Christopher Ruddy
Monday, Nov. 19, 2001

Recently, a member of the intelligence community told me that one reason the U.S. government has no interest in pointing fingers at foreign terrorists is the U.N.

Under protocols of treaties dealing with biological warfare, the U.S. has agreed that U.N. inspectors are to be part of any investigation into such an attack of an international nature.

Still, many officials doubt this is the work of foreign elements.

Last week I spoke with a top former FBI profiler, a man I respect.

He told me why he believed that the anthrax attacks were the work of a domestic terrorist, and not OBL's group.

"It doesn't fit their pattern," he said, "they like a big splash. They like explosions."

He said a handful of anthrax-filled letters, though upsetting to some, was anti-climactic to Sept. 11.

OBL's whole modus operandus has always been to upstage himself, each attack bigger than the last.

These points are well taken, and so is the fact that the two political targets were ranking Democrats, feeding suspicions of a "right-wing" domestic terrorist operation.

This is also a worthy point, though it should be remembered that the Unabomber was a radical leftist/environmentalist who also targeted liberals.

Let's consider some other facts that suggest a more pernicious outside force was behind the anthrax attacks.

1. The letters were mailed from Trenton, N.J. This area of northeastern New Jersey has been a hot bed of Islamic extremism. The 9-11 terrorists had links to the area. The 1993 World Trade Center bombers lived in this part of New Jersey. Reportedly, one current Islamic suspect lives near the Trenton post office.

2. The anthrax attackers were knowledgeable about the 1993 case. An esoteric fact of the federal case made against the 1993 bombers related to the postage stamp. One of the '93 defendants was linked to the World Trade Center plot when the FBI found his DNA evidence on the back of a stamp placed on an envelope.

This time, the anthrax attackers did not use stamps but instead pre-stamped envelopes offered by the terrorists.

3. There were sophistication and effort behind the anthrax attacks. We know that the anthrax terrorist(s) used two forms of anthrax. The anthrax in the letter to Sen. Daschle's office was reportedly "weaponized" to make it more easily disseminated through the air.

If a lone terrorist conducted this operation, he or she made two batches of the stuff, using sophisticated methods and equipment.

These points suggest a nation-state or a more formidable organization behind the anthrax attacks.

Would a lone domestic terrorist either just happen to live in the area of northeast New Jersey or purposefully fly to the area to make it look like a Muslim extremist operation?

Would the same individual be knowledgeable about the '93 case and the DNA evidence on the stamp?

Would the same individual make two batches of the anthrax to test their effectiveness and send them out at about the same time?

My FBI profiler friend still makes a strong point about the anthrax being somewhat anti-climactic, when so many could have been killed by an aerial disbursement of anthrax – which OBL's group could easily have carried out.

But this FBI profiler wasn't fully aware of just how damaging the mail attacks have been.

President Bush has stated repeatedly that the purpose of the 9-11 attacks was a financial one, meant to sink the U.S. economy.

On that basis, the mail attacks "fit" – they definitely have hurt the U.S. economy.

Whoever organized the attack likely knew just how crucial the mail is as an underpinning of the U.S. economy – just as airlines play a key role.

The mail attacks have had a debilitating effect on the many businesses that do commerce through the mail.

The post office alone estimates it lost $5 billion - all of this from less than $500 worth of anthrax!

With that frame of reference, the anthrax attacks were arguably more spectacular than the 9-11 attacks.

I personally don't believe the mail operation was the brainchild of OBL and his cavemen.

I believe instead that this was a sophisticated operation likely made by the same real brains behind the 9-11 attacks, of which OBL's cavemen were just the "fingers."

The arms and brains? Maybe Iraq.

Perhaps Russia, where a top economic adviser predicted before and after 9-11 certain unusual "financial attacks" against America with the intent of collapsing the U.S. economy.

So far, that plan has not worked. But this mystery of the anthrax attacks raises other concerns and exposes our vulnerabilities.

Suppose one of America's enemies, such as Castro, Qaddafi, the Iranians, the Russians or the North Koreans, see an opportunity to attack us with impunity.

If one of these nations used or detonated a weapon of mass destruction in an American city, would that, too, be blamed on "domestic terrorists" or conveniently on OBL's cavemen?

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Al-Qaeda
Bioterrorism
Russia
Saddam Hussein/Iraq
War on Terrorism