Conspiracy theory or not?

[hadit]

This one has something for everyone to sink their teeth into. I have no strong opinion either way, but think it's intriguing. Read and enjoy discussing.

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51917

Several European newspapers reported in October and November 2001 that FBI teams were dispatched to Prague to investigate. An unnamed "Western intelligence official" was quoted in the London Times as saying: "If it can be shown that Atta was given a flask of anthrax, then the link will have been made with Osama bin Laden and Iraq."

Later, the German newspaper Bild claimed that, according to Israeli security sources, Atta was given anthrax by al-Ani, "which he took back to the U.S. on a flight to Newark, N.J." I know what you're thinking now. Why on Earth would the Bush administration want to see this overwhelming evidence covered up? Why wouldn't the Bush administration, which has been under fire for years for "lying" about the evidence against Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and ties to al-Qaida, want this information out there before the American public?

A couple possibilities occur to me. This is where pure speculation enters the picture – so be warned. Until now, I've given you nothing but established facts. But I know the facts I have provided here are sure to raise questions – questions I can't necessarily answer with hard evidence.

What if it turned out the U.S. government had first provided Iraq with anthrax?

Well, in fact, that seems to be the case. During the 1980s, the U.S. government allowed biological pathogens to be sold to the Iraqi government, as I have previously reported. Export records provided by the American Type Culture Collection lists several pages of biological substances sent to Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education. Included on the list for May 1986 is a shipment of "Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14185) V770-NP1-R. Bovine Anthrax, Class III pathogen (3 each)."

Still there is more. Remember bentonite? It turns out one of the largest manufacturers is (get ready for this, Michael Moore) a subsidiary of Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former employer.

This could be interesting. If this guy is right at all, not only did Iraq really have ties to AQ as well as WMD, thus justifying the war, but the BA deliberately covered it up to avoid embarrassing the VP.

[SwiftSloth]

Conspiracy of the lamest sort:

Chemical weapons given to Iraq in the 1980's had in 2002 the potency of a rotting cheeseburger. Try again. Also--Iraq never even put the Anthrax it produced into a weapon form... They did load it into warheads, but the only way that would harm you is if it fell directly on your head... And then really only you'd be hurting.

[Pappy&Me]

Who the heck knows anymore whats going on ! I am so full of conspiracies and imput I could burst !

Only one thing makes sense and it's too scary to think of .

I just heard 6 months before 911 they made it illegal for pilots to carry guns . Is this true or just another lie told ? Thi is a new one !

[orangikan]

All very interesting except that Anthrax cannot be considered a WMD by any stretch of the imagination. We all saw how minimally the anthrax "scare" was as a mode of death. More people die of cancer every minute! This guy is just trying to stretch his imagination and the facts to fit into the: "Oh, please, there were WMD's in Iraq" neo con fascist bleat.

[KanuckiStang]

""If it can be shown that Atta was given a flask of anthrax, then the link will have been made with Osama bin Laden and Iraq.""


Interesting theory. However, the Senate report released just recently sez Saddam saw AQ as a "threat":

"WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein regarded al-Qaida as a threat rather than a possible ally, a Senate report says, contradicting assertions President Bush has used to build support for the war in Iraq.

Released Friday, the report discloses for the first time an October 2005 CIA assessment that before the war, Saddam's government "did not have a relationship, harbor or turn a blind eye toward" al-Qaida operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or his associates.

...


According to the report, postwar findings indicate that Saddam "was distrustful of al-Qaida and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime."

It said al-Zarqawi was in Baghdad from May until late November 2002. But "postwar information indicates that Saddam Hussein attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al-Zarqawi and that the regime did not have a relationship with, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi.""

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060908/...co/iraq_report

Combined with OBLs insistence that the people of Iraq rise up against the infidel-socialist-apostate Saddam, it doesn't paint a picture of a buddy-buddy relationship between Hussein and AQ. It's unlikely that Saddam would have given anthrax, had he even had it, to mortal enemies that were a threat to his regime.