wir schalten runter auf gefahrenstufe rosarot

magst du dich an die anthrax panik in amerika, gleich nach 9/11 erinnern?
nun es scheint das FBI sei in der sache irgendwie weitergekommen.
drei sachen sind faszinierend:
1. der attentäter war wahrscheinlich ein amerikaner, genauer ein amerikanischer biochemiker
2. alles in allem wird amerika unsicherer durch die erforschung von biokampfstoffen
3. futter für verschwörungstheorien: der link zu irak wurde von der bush regierung gepusht, obwohl eigentlich klar war, dass es sich um amerikanisches anthrax handelte.

kurze auszüge:
zu 1., aus der der NYT: LINK

Two puzzles have haunted investigators from the beginning: the motive of the perpetrator and his skills. Because the notes in some of the letters mailed to news media organizations and two senators included radical Islamist rhetoric, investigators initially believed the letters might have been sent by Al Qaeda.

But the F.B.I. quickly settled on a different profile: a disgruntled American scientist or technician, perhaps one specializing in biodefense, who wanted to raise an alarm about the bioterrorism threat. That theory accounted for the letters’ taped seams and the notes’ use of the word anthrax, a warning that allowed antibiotic treatment — not to be expected from a Qaeda attack intended mainly to kill.

zu 2., aus dangerroom - LINK

"Several years ago I would have pooh-poohed the idea that highly trained and vetted scientists would present such a risk," biochem blogger Bugs n Gas Gal says. "But for at least the last couple of years I’ve felt that the expansion of biodefense labs is related not to research need but to homeland defense money. If you build it they will come, and a couple of them might be frakking nuts. Do we not now have enough investment in the study of the most dangerous, but least likely threats?"

und dann noch zu 3., von boingboing - LINK (hat auch ein schönes bildli vom original brief)

"Lieberman said that the anthrax was so complex and potent that "there's either a significant amount of money behind this, or this is state-sponsored, or this is stuff that was stolen from the former Soviet program." As I said, it is not possible to overstate the importance of anthrax in putting the country into the state of fear that led to the attack on Iraq and so many of the other abuses of the Bush era.


bildli von getyourwaron - kriegskritik mit clipart, sehr lustig: LINK