The FBI cover-up of the anthrax investigation

[RBHam]

By Way of Deception: The FBI cover-up of the anthrax investigation
Jeremy R. Hammond, June 4, 2003

http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/anthrax.htm

Excerpt:
Before the investigation of Dr. Hatfill captured national headlines, another insider scientist had come under FBI scrutiny without much media fanfare. It was easy to miss the few stories published in January 2002 about Lt. Col. Philip Zack, who, like Hatfill, also had access to a well-equipped laboratory with lax security. Zack, moreover, actually worked with military-grade anthrax at Fort Detrick.

Dr. Zack left Fort Detrick in December 1991 amid allegations of unprofessional conduct. The Jewish scientist and others were accused of harassing their co-worker, Dr. Ayaad Assaad, until the Egyptian-born American scientist quit, according to an article in Connecticut's The Hartford Courant, the country's oldest newspaper in continuous publication. Dr. Assaad sued the Army, claming discrimination after Zack's badgering.

Inexplicably, the national press ignored these documented unauthorized visits to a top-secret government lab embroiled in the anthrax attacks. Did journalists fear being labeled anti-Semitic for casting suspicions on a Jewish scientist?

Soon after the 9/11 attack, a long, typed anonymous letter was sent to Quantico Marine Base accusing the long-suffering Assaad, Zack's victim in 1991, of plotting terrorism. This letter was received before the anthrax letters or disease were reported. The timing of the note makes its author a serious suspect in the anthrax attacks. The sender also displayed considerable knowledge of Dr. Assaad, his work, his personal life and a remarkable premonition of the upcoming bioterrorism attack. After interviewing Assaad on Oct. 2, 2001, the FBI decided the letter was a hoax. While major newspapers noted that an anonymous letter had accused Dr. Assaad of bioterrorism, none followed up on it after his innocence was established. Zack's name never surfaced again as one of the 30 suspects. When the Washington Report asked Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, Ph.D., a biological arms control expert at the State University of New York, if the allegations regarding Dr. David Hatfill now took the heat off Lt. Col. Philip Zack, she replied, "Zack has NEVER been under suspicion as perpetrator of the anthrax attack."

It is hard to believe that, with his connection to Fort Detrick, Dr. Zack is not one of the 20 to 50 scientists under intense investigation.

Another person not naming names is New York Times reporter Nicholas D. Kristof. In a series of articles published on July 2, 12, and 19, however, he called the anthrax perpetrator "Mr. Z" (not "Mr. H"). Kristof's description of "Mr. Z" sounds very much more like Dr. Zack than Dr. Hatfill.

Is the anthrax culprit, or "Mr. Z," actually Dr. Zack or Dr. Hatfill, or another undisclosed scientist? Is Dr. Hatfill being framed while Dr. Zack stays out of the spotlight? Will the investigation simply peter out without an arrest? Are the US government and the media engaging in a shameful cover-up?...

[Sliverofhope]

1. When he went for Mr. Z

I was almost certain he was talking about Zack. When he named Hatfill, I was shocked.

The standard anonymous name is Mr. X. Next would be Mr. Y. To go Z was highly suggestive.

I also wrote many letters in support of Rosenberg, because with her feeling that it was a Detrick insider, I was certain she was talking about Zack as well.

Furthermore, I had no idea Zack was Jewish until the anti-Semitism issue was raised.

Regardless of whether it was Zack or Hatfill, 50 scientists shouldn't be too hard to get through.

[FreakinDJ]

2. We are all wondering

Why the anthrax attacks investigation died so quickly

Nothing, Nadda, Zilch

The whole thing just slipped away from the lime light of the media once it got down to finding out who did it and it was confirmed it was US weapons grade

[RainDog]

3. Oct. Vanity Fair has an excellent article

from the guy who used his "linguistic detective" ability to out the author of Primary Colors (Joe Klein) long before he was identified...and others doubted him at the time.

according to this man, the FBI has not cooperated with his further efforts to identify the anthrax terrorist. He talks about the Eqyptian scientist who people tried to pin the anthrax attacks on, and exonerates him.

He also notes that the Eqyptian doctor had previously been a target of "racist" attacks by others in the FBI. He doesn't identify Zack, but does note that Hatfield was part of a group which targeted Assaad before the anthrax attacks.

the author also notes that Hatfield was everywhere the anthrax attacks/notes orignated from...but he does not mention Dr. Zack at all.

It would be interesting to know if Zack was also in those places.

No doubt it is likely he would have been in London for a conference which Hatfield also attended, since it dealt with a mutual area of expertise.

How much justice do we have in the "justice dept.?"

First, the anthrax attacks have been buried by the justice dept and the FBI.

Now the Plame investigation has been buried by the White House and the Justice Dept.

However, the world is safe from Tommy Chongs bongs...