WHO KNEW WHAT, WHEN?

A TIME LINE OF COINCIDENTAL ACTIVITY SURROUNDING THE NEW YORK CITY WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK

Compiled by Bill Sardi, Word of Knowledge Agency
San Dimas, California Copyright 2001-2002
Permission to copy on paper is granted for noncommercial use.
Timeline of strange events surrounding the World Trade Center attack.

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2002

OSAMA BIN LADEN

1957: Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden was born forty-four years ago in Saudi Arabia, one of twenty sons of wealthy construction magnate Muhammad bin Laden, who runs a $5 billion company. On December 25, 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and 22-year old Bin Laden left to join the fight. He financed the recruitment of Muslims from the Middle East. Osama bin Laden tells stories of the Russians using poison gas against his Mujahideen troops. John Miller, journalist, writes that bin Laden believes "through sheer will, even superpowers can be defeated." The Russians left Afghanistan having lost thousands of troops. There were huge stockpiles of weapons and grenades and rocket launchers supplied to the Mujahideen, many of them bought by the CIA. The US trained and funded the Mujahideen to the tune of $6 billion.[Reported by John Miller at www.pbs.org] Osama bin Laden is added to the list of worldwide villains, like Manuel Noreiga in Panama (1980s), Muammar Khaddafi in Libya and Sadam Hussein in Iraq (1990s), whose regimes initially received covert support by the CIA and whose countries held large reserves of oil.

CARTER ADMINISTRATION FUNDED AL QAEDA TERRORISM

July 3, 1979: President Jimmy Carter secretly authorizes $500 million to create an international terrorist movement that would spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia in an effort to destabilize the Soviet Union. Known as Operation Cyclone, it built "terrorist universities" in collaboration with the Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistan Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Al Queda grew out of this, being established in 1987-88.
1997: Zbigniew Brzezinski, a 1953 Ph.D. from Harvard who was National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, and trustee and founder of the Trilateral Commission, writes a book on America as the first true global power and America's plans to dominate central Asia, now found to be a rich source of energy resources. Brzezinski writes: "The most immediate task is to make certain that no state or combination of states gains the capacity to expel the United States from Eurasia or even to diminish significantly its decisive arbitration role." (p. 198) "It follows that America's primary interest is to help ensure that no single power comes to control this geopolitical space and that the global community has unhindered financial and economic access to it." (p148) Brzezinkski then goes on to suggest how the American people would have to be sold on any military incursions into Eurasia. "Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multicultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstance of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat." (p. 211) "The attitude of the American public toward the external projection of American power has been much more ambivalent. The public supported America's engagement in World War II largely because of the shock effect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. (pp 24-5) THE GRAND CHESSBOARD - American Primacy And It's Geostrategic Imperatives," Zbigniew Brzezinski, Basic Books, 1997
Was the attack on the World Trade Centers on Sept. 11 the event to trigger American sentiment for war?

OIL PIPELINE THROUGH AFGHANISTAN PLANNED

Feb. 1998: A consortium of international companies expresses interest in building an oil pipeline from Central Asian countries across Afghanistan to a port terminal in Pakistan that would carry 1 million barrels of oil a day on a 42-inch pipe costing $2.5 billion. On February 12, 1998, a UNOCAL oil company executive testified before Congress that a stable government in Afghanistan is required before the oil pipeline project can proceed. Osama bin Laden is identified as a terrorist being harbored in Afghanistan and repressed women in Afghanistan as the victims of the Taliban regime.

MILITARY UNIT PRACTICES ON NEW YORK STREETS IN 1998

Sept. 11, 1998: The United States' Chemical Biological Incidence Force (CBIRF), a unit of 350 US Marines, handles a crisis on the streets of New York City. "Victims" were ushered into decontamination tents and the force even handled an unexpected collapse of the World Trade Center Towers. The above event was part of a drill in response to a simulated terrorist attack conducted by the US military two years prior to the events of Sept. 11, 2001. [Edward S. Harcher, CBIRF Correspondent, The globe, Camp Lejeune, NC, Oct. 23, 1998]

When the CBIRF unit moved from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to Indian Head, Maryland in July of 2000, to be closer to Washington DC and New York City, in order to "reduce response time to crucial national locations," 2nd Lieutenant James Jarvis described this Marine Corps unit as "America's 911 Response Force." [www.dcmilitary.com/marines July 28, 2000]

Amazing, two years to the day prior to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, a US military unit had already been nicknamed the "911 Response Force" and was practicing removal of people from flattened buildings, even though they are trained to respond to biological warfare, not search and rescue efforts. Oddly enough, even though CBIRF was created to be a quick response unit, it was never deployed on September 11, 2001. According to reports, since there wasn't a toxic threat, the CBIRF force remained in Maryland. [Orange County Register, Oct. 12, 2001]

ANTHRAX VACCINE UNSAFE

Feb. 26, 2000: A House subcommittee on National Security called for suspension of the anthrax vaccine because of uncertain safety and efficacy. The current vaccine was developed in the 1950s. Meryl Nass MD, a Maine internist, said: "The subcommittee acknowledged that the vaccine is unlikely to be effective against weaponized anthrax, is not safe, and is strategically a poor idea as well." [The Lancet, February 26, 2000]
March 1, 2000: Bayer Corporation, Pharmaceutical Division of West Haven, Connecticut, files a new drug application at the request of the Food & Drug Administration for CIPRO (ciprofloxacin) antibiotic as treatment for inhalation anthrax. Bayer says it filed for this new drug application in response to an national anti-bioterrorism symposium held in 1999 and a Centers for Disease Control panel that identified the most likely biological warfare agents. Traditionally penicillin or doxycycline have been the drugs of choice for anthrax. Bayer's application is approved largely based upon what is called pharmacokinetic data (blood levels, test-tube studies) because human studies would be unethical. In the only interventional study of groups of 10 animals infected with inhalation anthrax, doxycycline (9 of 10 animals survived) compared favorably to ciprofloxacin (CIPRO- 8 of 9 survived) over penicillin (7 of 10 survived). [New Drug Application, received March 1, 2000 by FDA and FDA Briefing Package, Bayer Corp, July 28, 2000]

OSAMA BIN LADEN DYING OF KIDNEY DISEASE

March 16, 2000: The Associated Press, citing a Hong Kong-based news magazine, reported that Osama bin Laden, wanted for the bombings of two US embassies in Africa, is dying of kidney disease and is in need of a dialysis machine. [www.apbnews.com]

BAYER CORPORATION ACCUSED OF FRAUD

May 14, 2000: Bayer Corp. is accused of fraud and ethical violations in a British clinical study of its antibiotic drug CIPRO among surgical patients. Bayer is accused with withholding information which showed that CIPRO was poorly absorbed when preoperative sedative medications were taken which resulted in the death of one patient and serious infections in others. Bayer declined to disclose the numbers of postoperative infections claiming its data is confidential. [London Times, May 14, 2000] In a disaster scenario, patients may need surgery and the inclusion of CIPRO in an antibiotic stockpile might put surgical trauma patients at risk.

MAJOR OIL FIND IN AFGHANISTAN

May 20, 2001: Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan announces major oil find. A 70 million barrel field of oil was discovered in the western Dzhalal-Abad region. Production in the oil field was begin sometime later in the year. [BBC News, May 20 and 23, 2001]

WEBSITE BY BIN LADEN GROUP

Sept. 11, 2000: The Saudi Binladin Group, registers a domain name on the worldwide web {www.saudi-binladin-group.com), which was preset to expire on Sept. 11, 2001, the day of the World Trade Center attack. The Binladin Group is run by the family of Osama bin Laden, who denies any recent association with him. The website was created by Arq Limited in the UK which was reported to have gone out of business in October of 2001. [Howard Altman in the Philadelphia citypaper.net, Oct. 18-25, 2001] Was this site utilized in some way to communicate to the terrorists?

U.S. PLANNED TO DECEIVE AMERICANS TO GO TO WAR WITH CUBA

April 24, 2001: Author and investigative journalist James Bamford releases a new book entitled BODY OF SECRETS (Doubleday), which reveals that in the 1960s the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up and approved plans to launch a secret and bloody war of terrorism against their own country to incite public sentiment against the Communist regime in Cuba.

U.S. GIVES MILLIONS TO THE TALIBAN

May 22, 2001: Robert Scheer, nationally syndicated columnist, reports that the US sent a gift of $43 million to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. [LA Times, May 22, 2001] Five months later, Ben Fritz, writing for Spinsanity.com, came to the defense of the Bush administration and said these gifts amounted to wheat, food commodities and food security programs distributed by UN and non-governmental agencies. [Spinsanity.com, Oct. 8, 2001] However, the US usually adds stipulations to aid its sends to foreign countries, as it has in Iraq. No stipulations were mentioned regarding this aid package despite widespread criticism of the oppressive Taliban regime.

FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR RESIGNS

July 2001: John O'Neill, deputy director of the FBI, resigns in protest over obstruction by the White House of any further investigation into the activities of Osama bin Laden. "The main obstacles to investigate Islamic terrorism were US oil corporate interests and the role played by Saudi Arabia in it," said O'Neill. By coincidence, O'Neill accepted a position as security chief of the World Trade Center after leaving the FBI and was killed on Sept. 11. [Nov. 20, 2001, World Socialist Website]

EMBASSIES BOMBED JUST WHEN LEWINSKY FACES GRAND JURY

Aug. 6-7, 1998: On August 6, a grand jury hears former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, reported to testify that she and President carried on a sexual affair. On August 7 two U.S. Embassies in Africa are bombed, steering the news headlines away from the Lewinsky affair. The attacks are later blamed on Osama bin Laden. Why would bin Laden time these attacks to divert attention away from the Clinton affair? This has never been explained.

FAILURE TO PRODUCE EVIDENCE AGAINST OSAMA BIN LADEN

Aug. 27, 1998: An article at SALON.COM says the Clinton administration has accused Osama bin Laden for almost every terrorist act in the last decade but has failed to produce evidence. While Osama bin Laden's rhetoric is anti-west and encourages terrorism, even an alleged plot to assassinate President Clinton turned out to be murky. The report says he is a spiritual leader and financier of terrorism, rather than an evil plotter and planner. Says the report: "the evidence so far does not support him being a terrorist on a vast world chessboard to checkmate the United States." [Salon.com, August 27, 1998]

RAND INSTITUTE SAYS NEXT PRESIDENT MUST DEAL WITH ISLAMIC THREAT

Nov. 12, 2000: Bruce Hoffman, director of the Rand Institute office in Washington DC, indicates the next US President will have to face up to the growing threat of Islamic terrorism. Hoffman: "The next administration must turn its immediate attention to knitting together the full range of US counterterrorism capabilities into a cohesive plan." [Los Angeles Times, Nov. 12, 2000]

CABINET POSITION FOR TERRORISM

Jan. 31, 2001: A bipartisan committee recommended the formation of a cabinet level position to combat terrorism, a Nation Homeland Security Agency director. The Bush administration indicated the problem of terrorism could be handled adequately by FEMA. [Salon.com, Sept. 12, 2001] President Bush named Tom Ridge, Pennsylvania governor, as the appointee for homeland defense shortly following the Sept. 11 WTC attack.

FILM ABOUT OSAMA BIN LADEN PLANNED

Aug. 27, 2001: Miramax Films announces acquisition of the film rights to Andy McNab's novel "CRISIS FOUR" featuring a plot in which Osama bin Laden aims to blow up the White House. The books were written in 1999. [PRNewswire Aug. 27, 2001 and BBC News, October 1, 2001]

FAA ISSUES WARNING

Aug. 28, 2001: Two weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks on the WTC, the Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines and airports that individuals with links to terror networks were planning to fly on US airlines. The August 28 memo was revealed by Cambio Magazine, a Mexican magazine. Reuters reported this story and an FAA spokesperson said "she could not comment on security matters related to the Sept. 11 attacks." [Reuters, Yahoo News, October 6, 2001]

AIRLINE STOCK IRREGULARITIES

Sept 6-7, 2001: The Chicago Options Exchange saw purchases of 4,744 put options on United Airlines, but only 396 call options. United Stocks fell 42% from $30.82 to $17.50 which was the price when the stock market reopened after the WTC attack. Assuming that 4000 of the options were bought by people with advance knowledge of the imminent WTC attack, "insider traders" would have profited by almost $5 million. ["Black Tuesday, The World's Largest Insider Trading Scam," Don Radlauer, consultant to the International Policy Institute for Counterterrorism in Herzliya, Israel, Sept. 19, 2001]

FBI RAIDS TEXAS COMPANY

Sept. 7, 2001: An 80-man FBI task force raids the offices of a Middle-Eastern internet service provider in Texas. The FBI did not reveal why the company, Infocom Corp., had been raided, but said it was a criminal investigation, and did not deal with Middle East issues. Muslim leaders accused the FBI of an anti-Muslim "witch hunt." [BBC News, Sept. 7, 2001]

HOSPITAL PRACTICES FOR TERRORIST ATTACK

Sept. 8, 2001: Inova Fairfax Hospital in Northern Virginia practices a response to a mock terrorist attack that would include anthrax. [NY Times Jan.6, 2001]

STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUED TERRORIST WARNING

Sept. 10, 2001: George Schultz, former US Secretary of State, states he received a copy of a "worldwide warning" in his San Francisco offices. The state department memo is dated Sept. 7, 2001. The memo said that Americans "may be the target of a terrorist threat," and identified the threat as coming from "extremist groups with links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization." The wording of the state department warning was verbally passed on to San Francisco mayor Willie Brown when he called the airport to check on the status of a flight he was planning to take to New York. [San Francisco Chronical, Sept. 14, 2001]

AIRLINE STOCKS: BUY

Sept. 10, 2001: Reuters releases a story published in newspapers across the USA that suggests purchase of airline stocks would be a good buy despite recent expectations of losses. The report said "investors who can stomach the bumpy ride might find the time is right to get back into US airline stocks." Goldman Sachs was identified as an aggressive buyer of airlines stocks because they are trading at 4-year lows, evidence that stock holders had been dumping their holdings prior to the World Trade Center attack. [Detroit Free Press, Sept. 10, 2001] Also on this day, 4,516 put options on American Airlines were bought on the Chicago exchange compared to only 748 calls. American Airlines stock fell 39% from $29.70 to $18.00 per share. Assuming 4000 option trades represent insider trading, they would represent a gain of about $4 million. ["Black Tuesday, The World's Largest Insider Trading Scam," Don Radlauer, consultant to the International Policy Institute for Counterterrorism in Herzliya, Israel, Sept. 19, 2001]

PENTAGON OFFICIANS CANCEL TRAVEL PLANS

Sept. 10, 2001: A group of top Pentagon officials suddenly cancel travel plans for the next morning. Newsweek reports this was apparently due to security concerns. [Newsweek Sept. 24, 2001]

THE AIR ATTACKS

Sept. 11, 2001: National "911" day; teams of Islamic terrorists, some whom were on the FBI "watch" list, escaped detection and commandeered four commercial jet aircraft and steered them into the World Trade Center Towers in NYC and the Pentagon building in Washington DC. One plane crashed before it could strike any target. Onlookers report explosions just prior to the collapse of each tower and the buildings implode, as if they were being demolished by explosives as is customarily done with old buildings. Experts claim the heat from the fire and jet fuel caused the steel girders to buckle, but fire sprinkler systems had already put out much of the fire and fires burn upwards, which should have left the lower floors intact. Within a short period of time Osama bin Laden, hiding in Afghanistan, was fingered as the culprit behind the attacks and film footage was being shown on television of bin Laden speaking in Arabic language, calling on Muslims around the world to enter into a "Holy War." TV commentators were quick to note that Osama bin Laden's message appears to have been pre-taped. Why would a man who bankrolls terror, but is reportedly worth $300 million, cavort in caves in Afghanistan and remain there as western countries send forces to surround the country?

BIOTERROR BOOK PUBLISHED ON DAY OF ATTACK

Sept. 11, 2001: Showing uncanny timing, on the day of the air attack on the World Trade Center towers in NYC, Simon & Schuster, Inc., release a new book entitled BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND AMERICA'S SECRET WAR by Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William Broad of the New York times. [www.simonandschuster.com] Also, a disaster preparedness drill had been scheduled in NYC for the following day. Coincidence?

CNN AIRS LIVE COVERAGE OF EVENTS IN AFGHANISTAN BEFORE CONNECTION IS MADE TO TERRORISTS

Sept. 11, 2001: CNN airs live TV views of Kabul, the capitol of Afghanistan, showing flames from a possible attack on the outskirts of the city. Ahmed Shad Massoud, leader of the Afghan northern faction, is reported to have been killed by a bomb hidden in a TV reporter's video camera. CNN left the impression that either the US or northern Afghan forces had already retaliated against the ruling Taliban. An early link was being made for TV viewers between the WTC attack and the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan, long before US intelligence agencies could confirm the identities of the airborne hijackers and their alleged association with Osama bin Laden or terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. [CNN, Sept. 11, 2001]

FEMA IN NEW YORK PRIOR TO SEPT. 11

Sept. 12, 2001: CBS reporter Dan Rather interviewed Tom Kennedy, spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's search and rescue team. Kennedy said he and his team arrived in New York City and were "finally on the ground" and deployed by "Monday night." That would mean the team arrived Sept. 10- the night before the attacks. FEMA officials claim Kennedy misstated his team arrival date. [World Net Daily Nov. 15, 2001] Within days of the WTC attack: US intelligence agencies, who had been cited for the biggest intelligence lapse in history, suddenly were able to round up hundreds of Islamic suspects and determine that the hijackers had made repeated trial trips on airliners prior to the Sept. 11 attack. [Boston Globe, October 11, 2001]

BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY WARNS OF BIOTERRORISM

Sept. 15, 2001: Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary, said Britain must prepare itself for the next terrorist attack and said that efforts to stop the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons must be redoubled. [The London Times Sept. 15, 2001] Straw's statements precede any reported cases of anthrax in the US by about two weeks. Why would Straw suggest preparation against a biological warfare threat when no attack had occurred yet?

ASSOCIATES OF BIN LADEN

Sept. 16, 2001: New York Times reporters David Johnston and Neil A. Lewis reveal that two of the men (Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hamzi) believed to have hijacked planes that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11 were known to authorities as associates of Osama bin Laden and had been sought since August by the FBI. American and European law enforcement officials were also reported to be examining whether any associates of Osama bin Laden may have tried to profit from attacks by trading in put options or short-selling particular stocks, like re-insurance companies or airlines. [The New York Times, Sept. 16, 2001]

FBI DENIES PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Week following the WTC blast: The FBI denies it had prior knowledge of the airborne attack against the WTC. Yet the owner of a pilot training school in Illinois indicates FBI agents had visited his business a month prior to investigate some of the alleged terrorists. Actor James Woods reports in the NY Times that he was on a flight in August from Boston to Los Angeles, sitting in 1st class with the only other passengers in the section being four Middle Eastern-looking men who only talked in whispers and did not read or sleep. Woods called the FBI on Sept. 12 to tell the FBI of his experience, but he had reported the incident to airline and ground authorities when he landed in August. [Boston Globe, Oct. 10, 2001]

BUSH SENIOR DEFENDS CIA

Sept. 17, 2001: Upon the 50th anniversary of the CIA, former President George Bush defended the work of this agency which he ran in 1976-77. In the wake of the biggest intelligence lapse in modern US history, Bush called agency critics "nuts." [Associated Press, Sept. 17, 2001]

PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER TOLD U.S. WOULD BE AT WAR

Sept. 18, 2001: Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani foreign secretary, said he was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October. [BBC News, Sept. 18, 2001]

INSIDER TRADING BY THOSE WHO HAD ACCESS TO PLANNING SEPT. 11

Sept. 19, 2001: Don Radlauer, consultant to the International Policy Institute for Counterterrorism in Herzliya, Israel, reports that insider trading prior to the Sept. 11 attacks "was, at the very least, an accessory to their planning; and the overwhelming probability is that the trades could have been made only by the same people who masterminded the attacks themselves." ["Black Tuesday, The World's Largest Insider Trading Scam," Don Radlauer, consultant to the International Policy Institute for Counterterrorism in Herzliya, Israel, Sept. 19, 2001]

AL QAEDA FINGERED BUT HAD NO CONNECTION TO TERRORIST ATTACKS

Sept. 23, 2001: By this date the Washington Post reports that 4 to 5 Al Queda groups had been identified as working inside the U.S., but Al Queda had no connection whatsoever to the 19 hijackers on the aircraft that hit the World Trade Center towers or the Pentagon. According to the story, the CIA and the FBI had been tracking Al Queda "cells" inside the US for over two years and characterized their activities as "benign." [Washington Post Sept. 23, 2001] Most of the hijackers were later identified as being Saudi Arabian. Then why did the US retaliate against Al Queda in Afghanistan rather than bin Laden cells in Saudi Arabia?

"BOMB SET IN THE BUILDING"

Sept. 24, 2001: People Magazine published eyewitness accounts of the WTC attack and subsequent events. Louie Cacchioli, 51, a firefighter assigned to Engine 47 in Harlem: "We were the first ones in the second tower after the plane struck. On the last trip up a bomb went off. We think there was a bomb set in the building." [People Magazine Sept. 24, 2001]

AIRLINE STOCKS POISED TO TAKE OFF

Sept 28, 2001: The New York Times publishes a story indicating financial regulators have found "no evidence that people with advance knowledge of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington used that information to profit in the international securities markets." Initial newspaper reports had suggested that Islamic interests had possibly profited by selling off airline and insurance stocks prior to the WTC attack. The report did admit that German authorities had noticed possible illegal trading that would yield billions of dollars of profits in wake of the attack. The report also says "the oil price rise just ahead of the attacks is otherwise inexplicable." The New York Times report cited a Sept. 5 report by Reuters that predicted "a further deterioration" in the airline industry's financial performance. Kurt Eichenwald and Edmund L. Andrews, reporters for the New York Times, made no mention of the Sept. 10 report by Reuters entitled "Airline Stocks May Be Poised to Take Off," which suggested investors buy airline stocks.
[New York Times, Sept. 28, 2001]

PROFITS FROM STOCK SALES GO UNCOLLECTED

Sept. 29, 2001: An article in the San Francisco Examiner indicates more than $2.5 million in profits from trading options in the stock of United Airlines before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks remain uncollected. There is suspicion that those who profited from these transactions had advance knowledge of the World Trade Center attack. There was an unusually large jump in purchases of put options on the stocks of United Airlines Corp. three business days prior to the attack. On one day the put option purchases on UAL were 25 times greater than the year-to-date average. [San Francisco Examiner, Sept. 29, 2001]

UNEMPLOYMENT RISES

Oct. 5, 2001: American employers eliminated more jobs in September than in any month since the 1991 recession. Since March nearly a half million jobs had been lost. Unemployment had been growing before the Sept. 11 attack. [NY Times Oct. 5, 2001] Note: Governments often go to war to cover up a bad economic condition.

ANTHRAX BREAKS OUT IN FLORIDA; CIPRO ANNOUNCED AS CURE

Oct. 5, 2001: Bob Stevens, 63-year old photographer for the National Enquirer newspaper dies of anthrax infection. At the writing of this report, numerous cases of anthrax have been reported in Florida, New York, Nevada and Wash DC. The anthrax appears to have been delivered, in the first case in Florida and the 4th case in New York, by receipt of a mail envelope containing a powdery substance. [Newsday.com, October 12, 2001] In an odd follow-up story, the wife of Bob Stevens' editor, Michael Irish, helped two of the suspected Sept. 11 hijackers find an apartment in the Boca Raton area. [Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2001] The first inhalational anthrax case reported in Florida during October was reported to be a natural rather than a drug-resistant strain. [Palm Beach Post, Oct. 7, 2001] An HHS bulletin dated October 10, 2001, lists ciprofloxacin, tetracyclines (doxycycline) and penicillin as approved drugs for anthrax. But most people are being treated with the high-priced CIPRO because of its newly approved drug status for inhalational anthrax. CIPRO costs around $400 for a 2-week course versus about $20-40 for doxycycline. Prescriptions for CIPRO rose from about 8-10 thousand per day to over 18 thousand by mid October. Tommy Thompson, Secretary of HHS, indicates he will petition Congress to purchase $643 million of antibiotics to build the nation's stockpile, which includes CIPRO. [New York Times, Oct. 16, 2001] Bayer holds a patent till 2003 on CIPRO, but it is possible the company cannot meet demands for supply. East Indian companies have offered to supply generic versions of CIPRO to the USA at cut rate prices ($10 per course). [Reuters, Oct. 11, 2001] An October 10 bulletin from Health & Human Services indicates three drugs are approved for anthrax (ciprofloxacin, tetracyclines such as doxycycline and penicillins. HHS advises doctors not to prescribe CIPRO to have on hand for prophylactic use. [HHS Bulletin October 10, 2001]

FBI HELD BACK ON INVESTIGATIONS

Oct. 6, 2001: An article in the New York Times says the FBI "held back its own agents last August from opening a criminal investigations of a man who investigators now suspect was meant to be the 20th hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks." Zaccarias Moussaoui, a 33-year old French citizen or Moroccan descent, was arrested on August 17 on immigration charges after he tried to learn how to fly large jet aircraft, but expressed no interest in learning how to take off or land. Senior FBI authorities denied requests from Minneapolis FBI agents for a wider investigation on two occasions. Mr. Moussaoui's file was also reviewed by an anti-terrorist panel of FBI and CIA personnel prior to Sept. 11. Mr. Moussaoui came to the attention of the FBI in August when an instructor at the Pan Am Flying Academy in Eagan, Minnesota, called the bureau's office in Minneapolis to report a new foreign student was acting suspiciously. Earlier in the year Mr. Moussaoui had received 57 hours of flight training from a school in Oklahoma. [New York Times, October 6, 2001]

OSAMA BIN LADEN VIDEOTAPE

Oct. 9, 2001: MSNBC reports that US intelligence sources are analyzing a videotape message from Osama bin Laden, who is dressed in a green and brown camouflage jacket. Bin laden shows not signs of illness, as reported earlier. Osama bin Laden is reported to have four look-alikes to escape detection and he appears different in many archived news videotapes shown on TV news programs. Osama bin Laden also utilizes go-betweens to make his public statements.

CIA-BACKED PAKISTANI INTELLIGENCE FUNDED TERRORIST

Oct. 9 2001: The Times of India reports that Pakistani General Mahmud Ahmad was relieved from his job after intelligence services in India revealed that $100,000 was wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh under the direction of Gen. Mahmud. [Times of India Oct. 9, 2001] The US alliance with Pakistan in the anti-terror coalition is questioned. Pakistan may have played a pivotal role in the WTC hijackings and may also be sheltering Osama bin Laden. [World Net Daily Jan 30, 2002]

LOOK FOR IRAQI CONNECTION TO SEPT. 11

Oct. 11, 2001: James Woolsey, former CIA director under President Clinton (1993-94), is asked by Pentagon officials to "look for an Iraqi connection to the Sept. 11 attacks." Mohamed Atta, pilot of the first jet to hit the World Trade Center, is reported to have met with an Iraqi agent in June of 2000. [USA TODAY, Oct. 11. 2001] Woolsey is no longer employed by the CIA.

HIGH-RANKING CIA OFFICERS HAVE LINKS TO WALL STREET

Oct. 13, 2001: Investigative reporter Michael C. Ruppert, who broke the story on insider trading in the stock market, releases his detailed report that links high-ranking CIA officers to banks and companies that are alleged to launder money or perform insider stock trading. The co-mingling of the CIA and the banking/investment industry is compelling. The No. 3 executive director position at the CIA is held by "Buzzy" Krongard, former chairman of the investment bank A.B. Brown, who joined the CIA in 1998 as counsel to CIA Director George Tenet and was promoted to his current CIA position by President G.W. Bush in March 2001. Ruppert cites other links between the CIA and bankers/brokers, such as John Deutch, now on the board at Citicorp, the nation's second largest bank, who was former CIA director in the Clinton Administration, and Nora Slatkin, retired CIA executive director who also sits on Citibank's board. Ruppert's report falls short of providing hard evidence that these CIA-associated people were involved in insider trading that generated massive profits in the wake of the WTC attack. [Michael Ruppert newsletter at copvcia.com, Wilderness Publications]

ANTI-WAR PROTEST IN LONDON

Oct. 13, 2001: BBC News reports that 20,000 anti-war protestors marched through London against military strikes in Afghanistan. [BBC News Oct. 13, 2001] The event was not covered by the American news media.

CAPTURE OSAMA!

Oct. 14, 2001: A Time Magazine poll indicates 81% of Americans believe Osama bin Laden must be captured or killed and the Taliban removed from power if Americans are to declare victory in Afghanistan. [Reuters, Orange County Register, October 14, 2001]
Oct., 16, 2001: Seymour M. Hersh reveals that the Saudi Royal family funded Islamic fundamentalists as a sort of protection money against their activities. Hersh also reports the Saudi royal family has plundered wealth from their country. [The New Yorker Oct., 16, 2001]
Oct. 16, 2001: President Bush has repeatedly announced a campaign to "drive terrorists out of their hidden caves and bring them to justice." But a report in National Geographic says there are few caves in Afghanistan. Limestone, the rock in which most caves form, is found in only two small areas of Afghanistan. [Dallas Morning News 10-16-2002]

ANTHRAX CONTAMINATES GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS

Oct. 17, 2001: Contamination of government buildings and confirmed exposure to anthrax spores continue to be reported. More than 2300 false reports of anthrax have been reported in just a 2-day period, ranging from sugar in postal boxes to pranks. Health authorities report that drugs in the same class as CIPRO, called fluoroquinolones, also work against anthrax (brands names Floxin, Zagam, Avelox, Leavquin, Ooroxin, Penetrex, Tequin, Maxaquin). [Medlineplus Health Information and New York Times, Oct. 17, 2001] Some people taking antibiotics prophylactically may be allergic to the drug and break out in a rash and falsely conclude they have anthrax. A UN expert on biological weapons indicates special technology is required to develop anthrax spores that are 1-5 microns in diameter that can line the nose or throat. Even then, the anthrax spore has to be made into an aerosol. The spores need to be freeze-dried, milled into fine particles, then coated for aerosol use. Such know-how is believed to be beyond that of suspected Islamic terrorists. [ABCNEWS.com, Oct. 18, 2001] The Bayer Corporation, whose worldwide headquarters are based in Germany, and which runs 350 companies that are located on every continent, and which maintains a pharmaceutical research center with 350 scientists at its New Haven, Connecticut campus, is increasing its production of CIPRO antibiotic to meet the growing demand for weapons to treat anthrax. [www.bayerus.com]

GOVERNMENT OVERCHARGED FOR CIPRO ANTIBIOTIC

Oct. 18, 2001: The New York Times reports that CIPRO is sold to the US government at about half the normal price, $1.83 per tablet versus $4.40 normal price. Bayer is also reported to have suffered financial losses this year ($800+ million) when it was forced to recall Baycol and Lipobay, its profitable cholesterol-lowering drugs which were linked to the deaths of 52 patients. About $1.6 billion of CIPRO is sold annually in the world. [New York Times, Oct. 18, 2001] The American Medical Association also advised its members not to prescribe antibiotics like CIPRO prophylactically since indiscriminate usage may increase drug-resistant bacteria that now contribute to the deaths of 70,000 Americans annually.

CIPRO ANTIBIOTIC HAS SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS

Oct. 19, 2001: The Washington Post reports that CIPRO's rate of side effects is about 7%. [Washington Post, Oct. 19, 2001], which includes sudden death following a single dose, seizures, hallucinations and other undesirable problems. In a mass casualty or biological warfare disaster, the widespread prophylactic use of CIPRO among anthrax-exposed individuals would like cause more side effects than actual anthrax infections. Because of potential side effects, CIPRO is not advised for use among children or pregnant females.

U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR SAYS IT ISN'T IRAQ

Oct. 19, 2001: Scott Ritter, UN weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991-98, speaks out in the London-based GUARDIAN newspaper saying there is no link between Iraq and anthrax outbreaks in the US. Ritter claims Iraq procured the Vollium strain of anthrax from a Rockville, Maryland company whereas the Ames strain of anthrax is believed to be linked to the New York and Florida anthrax cases. "Based upon this information, it would be irresponsible to speculate about a Baghdad involvement," said Ritter. [Guardian Unlimited, Oct. 19, 2001]

SUMMARY TO DATE

Who knew ahead of time that Islamic criminals were likely to utilize aircraft terror on or near the Sept. 11 date? Apparently the State Department knew (see Sept. 10). Apparently the FAA knew (see Aug, 28). The FBI had been tracking Islamic men who were receiving flying lessons (see Oct. 6). Apparently stock traders knew and took advantage of the "surprise" attack by trading in airline and insurance stocks. (see Sept. 6, 10, 29) Is it just coincidence that a book was published on germ warfare on the day of the attack? (see Sept. 11) Is it just coincidence that a book published just months earlier revealed that the Joint Chiefs of Staff once considered permitting acts of terror upon the US citizenry to build enmity against an enemy (Cuba in the 1960s)? (see April 24) Is it just coincidence that Bayer Corp. filed for a new drug application for inhalation anthrax for its CIPRO antibiotic just 18 months prior to the WTC attack? Isn't it odd that Miramax films signs a contract to make a film about Osama bin Laden, based upon a 1999 book, just 16 days prior to the WTC attack? (See Aug. 27) Why did a director of the Rand Institute indicate in November 2000 that the next President would have to face up to the threat of Islamic terrorism and should develop a plan to do so? (See Nov. 18, 2000) What was that plan? Why did the President reject the formation of a Secretary of Homeland Defense in January of 2001 and relegate any potential terrorist threat to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an organization that largely deals with weather-related disasters? (See Jan. 31) Why did the President of the United States urge Americans to resume normal life including flying yet took no action to increase airport or aircraft security? It was only after it was apparent that Americans weren't returning to flying that he activated the National Guard and other security measures were put in place. Only a limited group of scientists either in the USA, Britain or Russia are believed to have the technology required to produce and spread anthrax powder. The suspects are few. Which one is the originator of the anthrax threat?

HIGHEST ALERT

Oct. 30, 2001: US Attorney General John Ashcroft announces law enforcement agencies are on the "highest alert." Ashcroft cited "specific and credible" targets. [BBC News Oct. 30, 2001]

AMERICANS BEMUSED AT TERRORIST WARNINGS

Oct. 31, 2001: The London Guardian reports that "White House officials found themselves on the defensive yesterday after Americans reacted more with bemusement than alarm to the administration's warning to be on heightened alert because of a new 'credible but nonspecific' threat of a terrorist attack." [Guardian Oct. 31, 2001] US lawmakers also confronted the Bush administration about its decision to issue a terrorism warning. Senator Richard J. Durbin said: "You wonder what these warnings achieve other than to create more fear." [LA Times Oct. 31, 2001] A similar nonspecific warning had been issued on Oct. 11.

WHEN DID THE ENEMY BECOME THE TALIBAN?

Nov. 5, 2001: Columnist William Raspberry asks "When did the target become the Taliban?" Osama bin Laden was identified as the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks and the Taliban were only accused of harboring him. The target then switched from being Osama bin Laden to the Taliban itself, without explanation. [Washington Post Nov. 5, 2001]

BUSH TELLS FBI TO BACK OFF INVESTIGATIONS OF BIN LADEN FAMILY

Nov. 7, 2001: FBI agents probing relatives of Saudi-born terror suspect Osama bin Laden prior to Sept. 11 were told to back off soon after George W. Bush became president. [Hindustan Times Nov. 7, 2001]

ODDITIES OF FLIGHT 93

Nov. 11, 2001: William Bunch, writing for Philly News, reveals eyewitness accounts of United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11. Wreckage from the hijacked plane was recovered miles away, indicative of an explosion or missile attack prior to its crash landing. Two people claim to have heard a missile. One woman who lives north of the crash site in Pennsylvania heard an airplane pass overhead when she had already heard on television that all aircraft had been grounded. Some eyewitnesses claim they saw a fast-moving, unmarked jet fly overhead a very short time after Flight 93 crashed. Authorities claim this was a Falcon 20 private jet that was asked to descend and survey the crash site but the identification of the pilot has not been disclosed and there is no explanation as to why the plane was in the air 30 minutes after the government ordered all aircraft to land at the closest airport. A federal flight controller told a Nashua, New Hampshire newspaper that an F-16 jet was "in hot pursuit" of the hijacked United jet. The location of three F-16s, which were airborne by 9:30 AM from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, has not been disclosed. [Daily News Philly Nov. 15, 2001]

U.S. ASTONISHED OVER RAPID FALL OF THE TALIBAN

Nov. 13, 2001: After declaring that the war on terrorism would last a number of years in Afghanistan, the Bush administration expresses "astonishment" at the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, to the Northern Alliance. While US newspapers were insisting that the Northern Alliance had "honored its pledge" to stop short of Kabul, the Taliban had been routed. "The US didn't expect the Taliban to crack so early." [Guardian UK Nov. 13, 2001]

HOLLYWOOD URGED TO JOIN IN ANTI-TERROR EFFORTS; BUT WAR FILMS WERE IN PRODUCTION PRIOR TO SEPT. 11

November 20, 2001: Karl Rove, presidential advisor, meets with 40 Hollywood executives to enlist their support in the war on terrorism. The problem is, Hollywood began producing a new menu of war films long before the events of Sept. 11. New war flicks like "Black Hawk Down, "Behind Enemy Lines," and "We Were Soldiers," began production before there was any public hint of war. Actors in one of the movies trained at Army bases. Karl Rove's meeting appears to have been just for show. How would Hollywood know in advance of an upcoming war? Last year it was revealed that the US government paid US TV networks millions of dollars to insert anti-drug plots into prime-time TV series, which could serve as payback for favors to the government. [Lewrockwell.com Feb. 20, 2002] Is this censorship? Manipulation of the electronic media? Propaganda?

U.S. ALLOWS UNMARKED PLANES TO AIRLIFT AL QAEDA OUT OF AFGHANISTAN

Nov. 21, 2001: Unmarked aircraft land at the bombed-out Konduz airport in Northern Afghanistan after US bombings at the airport had suddenly stopped earlier that day. The planes picked up 3000 of Osama bin Laden's fighters who were flown to safety. These unmarked planes flew near Pakistani aircraft that were airlifting Pakistani Taliban members back home, thus using them to hide their mission. Donald Rumsfeld, US Defense Secretary, said the entire Taliban fighting force had vanished. [World Net Daily Dec. 20, 2001]

WAR AGAINST AFGHANISTAN IS A FRAUD

Nov. 21, 2001: John Pilger, former chief foreign correspondent for the London Mirror, claims the war against Afghanistan is a fraud. After 3 weeks of bombing not a single terrorist implicated in the attacks on America has been caught or killed in Afghanistan. [Mirror UK Nov., 21, 2001]

ANOTHER SECURITY ALERT

Dec. 4, 2001: The US government issues its 3rd general security alert in less than two months. [Boston Globe Dec. 4, 2001]

BUSH SAYS HE SAW FIRST PLANE HIT TOWERS ON TV

Dec. 4, 2002: President Bush, speaking before a Florida audience, recalls the events of Sept. 11 and his reaction to the first plane that hit the World Trade Centers. His motorcade had left for a school in Sarasota, Florida at 8:30 AM. As the motorcade arrived at the school cell phones and pagers alerted White House aides that a plane had hit the north WTC. Bush remembers going to a private room and getting the news of the first aircraft hitting the north tower via a phone call from Condoleezza Rice, his natural security advisor. Bush says Karl Rove,, another advisor said it appeared to be a small, twin-engine plane. It was actually American Airlines flight 11 out of Boston. Bush's account of the first plane hitting the WTC: "This is pilot error. It's unbelievable that someone would do this. The guy must have had a heart attack." Then, regarding the first plane, Bush says "I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on, and I used to fly myself, and I said, 'There's one terrible pilot'. And I said, 'It must have been a horrible accident'." But there was no live TV coverage of the first plane hitting the north WTC and no TV monitor in the school hallway. Bush couldn't have confused the first plane for the second plane that hit the south WTC tower since Bush was then in the classroom reading a book to children. He said, regarding the second plane: "I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my chief who was sitting over here walked in and said, 'A second plane has hit the tower. America's under attack'." Video footage from security cameras of the first plane hitting the north tower was not aired till days later. [The Guardian Dec. 5, 2001] Had Bush viewed the first plane hitting the WTC tower on a nonpublic Secret Service monitor?

NEW WORLD ORDER PREDICTED

Dec. 5, 2001: Edward Widmer, president of the Illinois Division of the United Nations Association of the United States, told the Bolingbrook Ortary Club that despite the chaos in the world today, he anticipated there will eventually be a major shift. "Within 10 years time, you're going to see the beginnings of an embryonic world order." He predicted globalization of banking and finance. [Daily Southtown Dec. 5, 2001]

OSAMA IGNORED

Dec. 5, 2001: President Clinton and his national security team ignored several opportunities to capture Osama bin Laden. This report by Mansoor Ijax, published in the Los Angeles Times, was authentic because its author said "I know because I negotiated more than one of the opportunities." [LA Times 12-5-2001]

PARALLELS TO PEARL HARBOR
Dec. 7, 2001: President George W. Bush, speaking on board the USS Enterprise, said he likened the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the US to the surprise raid on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Bush said "this war came oh so suddenly." [Transcript, The White House, Dec. 7, 2001] But the President was briefed in August of 2001 by the CIA on possible terrorist threats involving hijacked commercial airliners and the Bush administration has admitted drawing up plans to attack Afghanistan prior to Sept. 11.

FOX NEWS REPORTER SAYS ISRAEL HAD PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Dec. 12, 2001: FoxNews reporter Carl Cameron writes Israel may have gathered intelligence about the Sept. 11 attacks in advance and not shared the information. [Fox News Dec. 12, 2001] But earlier news reports had indicate Israel's intelligence agency Mossad had visited Washington DC in August and warned them of an impending attack a month prior to Sept. 11. [Jerusalem Post Sept. 20, 2001] Is the US news media working in concert with the government to spread misinformation?

PHONY OSAMA BIN LADEN VIDEOTAPES RELEASED

Dec. 13, 2001: US officials release a videotape which appears to show Osama bin Laden talking to an Islamic cleric where bin Laden takes credit for the planning of the World Trade Center attack. The tape is somewhat muffled when bin Laden speaks in Arabic, and English-speaking audiences are only left with translations and transcripts to hear and read to determine its authenticity. No one knows what bin Laden sounds like. There is no ability to connect in Laden's lip movements with his speech. That bin Laden claims he planned the attacks is not evidence that he actually did plan the attacks. He just may be wanting to take credit for them. Osama bin Laden's tape is believed to have been made on Nov. 9 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, the very day Northern Alliance troops were making their way to capture Kabul, and yet bin Laden makes no mention of events in Afghanistan at that moment. [ABC News, Dec. 13, 2001] Two days after the airing of the tape the White House came under pressure to give more details of the video which purports to show Osama bin Laden admitting his part in the Sept. 11 attacks. [The Guardian, Dec. 15, 2001] While the tape is poor quality and the taping session was believed to be an amateur camcorder production, a viewer can easily observe the taping session was shot using production lighting. Reflections of the lighting can be seen off of windows a s bin Laden enters the room of a house in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. On Feb. 1, 2002 another videotape of Osama bin Laden, this one obtained by CNN and not released to the Al Jazeera Arabic news agency as other tapes were, showed bin Laden talking last fall about the demise of the US government. CNN claims the tape was obtained from a "non-governmental source." This tape runs for an hour and CNN only aired 6-8 minutes of it and refused to release a transcript of the remainder. [Int'l Herald Tribune, Feb. 2, 2002]

NEW AFGHAN CHIEF IS FORMER UNOCAL CONSULTANT

Dec. 13, 2001: Eyes On America reports that Pachtoune (Hamid Karzai), the new Afghan president, once resided in the USA and was a consultant to UNOCAL, the American oil company. He studied the construction of a pipeline in Afghanistan while in the USA. [Eyes on America Dec. 13, 2001]

WAR YEAR

Dec. 21, 2001: President George W. Bush declares 2002 as a "war year." [Reuters Dec. 21, 2001]

THE SHOE BOMBER PASSES SECURITY

Dec. 22, 2001: Richard Reid (Abdel Rahim) boards an American Airlines flight 63 from Paris and planned to blow up explosives hidden in his shoes, but an alert flight attendant detected his lighting of a match on board the plane and other travelers subdued him. The problem with this story is that Reid was deemed suspicious the previous day and was interrogated by French authorities who put him up at an expensive hotel due to delays in getting on a flight on Dec. 21. [CNN.com Dec. 27, 2001] Did French authorities intentionally allow Reid to board the plane in order to continue the worldwide scare tactics now in place concerning terrorists?

ALLEGED TERRORIST BOAT LOADED WITH SUGAR CUBES

Dec. 23, 2001: British and American intelligence services announce they are hunting the world for at least 20 ships in a "terrorist fleet" linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Queda group. [London Observer, Dec. 23, 2001] The capture of a -so-called terrorist boat in the English Channel turned out to be a freighter loaded with 26,000 tons of sugar cubes. [BBC News Dec. 25, 2001] Since then the threat of terrorist ships has vanished from the news. No real terrorists ships have been identified to date.

TIME MAGAZINE REVEALS U.S. KNEW OF AFGHANI THREAT

Dec. 23, 2001: Time magazine publishes its "Inside The War Room" report revealing events inside the White House Situation Room early on Sept. 12. Condoleezza Rice, National Security Council Chief, said over the previous summer "we were getting a lot of chatter in the system about potential threats" and that Bush had ordered the CIA and NSC to draw up a comprehensive proposal for breaking al-Queda for good. "I feel like I'm swatting flies, I want to take the network down," Bush is quoted as saying. [Time Magazine issue Dec. 31, 2001] This means the plans to attack Afghanistan were drawn up prior to Sept. 11. The Time article also indicated Senator Tom Daschle had wrangled with President Bush and was in no hurry to approve the President's judicial nominations. Republicans and Democrats were blocking legislation promoted by each party and by late in the year Daschle was being branded as an "obstructionist." Is this why Senator Daschle's office was the first to hit with the anthrax letters?

VOICE RECORDER DATA STILL NOT RELEASED

Dec. 28, 2001: Accuracy in Media's request to the FBI for a transcript of the cockpit voice recording from United Airlines Flight 93, the hijacked Boeing 757 that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, has yet to be honored. While cockpit voice recordings of other crashes have been released, no explanation has been given for withholding this tape. [Accuracy in Media Dec. 28, 2001]

PLAN TO ATTACK AFGHANISTAN BEFORE SEPT. 11

Dec. 30, 2001: The NY Times publishes a report which reveals that in the spring of 2001 the Bush administration, in response to threats of attack by Islamic terrorists, devised a new strategy to arm the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. Intercepts from Afghanistan warned that Al Qaeda was planning to attack an American target in late June or perhaps over the July 4 holiday. The plan was on the desk of national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and was ready to be delivered to the President for final approval on Monday, Sept. 10. [New York Times Dec. 29, 2001] This news report means that the Sept. 11 WTC attack was no surprise as the Bush administration has described it.

INVESTIGATION CALLED FOR IN COLLAPSE OF TRADE CENTER TOWERS

Jan. 4, 2002: Bill Manning, editor in chief of Fire Engineering magazine, calls for a full-blown investigation by an independent panel into the World Trade Center fire and collapse. Manning claims the structural damage and explosions of jet fuel were not enough to bring down the towers. [Fire Engineering January 2002] Another mystery is the collapse of a nearby 47-story building, 7 World Trade Center, which was not hit by aircraft commandeered by hijackers. Authorities speculate holding tanks of 42,000 gallons of diesel fuel used to generate power, were responsible for the collapse. [New York Times Nov. 29, 2001]

ANTHRAX MICROBE TESTED AS MAIL WEAPON

Jan. 6 , 2002: A NY Times report reveals that researchers at the Defense Research Establishment in Alberta, Canada conducted an experiment with a harmless microbe similar to anthrax in order to test how spores might disperse in an office mailroom or from an envelope containing anthrax. A person opening an envelope could receive a lethal dose of spores within seconds. In early October a report was prepared and sent to the disease control centers. Government authorities indicate they did not read the report till three weeks later. The point is that an agency had tested methods to distribute anthrax via the mail. The first case of inhalation anthrax associated with terrorists was diagnosed on Oct. 2 in Florida which was then followed by a letter sent to Senator Tom Daschle on Oct. 15. [NY Times Jan. 6, 2002]

TERRORISM IN ASIA

Jan. 7, 2002: President Bush announces the villain in South Asia is terrorism. [NY Times Jan., 7, 2001]

CARLYLE GROUP INSIDERS AT THE WHITE HOUSE

Jan. 10, 2002: The Los Angeles Times publishes a report showing links between the Carlyle Group, a private equity investment group with billions of dollars of assets in the defense industry, and the current administration in Washington DC. President Bush's father works for Carlyle as does former defense secretary Frank Carlucci, whose friend Donald Rumsfeld now runs the Pentagon. [LA Times Jan 10, 2002]

CONSPIRACY THEORIES RIDICULED

Jan. 11, 2002: James Rosen of the McClatchy News Service in Washington, DC, reports a "fresh crop of conspiracy theories" regarding the Sept. 11 attacks have arisen. [Fresno Bee, Jan. 11, 2002]

PRESIDENT GAGS ON PRETZEL

Jan. 13, 2001: President Bush faints briefly after claiming he choked on a pretzel he was eating. [NY Times Jan. 14, 2001] Al Martin, well-known whistleblower, claims President Bush choked on the pretzel while watching an interview with Senator Lieberman who was talking about the Enron scandal. Lieberman said that there is information from undisclosed sources that will put the Bush administration right in the middle of the Enron fiasco, and that's when Bush choked on the pretzel. [Al Martin Raw, Jan. 21, 2002]

U.S. DEPLOYED FORCES NEAR AFGHANISTAN PRIOR TO SEPT. 11

Jan. 13, 2001: Reporter Eric Margolis reveals that US had deployed special forces in Kyrgystan and Uzbekistan well in advance of Sept. 11. In the Spring of 2001 Osama bin Laden advised the Taliban in Afghanistan to burn down a low bid from the US oil firm UNOCAL to build a pipeline to export Central Asian oil. The contract went to a rival Argentine firm. The US then cut off discrete aid to the Taliban and began updating contingency plans to invade Afghanistan and to install a compliant regime. [Toronto Sun Jan. 13, 2001]

FAA STILL RESPONDS SLOWLY

Jan. 16, 2002: After the Federal Aeronautics Administration promised it would speed up communications with the Air Force's NORAD to respond to any terrorist hijacking of aircraft, a 15-year old student pilot absconded with a Cessna aircraft and flew it into a Tampa skyscraper. NORAD responded by launching aircraft 15 minutes after the private airplane had crashed into the building and didn't arrive at the scene till 45 minutes after the stolen plane had taken off. [MSN Jan 16, 2002]

AL QAEDA HAD NO WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY

Jan. 17, 2001: US officials indicate Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization had not developed the means to produce chemical or biological weapons by the time the US bombed Afghanistan in October. [Associated Press Jan. 17, 2001]

RIGHT WING BLAMED FOR ANTHRAX ATTACKS

Jan. 22, 2002: David Kestenbaum of National Publc Radio airs an interview with the FBI in which the FBI claims that a right wing organization, such as those believed to have sent fake anthrax letters in the mail to abortion clinics, may be responsible for the terrorist anthrax mailings since Sept. 11. Citing the FBI, Kestenbaum says one group who had a gripe with Senators Daschle and Leahy is the Traditional Values Coalition. "Investigators are thinking along these lines" reported Kestenbaum. [NPR Radio Jan 22 , and World Net Daily, Jan 24, 2002] Daschle and Leahy's offices were the initial targets of the anthrax mailings. But Kestenbaum never asks the FBI why the anthrax was first released in a mailing in Florida. Kestenbaum also never challenges the FBI's assertions. Other authoritative reports indicate it would take considerable technical knowledge and equipment, as well as the ability to penetrate security at laboratories that house anthrax spores, in order to perpetrate this crime. There is no evidence that the Traditional Values Coalition has any such where-with-all.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE OFFICER HAD PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Jan. 25, 2002: Investigator Michael C. Ruppert uncovers the strange case of Delmart Vreeland, a US citizen who is being held in jail in Canada since Dec. 6, 2000. Vreeland apparently was in US naval intelligence and had foreknowledge of the World Trade Center attacks which he attempted to alert his Canadian jailers to. He sealed his information in an envelope which was in his jailers' custody on August 11 or 12, 2001. US authorities claim Vreeland only spent a short time in the US Navy and was discharged in 1986 as a seaman and never had anything to do with intelligence. But his 1200-page personnel file, which included medical exams in the 1990s, contradicted US authorities who want Vreeland extradited back to the US on credit card fraud charges. Vreeland is resisting return to the US which he says would be his death sentence. [The Wilderness Foundation Publication, Jan. 25, 2002]

BUSH CALLS NORTH KOREA TERRORIST STATE

Jan. 29, 2002: President George W. Bush delivers the State of the Union address before Congress and, in referring to Iran, Iraq and North Korea, says "states like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil." [Office of the Press Secretary, President's State of the Union Address, January 29, 2002] Bush's comments draw criticism for leaders around the world. [BBC News Feb. 2, 2002] On Feb. 7 the LA Times runs an article indicating North Korea has softened its animosity with South Korea. The LA Times article also indicates North Korea has never been implicated in terrorism. "North Korea is not part of any evil empire connected with the war on terrorism," said William Taylor, Korea specialist at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington. [LA Times. Feb. 7, 2002]

AIRPORT EXPLOSIVE DETECTOR IS BALONEY

Jan. 30, 2002: San Francisco airport's domestic terminal was closed and some flights grounded when a man was stopped due to what was believed to be explosive residue detected in his shoes. The man indicated the residue could have come from fireworks, but he disappeared before authorities could question him further. Manufacturers of the machine that can detect seven types of explosive residues also admitted the machine could only be detecting bologna or heart medicine which contain chemicals similar to explosives. [AFP Sunday Times, Jan. 31, 2002]

U.S. WARNED OF ATTACKS "VASTLY MORE DEADLY"

Feb. 1, 2002: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warns of attacks "vastly more deadly" than Sept. 11. He calls for billions of dollars of extra funds for the defense budget. [Mirror.co.uk Feb. 1, 2002] On January 23 the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a confidential memo to nuclear power plants warning of a terrorist attack whereby hijackers would use commercial aircraft to fly into a nuclear plant. But the FBI clearly indicated the warning was based upon old, unverified information that was issued last year. [CNN.com Feb. 1, 2002] When the NRC was asked why this warning was issued, and who took responsibility for it, they declined to comment. In other words, an agency of the US government can send out an irresponsible warning without any public apologies. Was the NRC memo another scare tactic being used to justify the growing defense budget?

BRITISH PAPER CALLS AFGHANISTAN WAR PHONY

Feb. 1, 2002: John Pilger, writing in the UK's Mirror, says it is time to "break our silence" regarding the phony war in Afghanistan. Pilger says the threat of terrorism, "some of it real, most of it invented," is the new Red Scare (referring to the time when Russia was a threatening enemy). Pilger claims Vice president Dick Cheney has said the US is considering military action against 40-50 countries, conflicts which may last for 50 years. Richard Perle, Bush advisor, is quoted as saying: "We are fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them out there." Pilger reveals that on July 3, 1979 the US under President Jimmy Carter secretly authorized $500 million to create an international terrorist movement that would spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia in an effort to destabilize the Soviet Union. The plan was called Operation Cyclone and it built "terrorist universities" in collaboration with the Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistan Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Al Queda grew out of this, being established in 1987-88. Pilger points to the fact that Lockheed Martin, a major defense contractor, was awarded a $200 million contract to build new fighter aircraft within six weeks of Sept. 11 and its stock rose by 30%. [Mirror UK Feb. 1, 2002]

WHO IS THE ANTHRAX TERRORIST?

The anthrax saga: according to the FBI, the person(s) involved in the dissemination of anthrax spores in mail envelopes was an angry male, a loner, someone who had access to laboratory equipment and had received training on how to handle the spores. The anthrax letters were copies, not originals, revealing sophistication in avoiding traceability. And the hand lettering was carefully blocked so as not to reveal anyone's handwriting characteristics. [Washington Post Nov. 10, 2001]

The type of anthrax spore used in the mailings was highly sophisticated, being of the right particle size and consistency that only is known by a few laboratories in the world. Richard Spertzel, who directed the UN Special Commission biological weapons inspectors in Iraq, says a good anthrax "munition" requires more know-how than he'd expect to find in a laboratory run by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda. [ABC News Oct. 16, 2001] Scott Ritter, UN weapons inspector in Iraq, says reports that Iraq is behind the anthrax attacks are without substantiation. Ritter says Iraq's biological weapons programs were dismantled and rendered harmless. [The Guardian Oct. 19, 2001]

As early as October reports indicated the anthrax used in the mailings was similar to that used by the United States in the 1960s to make anthrax weapons. [New Scientist Oct. 24, 2001] "Everything seems to lean toward a domestic source. Nothing seems to fit with an overseas terrorist type operation," a senior US intelligence official was said on Oct. 27. [The Guardian Oct. 27, 2001] The next day US intelligence agencies were pointing fingers at Neo-Nazi extremists, Aryan militants and others. [The Guardian Oct. 28, 2001] On October 29, 2001, ABC News revealed that bentonite and silica had been detected on the anthrax spores, agents that keep the spores from sticking together and allow them to float into the lungs. The ABC News report said the bentonite additive was "a trademark of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's biological weapons program." [ABC News Oct. 29, 2001] Was this mininformation being thrust into the public arena to incite public sentiment for going to war against Iraq?

It took till December for the FBI to begin investigation of government laboratories and its contractors. [NY Times Dec. 2, 2001] But by January of 2002 the FBI was saying to the American Society of Microbiology that it was one of their own microbiologists who had mailed the anthrax spores that have killed five people. [NY Times Jan. 31, 2002] The FBI increased the reward to $2.5 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever mailed the anthrax letters. [CNN.com Jan. 16, 2001]

Colonel Arthur M. Friedlander, the senior research scientist at the Army's biofefense laboratory at Fort Detrick, MD, said "we haven't had an offensive program for a long time" and that nobody at the Army's laboratory "has that kind of expertise." [NY Times Dec. 2, 2001] But eleven days later the New York Times published a report that Army scientists acknowledged they had made a powdered form of anthrax in recent years that could be used as a weapon. [NY Times Dec. 13, 2001] Even though the US denounced biological weapons in 1969 and signed the 1972 global treaty banning germ weapons, it produced quantities of powdered anthrax, Ames strain, at the Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in 1998. While a number of laboratories could produce weaponized anthrax powder, Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, a biological arms control expert at the State University of New York, says there are only four labs that have weaponization capabilities -- the ability to turn wet spores into powder. William C. Patrick III, a scientist, says he taught Army personnel at Dugway on how to turn wet anthrax into powders in 1999. [NY Times Dec. 13, 2001]

The actual strain of the anthrax spore involved in the attack is the Ames strain, confirmed by DNA testing. This is the same strain cultivated for years by US researchers as well as others around the world. A key scientist says the strain of anthrax employed had to be USAMRIID - United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease. The US Army has an infectious research institute in Detrich, Maryland. [Washington Post Dec. 23, 2001] The Institute for Genomic Research, a private organization, has attempted to genetically fingerprint the strain of anthrax used in the mailings and has revealed their findings to law enforcement officials. [NY Times Nov. 28, 2001] By December 21 the genetic tracking led to four laboratories. The spores were genetically identical to strains at the US Army Medical Research Institute at Fort Detrick, MD, who distributed their strain to five other agencies, the Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the Batelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, the University of New Mexico's Health Science Center in Albuquerque, the Canadian Armed Forces Defence Research Establishment Suffield and Britain's defense Science and Technology Labs at Porton Down. The FBI also learned that the CIA has a biowarfare program that involved the use of the Ames-strain anthrax. ][Washington Post Dec. 21, 2001]

Little attention has been given to pharmaceutical laboratories, some which obviously have strains of anthrax to produce vaccines or to conduct studies on the effectiveness of their antibiotics, such as CIPRO. Dr. Len Horowitz, author of Death In The Air: Globalism, Terrorism and Toxic Warfare, says the FBI was denied access to four New Jersey-based pharma labs (Bayer, Hoechst, Aventis and Merck) who were located within 45 minutes of the Trenton post office where the anthrax letters sent to Congress emanated. [NY Times, Nov., 19, 2001] The Bayer Corp. had much to gain by the anthrax attack since its antibiotic drug CIPRO was strangely heralded as the sole antidote to the anthrax threat in the early days of the attacks. Bayer's CIPRO drug was introduced to Americans via major news networks and all of a sudden every American knew what CIPRO was.

Horowitz says whoever held access to Batelle Laboratories BL-3 anthrax lab in Ohio then traveled to New Jersey, Florida, Atlanta and Malaysia to place anthrax-laden envelopes in the mail. Batelle supplied Dugway its stock of anthrax spores. [Tetrahedron Publishing Group Press releases No. DITA-90 and 309, Nov. 12 and Dec. 14, 2001] Dr. Horowitz appears to be ahead of the FBI in its investigations. Horowitz even shows the FBI has no intention of investigating its chief suspect -- Battelle Memorial Institute.

Horowitz also found a hole in the alibi that the CIA held stocks of anthrax powder as part of a defensive biowarfare contract. Powdered anthrax is weaponized for offense, not defense. The premier expert in this anthrax weapon is William C. Patrick III, who has trained military personnel on its manufacture and use. [Tetrahedron Press Release DITA-909, Jan. 2, 2002] Dr. Barbara Hatch Rosenberg says the anthrax terrorist is a government insider or someone in contact with an insider. According to William Patrick III, the US had developed a new anthrax strain with a concentration of one trillion spores per gram. Associated Press confirms this in a report which said a new strain of extremely lethal anthrax had been developed prior to Sept. 2001. This rules out the Soviets who were only able to develop a 500 billion concentration. Dr. Horowitz says a simple interrogation of William Patrick III should uncover which US military bioweapons contractor was capable of producing this type of anthrax.

Horowitz also uncovers another anomaly. Just as the first case of anthrax was being reported in Florida on October 7 and the subsequent mailings to Congress on October 9, the FBI and CDC issued orders to destroy stocks of the Ames strain of anthrax located in Ames, Iowa. Why would such an order be issued before an investigation could begin? Horowitz asks if America is at risk of biological attack from its own secretive national security agencies? [Horowitz, L, The CIA's role in the Anthrax Mailings, Tetrahedron Press 2001]

The spreading of anthrax around the world (Malaysia) could then be used as justification for a worldwide pursuit of terrorists. It could be used by pharmaceutical companies to profit from making vaccines and antibiotics and to expand their market for such products. There are links between the current administration in Washington DC and Bioport, the manufacturer of America's anthrax vaccine (under development) and The Carlyle Group. By rousting out members of Congress from their offices in Washington DC due to anthrax contamination, and targeting Democratic Party leaders, any opposition to the war plans by the current administration would take some time to organize. The whole anthrax story appears to be carefully orchestrated to engender fear, exert social control over the population, paralyze opposition, and plunder profits. With the population concerned about anthrax how could they ever mount any questions about Washington's intentions?

That the FBI continues to search for non-government linked suspects in the anthrax crimes is misdirected effort. Furthermore, how is the American public to believe that some bioterrorist lay in waiting for the events of Sept. 11 to distribute anthrax spores via mail envelopes and blame it on Islamic suspects? Whoever released the anthrax also was involved in the planning of the attacks on the World Trade Centers. Why did US intelligence agencies appear to intentionally drop their guard and allow Islamic terrorists to board and hijack commercial aircraft? Has the American public been deceived? Will the anthrax terrorist escape detection just as Osama bin Laden continues to avoid capture? The American public can only be left with two conclusions. Either our government is totally inept and needs replacement, or it conspired to plan the events surrounding Sept. 11 including the release of anthrax.

ISLAMIC PRISONERS MAY TRIGGER ANIMOSITY AND MORE TERROR

Feb. 4, 2002: A Hamas extremist, Hassan Yousef, said the imprisonment and treatment of Islamic Al Queda soldiers at Camp Xray, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will spur recruitment for Islamic terrorist groups. [Mirror.co.uk Feb. 4, 2002] Is the US intentionally irritating the Islamic world to trigger more terrorist attacks?

NATIONAL ALERT SYSTEM

Feb. 5, 2002: President Bush envisions a broad emergency alert system to warn the country of biological attacks. He also chides news reporters for dwelling on the elusiveness of Osama bin Laden. [NY Times Feb. 5, 2002]

BUSH LABELED"COWBOY BENT ON WAR"

Feb. 7, 2002: The LA Times reports that newspapers in North Korea have labelled the US President as a "cowboy bent on war." [LA Times Feb. 7, 2002] By February 21 President Bush had visited Korea and said "We have no intention of invading North Korea. LA Times writers ask: "Were Bush's clearly deliberate comments a one-day wonder?" [LA Times Feb. 21, 2002]

U.S. MILITARY BUDGET LARGER THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY

Feb. 7, 2002: A report in the Washington Post by Robert L. Borosage indicates the Bush administration's $48 billion increase in military spending is larger than any other country's military budget alone. The unified military budget would top $396 billion. Even though Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had taken office with an agenda to downsize the American military [ABC News August 15, 2001], the Pentagon budget included every major weapons system that was in the pipeline when he came into office. [Washington Post Feb. 7, 2002] Since the US drew up plans to attack Afghanistan long prior to Sept. 11, 2001, were the planned cutbacks in military spending announced in August of 2001 only a ruse?

ANOTHER TERRORIST WARNING: THE OLYMPICS

Feb. 11, 2002: Just as the winter Olympics opens in Utah, the FBI issues a warning of a possible terrorist attack against targets in the USA or Yemen. Named of possible terrorists were also released. [NY Times Feb. 12, 2002]

PAKISTAN AIDED BIN LADEN ESCAPE

Feb. 13, 2002: Afghanistan charges elements in Pakistan's intelligence services helped Osama bin Laden evade capture. [Hindustan Times Feb. 13, 2002]

PENTAGON PREPARES FOR WAR AGAINST IRAQ

Feb. 14, 2002: The Pentagon and the CIA have begun preparations for an assault on Iraq involving up to 200,000 US troops which is likely to be launched later this year. [The Guardian Feb. 14, 2002] Meanwhile, Senator Jim Bunning (R-Ky) blasted General Tommy Franks for letting Osama bin Laden escape from Afghanistan. Senator Bunning's statement came moments after Gen. Franks had bragged about prosecuting the most accurate war in US history at a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting. [World Net Daily Feb. 14, 2002]

PENTAGON TO ISSUE FALSE NEWS REPORTS

Feb. 19, 2002: The NY Times reports that the Pentagon plans to provide news items, "possibly even false ones," to foreign new media as part of an effort to influence public sentiment abroad. [NY Times Feb. 19 2002] Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld responds the next day by saying "government officials, the Department of Defense, this secretary and the people that work with me tell the American people and the people of the world the truth." [Globe and Mail, Canada Feb. 20, 2002]

FORMER GOVERNMENT SCIENTIST IS ANTHRAX TERRORIST?

Feb. 19, 2002: The South Jersey Times publishes a report that the search for the disseminator of anthrax following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has narrowed to "a former government scientist that the government would not like to see disclosed." According to Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Chemical & Biological Weapons Program, the scientist has been interrogated by the FBI more than once. Rosenberg says it is likely that the suspect has participated in activities in the past that the government does not want exposed. The USA declined to sign an international biological weapons treaty last July that would ban nations from developing biological weapons. [South Jersey Times, Feb. 19, 2002]

AIR SAFETY BOARD REFUSES TO RELEASE RADAR DATA

Feb. 24, 2002: The National Transportation Safety Board has released no information regarding the four planes involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. Radar data on Sept. 11 also has not been released to the public, nor have air traffic control tapes (though the NY Times has reviewed three tapes). The names of all the passengers aboard the planes also remains secret. [NY Times Feb. 24, 2002]

RESEARCH LABS SUBPOENA

Feb. 24, 2002: Federal investigators subpoena samples of anthrax from the nation's research labs. [Washington Times Feb. 24, 2002]

FBI SAYS ANTHRAX TERRORIST IS A U.S.-BASED SCIENTIST

Feb. 25, 2002: The Washington Times reports that the FBI has narrowed its search for the anthrax terrorist to a few scientists it believes had skill and access to weaponized anthrax spores. The chief suspect has been interrogated more than once and was fired from his government jobs and allegedly made a threat to use anthrax following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. [Washington Times Feb. 25, 2002] However, the FBI denies the Washington Times report and an official was quoted as saying the report was "overplayed" and "laughable." [Fox News Feb. 25, 2002]

PATRIOT ACT VIOLATES THE CONSTITUTION

Feb. 26, 2002: Congressman Dennis Kucinich challenges the Patriot Act, passed by Congress, that effectively cancels the first, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth amendments of the Constitution. The Patriot Act was passed hurriedly by Congress without adequate review. It suspends the right that prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, permits indefinite incarceration without a trial, and lays aside the rights to assemble and free speech. [World Net Daily Feb. 28, 2002]

FAA MEMO SAYS GUN ONBOARD AIRCRAFT

Feb. 28, 2002: A whistleblower, Bogdan Dzakovic, has apparently alerted Sept. 11 victims families of an internal Federal Aviation Administration memo which indicates a gun was aboard the hijacked American Airlines flight 11 which was used to kill a passenger. [World Net Daily Feb. 28, 2002]

SHADOW GOVERNMENT CREATED; CIRCUMVENTS CONSTITUTION

March 1, 2002: Newspapers reveal that President Bush has created a "shadow government" of 100 senior civilian managers to live and work secretly outside Washington DC, to ensure survival of federal rule after catastrophic attack on the nation's capitol. [Washington Post March 1, 2002] Not one reporter questions the Constitutionality of this action.

SCIENTIST SAYS US POSSIBLY RELEASED ANTHRAX IN EXPERIMENT

March 3, 2002: Barbara Hatch Rosenberg of the Federation of American Scientists, speaking on BBC television, alleges the anthrax spores placed in mail envelopes were possibly part of a CIA field experiment to test the "practicalities" of sending anthrax through the mail. [BBC News March 3, 2002] Hatch's comments were not aired in the USA. Note: Would the US ever use its own citizens to test biological agents? It already has. In 1957 military researchers from Fort Detrick, Maryland, apparently released anthrax spores at the Arms Textile Mill in Manchester, New Hampshire, which killed 4 workers. The mill processed goat's hair from Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and India for use in expensive suits and coats. The goat's hair could have been a natural source of anthrax infection and was apparently used as a cover for the operation. The mill never ceased operations during the outbreak. At the very same time of the anthrax deaths the mill was the site for tests using an experimental anthrax vaccine developed by the US Chemical Corps stationed at Fort Detrick. [Counterpunch, March 13, 2002]

So far the government has attempted to point an accusatory finger at Saddam Hussein in Iraq, at Florida-based Islamic males who boarded the flights that slammed into the World Trade Center towers, at Al Queda forces stationed in caves in Afghanistan, and now at an unknown "nerd." None of these stories add up. A so-called biological terrorist is at large and the US continues to spend millions chasing Osama bin Laden and other terrorists around the globe.

CDC ISSUES WARNING ABOUT KILLER RABBITS

March 8, 2002: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta released an unprecedented warning on March 7 for health officials to be on the lookout for a potential fatal bacteria that could be used as a biological warfare agent. The bacteria, which causes tularemia ("rabbit fever"), is usually acquired from ticks or insect bites, or from infected animals such as rabbits.

A Reuters report provides no evidence that stocks of tularemia are in the possession of any terrorists, or that any "terrorist-linked" cases have been reported. But it still issued the warning anyway.

In a two-year period during 1999-2000 over 1300 cases of "rabbit fever" have been reported. The CDC did not provide any suggestions on how physicians are to distinguish so-called "terrorist rabbit-fever attacks" from normally reported cases. The CDC said a tularemia attack would be greater if released in aerosol form, so beware of spitting rabbits. It's obvious this is an irresponsible warning designed to heighten public fears and keep the public roused up over the war against terrorism. [Reuters March 7, 2002]

DRUG COMPANY SPREADS INFORMATION ABOUT ANTHRAX TREATMENT

April 11, 2002: Sales representatives from Bayer Corp. and three other pharmaceutical companies begin to distribute pamphlets to doctors on how to diagnose anthrax. [Reuters Health April 11, 2002]

CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION

April 12, 2002: Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia) calls for an investigation into whether President Bush and other government officials had advance notice of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Scott McLellan, a Bush spokesman, dismissed McKinney's allegations as a display of a "partisan mind set." Carlyle Group spokesman Chris Ullman asked: "Did she say these things while standiing on a grassy knoll in Roswell, New Mexico?" [Washington Post April 12, 2002]

OSAMA BIN LADEN REAPPEARS

April 15, 2002: Osama bin Laden surfaces into the public eye with the release of an hour-long video tape. The tape is aired on Monday, a usual PR day in America. The tape is undated and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld admits was produced prior to Sept. 11, 2001. The tape was obtained from an unidentified source by al-Jazeera television network based in Qatar. Donald Rumsfeld, speaking at a press conference, said he "had watched parts of a bin Laden tape on Sunday, but refused to say how the United States had obtained it. [Reuters April 15, 2002] Why was an old tape from an unidentified source being given worldwide circulation in the news media?

NEWSPAPER POLL: