that documents referring to anthrax vaccine-maker Bioport Inc. were found in the possession of the Al Qaeda in Kabul, Afghanistan. Two Pakistani scientists were arrested in Kabul and had the documents in their possession, according to published reports. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Edward J. Epstein noted that Bioport's owner has had dealings with Saudi Arabia, where most of the hijackers came from, and has an interest in biowarfare. A spokesman for Bioport confirmed that the documents found in Kabul were about "laboratory renovations" and were not a "how-to" manual on making the vaccine. But why would Pakistani scientists in Kabul be interested in the plant? Did they or their agents have access to it? Why won't the media pursue answers to these questions? The answer may lie in the FBI's so far fruitless search for a right-wing culprit. MEDIA MONITOR: A Washington Times story by Jerry Seper about the FBI supposedly having a prime suspect in the anthrax attacks generated attention nationally. He claimed his sources were "law enforcement authorities" and "leading biochemical experts." But you had to read deep into the article to discover his main source for this charge - Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, who was described by Seper as "a microbiologist at state University of New York who heads the biological arms-control panel for the Federation of American Scientists…" The Village Voice, a left-wing New York weekly, noted that the Seper story "more or less repeated her report" - that is, Rosenberg's report. Interestingly, the Federation of American Scientists now promotes Rosenberg's report on its own Web site by saying, "This report by Dr. Barbara Rosenberg prompted media reports that the FBI has a prime suspect in the anthrax attacks." Readers are entitled to know more about Rosenberg and the Federation of American Scientists. The Times neglected to mention that this is a group that has a left-wing orientation that believes in the sanctity of international arms control agreements. Its Web site has stories attacking the Bush Administration's withdrawal from the flawed ABM treaty. Near the end of Rosenberg's own report, she tips her hand, saying, "The recent anthrax attack was a minor one but nonetheless we now see that it was made possible by a sophisticated government program…secret US programs may have been the source of that support…US government insistence on pursuing and maintaining the secrecy of elaborate biological threat assessment activities is undermining the prohibitions of the Biological Weapons Convention and encouraging biological weapons proliferation in other countries…" That's her way of attacking the Bush Administration for resisting a protocol to an international agreement supposedly banning biological weapons. She believes that if it is proven that a former U.S. government scientist is behind the anthrax attacks, then that makes the case for having an international treaty mandating inspections of government facilities. The U.S. fears that rogue nations would circumvent the treaty and our secrets would be exposed to the world. John Bolton, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, says the protocol would endanger the viability of biological warfare defense programs because its inspection provisions could enable countries with offensive programs to learn about national defense programs and devise countermeasures. Bolton has identified Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria as countries with offensive programs. But Barbara Hatch Rosenberg would rather talk about some alleged and anonymous former U.S. scientist. MEDIA MONITOR: The latest twist and turn in the search for the perpetrators of the anthrax attack on America is a Newsweek story that "government sources" have told the magazine that a secret new analysis shows that the anthrax found in a letter addressed to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy was ground to a microscopic fineness NOT achieved by U.S. biological-weapons experts. This suggests a foreign source, not the domestic loner or right-winger previously suggested by the FBI. The Newsweek account follows a report on ABC News by Brian Ross that federal investigators say they have no suspects and few clues but continue to believe the person responsible for the anthrax attacks is likely a current or former U.S. scientist, perhaps a prominent one. It is apparent that the incompetence and/or corruption in the FBI has not been resolved. It is possible that these conflicting media reports may all be true, showing how disorganized the bureau has become in trying to find those who killed five Americans last year. In an amazing turnabout, Brian Ross said the FBI started investigating someone who was asked for help in finding the perpetrator. The FBI had gone to Dr. Ken Alibek, a Soviet defector who made weapons-grade anthrax. Alibek, who ran the secret Soviet and Russian anthrax program, said he has the expertise to make the material that was sent in the American anthrax letters. "Yes, it would be easy to do," he said. Then, Alibek was told he had to take a lie detector test if he wanted to continue to help the FBI. Ross reported, "He confirmed he had to answer questions including 'Did you do it?' and 'Do you know who did it?'" Alibek said he passed the test. The focus on Alibek and other foreigners may have been prompted by something that Newsweek highlights -- that "investigators question whether any laid-off U.S. government scientist is able enough-and has access to the right equipment-to produce the unusual substance found in the Leahy letter." Newsweek also said it was "coated with a chemical compound unknown to experts who have worked in the field for years; the coating matches no known anthrax samples ever recovered from biological-weapons producers anywhere in the world, including Iraq and the former Soviet Union." Media such as the Washington Times had been suggesting that a former U.S. government scientist was behind the attacks. But Newsweek now says the possibility cannot be dismissed that the anthrax was produced by a team assembled by a foreign government." The magazine added that U.S. investigators "can't rule out the possibility that a foreign government, perhaps Iraq but more likely the former U.S.S.R., could have put together such a team." Another theory is that a former American scientist bought the anthrax from a foreign government. A former commander of the U.S. bioweapons program told Brian Ross that "a lot of good has come" from the attacks because about $6 billion has been put into the new budget for defending against bioterrorism. But who is the enemy? The FBI doesn't seem to have the ability to find out. And the media coverage reflects that cold hard fact.              Printer-friendly version Click here to be added to our mailing list.