Colleague Comes Forward To Defend Anthrax Suspect 164
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times writes about Henry S. Heine, a former Army microbiologist who worked for years with Bruce E. Ivins, whom the FBI has blamed for the anthrax letter attacks that killed five people in 2001. Heine told a 16-member National Academy of Sciences panel reviewing the FBI's scientific work on the investigation that he believes it is impossible that the deadly spores could have been produced undetected in Ivins's laboratory, as the FBI asserts. Heine told the panel that producing the quantity of spores in the letters would have taken at least a year of intensive work using the equipment at the army lab, an effort that would not have escaped colleagues' notice. Lab technicians who worked closely with Ivins have told Heine they saw no such work. Heine adds that, in addition, the biological containment measures where Ivins worked were inadequate to prevent the spores from floating out of the laboratory into animal cages and offices. 'You'd have had dead animals or dead people.' Asked why he is speaking out now, almost two years after Ivins's suicide, Heine says that Army officials had prohibited comment on the case, silencing him until he left the government laboratory. Although Heine does not dispute that there was a genetic link between the spores in the letters and the anthrax in Ivins's flask, Heine says samples from the flask were widely shared. 'Whoever did this is still running around out there. I truly believe that.'"
Anthrax... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Anthrax... (Score:5, Informative)
...is generally not that deadly. My uncle used to deal with cattle with black leg all the time. This story is ONCE AGAIN blown out of proportion--thanks, FBI.
Depends. I'm not a microbiologist but you know there are different strains (89 I think [wikipedia.org]) of anthrax and it is delivered many different ways. I believe the concern here is spore anthrax or aerosol anthrax which is probably a bit more problematic than black leg. If you think it isn't deadly, there are about a hundred graves in Russia you could visit for an interview [wikipedia.org].
Re:Anthrax... (Score:4, Informative)
The Wrong Man - Hatfill (Score:4, Informative)
The Atlantic has a really interesting article about the FBI's multi-year investigation of Stephen Hatfill for the same crime.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/04/the-wrong-man/8019 [theatlantic.com]
That's two... (Score:5, Informative)
So that is two men the US Government accused of the Anthrax attacks, one of which killed himself and the second almost did. Neither with any real evidence other than vague coincidences. Just goes to show that when the pressure to solve an investigation goes to such extremes mistakes are bound to happen.
I think we should ask about the state's method. In one case they intentionally harassed a suspect by releasing his name to the media, conducting multiple searches, and following him around 24/7 and even having local law enforcement arrest him multiple times on silly charges.
In any other country that has some kind of independent police watchdog you would have consequences but in the US where law enforcement seem to be above the law and "investigate" (ha ha) themselves they just get worse and worse year after year.
Re:Can you say inside job? (Score:4, Informative)
So a strain of Anthrax, developed by the US Military,
No.
A strain of Anthrax with similar genetic code as one being developed by the military.
The security around the anthrax at that time wasn't what anyone would call 'high'.
Re:Anthrax... (Score:4, Informative)
That stuff your uncle used to deal with wasn't a weaponized aerosol either.
Even a very dedicated and professional group couldn't properly weaponize anthrax: The Japanese Aum sect, which later opted for sarin gas to attack the Tokio Subway, tried that twice and didn't kill anyone with it.
Glenn Greenwald (Score:3, Informative)
They destroyed Hatfill (Score:5, Informative)
paging Dr. Phillip Zack (Score:1, Informative)
Anthrax cover-up on line one !
Re:Silence != Truth (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Can you say inside job? (Score:1, Informative)
Sacco and Vanzetti, for two.
The Birmingham Six, for another six.