Saturday, August 03, 2002
Will the Anthrax Killer finally be nabbed?
My antennae went up on this case as soon as I heard about Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle's office receiving an anthrax envelope. Sen. Daschle just happened to be #1 on the right-wing's hate list at the time -- the Republicans were actually running ads comparing him to Saddam Hussein! Then, when it was revealed that another anthrax letter went to the #2 man on the right-wing's hate list, Sen. Patrick Leahy, my eyebrows rose and I let out a "Hmmmmmmmm...."
Before the Leahy letter was revealed, I was willing to entertain the possibility that foreign terrorists were behind the anthrax attacks. Now, I was almost 100% sure that the terrorist was an American right winger.
The person whose house has been searched may just fit that profile -- New York Times columnist Nicholas Krystof described "Mr. Z" as "an American bio-defense insider who intrigues investigators and whose career has been spent in the shadowy world of counterterror and intelligence." Yet I'm still reluctant to name him, or even link to a mainstream media item that names him, because of the false charges against that security guard, Richard Jewell, who witnessed the Atlanta bombing a few years ago.
So, while I'm reluctant to jump the gun and accuse "Mr. Z" of terrorism, especially since he hasn't even been arrested, the circumstantial evidence so far leads me to the conclusion that the anthrax evil-doer is almost certainly an American right winger.
My antennae went up on this case as soon as I heard about Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle's office receiving an anthrax envelope. Sen. Daschle just happened to be #1 on the right-wing's hate list at the time -- the Republicans were actually running ads comparing him to Saddam Hussein! Then, when it was revealed that another anthrax letter went to the #2 man on the right-wing's hate list, Sen. Patrick Leahy, my eyebrows rose and I let out a "Hmmmmmmmm...."
Before the Leahy letter was revealed, I was willing to entertain the possibility that foreign terrorists were behind the anthrax attacks. Now, I was almost 100% sure that the terrorist was an American right winger.
The person whose house has been searched may just fit that profile -- New York Times columnist Nicholas Krystof described "Mr. Z" as "an American bio-defense insider who intrigues investigators and whose career has been spent in the shadowy world of counterterror and intelligence." Yet I'm still reluctant to name him, or even link to a mainstream media item that names him, because of the false charges against that security guard, Richard Jewell, who witnessed the Atlanta bombing a few years ago.
So, while I'm reluctant to jump the gun and accuse "Mr. Z" of terrorism, especially since he hasn't even been arrested, the circumstantial evidence so far leads me to the conclusion that the anthrax evil-doer is almost certainly an American right winger.
