Newsvine - September 11 Was a Third-Rate Operation

After the attacks, I was at recently badly flooded Bridgewater, NJ, West Point M.A., and Picatinney Arsenal those days, stretched out as they were, working in the archaeological testing required by law that precedes construction, part of a crew, at West Point, for new roads after Hurricane Floyd to clean up the tree-falls and new road to Bull Hill radio towers. I read the Washington Post book (apparently not the Judith Miller one from the NY Times) which reviewed all the available facts about anthrax research in general. Recently "Conscientious Objectors" who were volunteered for anthrax exposure by the government as their "alternative service" to the Selective Service draft were given medals for their participation in the exposure studies, which as far as was reported, no one died in the experiments. However, perhaps international human rights "flags" might be thrown on that play one might say.

It was sort of tense at West Point after 9/11, and many were at the checkpoints in and out. However, they never looked under the vehicles that I saw so like in the remake of "Cape Fear" the Robert De Niro character might have been there. Apparently the "chain of command" did not see it as that a serious a threat at first. However, at Fort Hamilton, where I also worked shortly thereafter, the vehicle was taken into a tent and looked at by armed uniformed soldier(s) and daily passes with a daily photo i.d. was required even for a few days we were there testing the "Parade Grounds" near the Robert E. Lee house behind the Northeast center of the Army Corps of Engineers for previous construction episodes with our hand dug shovel units, the S.O.P. even when materials are known found down 1 meter.

Maybe you've read some of the British royalty, Princess Anne I think went down to Antarctica (which Sir Edmund Hillary wanted them to protect and which they then still hadn't agreed) and showed that the early 20th century hay for the Himalayan ponies used in the expedition contained anthrax spores that could still pose a danger. As more and more contact occurs (pallets, etc.) with Asia there is more of a chance of natural anthrax appearing in the Western hemisphere where it has not been very prevalent before.

Still unsolved was the victim from the Bronx, Kathy Nguyen a medical nurse who died in Manhattan. A former Vietnamese national, no trace of anthrax was ever found in the vicinity where she died nor in the area of the Bronx where she lived. Many soldiers were also objecting to experimental anthrax vaccines given before they served in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf region and some even refused, some even allegedly died in another Washington Post reporter's research published.

#7.1 - Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:30 PM EDT Newsvine - September 11 Was a Third-Rate Operation