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Blame the Dead Guy, Dr. Ivins Implicated in 2001 anthrax attacks - Op-Ed

by politisite | August 6, 2008 at 01:12 pm

539 views | 37 Recommendations | 9 comments

Blame the Dead Guy, Dr. Bruce Ivins Implicated in 2001 anthrax attacks, Kept Security Clearance until July 10th

Albert N. Milliron - Opinion - Editorial

The Justice Department said that Bruce Ivins was the sole individual who committed the 2001 biological attacks with Anthrax that killed 5 people and hospitalized more then a dozen. The only problem here is, Ivins held a high level security clearance in the Department of Defenses' Personal Reliability Program. A program that would screen it's personal for Mental Health issues. Had Ivins showed any indication of a Mental Health issue he would be screened by psychologists and immediately removed from the program. A person with the stated mental illness and paranoid behavior would never be allowed to work with biological agents. How did this man continue to hold his security clearance while he was under suspicion by the Department of Justice? Just a question.

The writer provided mental health screenings for the DOD for those in the personal reliability program in the 1980s and 1990s. No one with the mental health issues as stated by DOJ would continue to hold a high level security clearance. How convenient, Blame the Dead Guy!

The DOJ released documents from a "herculean" investigation that lasted nearly seven years.

"We are confident that Dr. Ivins was the only person responsible for these attacks," Jeffrey Taylor, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

The Justice Department released the documents implicating Ivins in the attacks, which killed five people and sickened more than a dozen people. Authorities said Ivins committed suicide last week as federal prosecutors prepared to present the results of their investigation to a grand jury.

Taylor said prosecutors are "confident" they could have proved their case against him. Ivins was the custodian of a flask of a highly purified anthrax spores that had "certain genetic mutations identical to the anthrax used in the attacks," according to the court documents

Researcher Kept Security Clearance as FBI Closed In

As an FBI investigation increasingly focused on him as a suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks, Fort Detrick scientist Bruce E. Ivins enjoyed a security clearance that allowed him to work in the facility's most dangerous laboratories, to handle deadly biological agents, and to take part in broad discussions about the Pentagon's defenses against germ warfare.

On July 10, the day he was taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation, for example, Ivins spent part of the afternoon at a sensitive briefing on a new bubonic plague vaccine under development at the Army's elite biological weapons testing center, according to a former colleague who talked with him there.

This story reminds me of another. There was a man named John Odd. All of his life folks made fun of his name, pointing at him and saying, “Theres Odd” or “he is Odd”. He was bothered by this so much that he made sure after he died that no one would ever make fun of him again. He arranged that his grave stone would be blank, except for his birth date and they day he passed from this earth. After his death, folks would pass by his head stone and look at the dates but nothing else and would say, “why thats Odd”.

Isn't it odd that investigators have been looking at Dr. Ivins, having a large amount of circumstantial evidence against him, was aware of his mental health and never pulled him from the DOD's PRP? That is Odd indeed!

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Amy Judd

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:52 on August 6th, 2008

politisite, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Thanks for labeling it as opinion too.

I'm not sure if this is a case of sweeping something under the rug, but I think when more information comes out about this case, we will be able to formulate some answers. At least, that is what I hope happens.

politisite

at 15:55 on August 6th, 2008

Just Bothers me that a few days after the guy kills himself they dump it All on him.

Karen Hatter

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 16:14 on August 6th, 2008

Well, Al, blaming the dead guy puts an end to more investigation and paperwork.

Rhonda J Mangus

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 16:26 on August 6th, 2008

politisite, after reading the stories from the different NP authors, as well as my own, and doing further research including a link I posted at PEP's last story on Ivins, I too have reservations about the alleged suicidal death of Dr. Ivins. I am sure more stories are in the offing; including journalists who allegedly trumpeted a false story from the beginning related to the 2001 Anthrax attacks. Very interesting! Thanks for posting!

politisite

at 16:31 on August 6th, 2008

Now I am not saying the Feds killed him, I am saying,"if he was so guilty of all the charges, why did tey let the guy work with biological agents up till the 10th of July. Just seems very fishy to me. I know how the PRP works and it doesn't work that way. We would pull a guys clearance in a second if these mental defects were observed. I have had many security clearances pulled for less.