Not All Terrorism Experts Agree With President Obama's Assertion That Terrorism Threats Are At Pre-9/11 Levels

U.S. President Barack Obama makes a point at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2013. Larry Downing / REUTERS

Experts Contradict Obama On Islamic Terror Threat -- Washington Times

errorism analysts are rebutting President Obama’s assertion that the “scale of the threat” from Islamic terrorists has reverted to pre-Sept. 11, 2001, levels.

“This is a total fabrication,” said Steven Emerson, whose Investigative Project on Terrorism tracks radical Islam. “The ‘scale of this threat’ in the 1990s never closely resembled the terrorist attacks post 9/11. This is an outright lie.”

The Heritage Foundation has been cataloguing foiled terror attacks post-9/11 by Islamic groups. The number: 54.

James Carafano, a military analyst at Heritage, said the 1990s’ numbers “were a fraction of that.”

Mr. Obama on Thursday delivered a speech at the National Defense University that came close to declaring victory over al Qaeda, saying it is now operating franchise groups.

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Previous Post: Will Our War Against Terror Come To An End?

My Comment: I am not a terrorism expert, but I have definitely not seen a decrease in terrorism threats in the past few years .... both here and abroad.

'Lone Wolf' Attacks And Terrorism Arrives

Photo: Reuters/ITV

'Armies Of One': Are Lone Wolf Attacks The Future Of Terrorism? -- Nick Thompson, CNN

London (CNN) -- The only thing more horrifying than the murder of a British soldier in a London street is the fear that there is little police can do in the age of "open-source jihad" to prevent these types of terror attacks.

"It's always the one we feared, the lone wolf that can come from nowhere and not be on our radar," said ex-London police chief John Yates.

On Wednesday two men hacked the soldier to death near his military barracks in Woolwich, southeast London before delivering a message to a witness's camera: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone ... this British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth."

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Update: 'Lone wolf' terrorism arrives -- Nick Miller, The Age

My Comment: This analysis represents the conventional thinking among many who have been tracking and studying Al Qaeda for years. And while there is still some validity in their assessment that lone wolf attacks are probably the future of terrorism .... we cannot underestimate the power that a small group can have in inflicting enormous harm to us. Advancements in technology have made the production and distribution of deadly weapons with enormous power that much more easier .... and these small groups of terrorists and terrorist wannabees are fully aware of that.

Commentaries, Opinions, And Analysis On Yesterday's Terror Attack In London

Blood On The Streets Of Woolwich -- Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

If you came across this footage as you were browsing the Web, you would not immediately know what you were watching. You might mistake it for a stunt, or a setup, or even a promotional clip for an upcoming film. Even when you discovered what it actually represented, you could be forgiven for finding it unreal.

The footage is British. It was Wednesday afternoon in Woolwich, a district of southeast London. The man addressing the camera has yet to be named, but he is not a figure easily forgotten. He wears jeans, a dark jacket with the hood back, and a black knit cap, but his hands are bright red all over. The right hand is free; the left carries a knife and a meat cleaver, also covered in blood. He gesticulates, using both hands to reinforce what he is saying. Some of his statement has been elided for legal reasons (in Britain, the media is not supposed to broadcast confessions), but this is a text of what can be heard in the clip:

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Analysis On Yesterday's Terror Attack In London

'MI5 may have questions to answer over attackers' -- The Telegraph
Woolwich attack: confusing, horrific, bizarre – the horror that made literally no sense -- Dan Hodges, The Telegraph
'You could feel something horrible had happened' -- Sarah Brown, CNN
Butchery in Woolwich -- Tim Judah, Bloomberg
Woolwich attack: MI5's worst nightmare has come true -- Chris Hughes, Mirror
Woolwich killing: The long-feared attack -- Dominic Casciani, BBC
Woolwich Attack: Confusing, Horrific, Bizarre That Makes No Sense -- Dan Hodges, The Telegraph
Act of Terror Will Never Divide Our City -- Sadiq Khan, London Evening Standard
Newspapers were right to publish horrific images of the Woolwich terror attack -- Iain Martin, The Telegraph
The real enemy in London hacking death -- Frida Ghitis, Special to CNN
Were suspects influenced by Nigerian terrorists? -- The Telegraph
Woolwich attack: of course British foreign policy had a role -- Joe Glenton, The Guardian
It Is Terror But It Is Not Wise To Overreact -- Sam Kiley, SKY News
Was the London killing of a British soldier 'terrorism'? -- Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian
London soldier slaying homegrown Islamic extremism? -- Tucker Reals, CBS
Woolwich Beheading: Was Soldier Butchered by al-Qaida Cell or Lone Wolves? -- Timur Moon, IBTimes
Crazed animals... how news of the savage Woolwich attack exploded on Twitter -- Daily Mail
London Attack: The New Face of Terror -- Clive Hunter, Daily Beast
London attack: Terrorists targeting soldiers at home again? -- Nick Hunt, CNN
Woolwich attack: A new template -- Mark Urban, BBC
Woolwich analysis: African links are probed amid fears of more ‘lone wolves’ -- Martin Bentham, London Evening Standard
Killers knew attack would go viral – and embraced it -- Eamon Delaney, Independent.ie
Q&A: What is known about London attack -- AP

Why Young European Muslims Are Joining Radical Rebel Groups In Syria

 

Clampdown On Islam In Europe Drives Young Muslims To Syrian War -- RT 

Backslash on multiculturalism in Europe and easy access to global jihad info on the web prompts young Muslims from France and other EU states to join the Syrian rebels, Jean-Yves Camus, a specialist on extremism, told RT.

The EU's anti-terror chief, Gilles de Kerchove, is sounding the alarm over the number of young Europeans going off to the Syrian war.

Hundreds of volunteers are already fighting alongside rebels and could pose a serious security threat when they return home, according to the official.

Specialist in extremism at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations, Jean-Yves Camus, shares those concerns, adding that the rise of radicalism in Europe can be also explained by the many conflicts in the Muslim world the West had a hand in.

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My Comment: A part of me wishes that the Boston marathon bombers had also gone off to fight in Syria's civil war .... but I guess killing unarmed civilians was what they felt most comfortable in doing.

Is The West Following A Double Standard With Russia On Terrorism?

Russian President Vladimir Putin. © RIA Novosti. Aleksey Nikolskiy

Putin Still Sees Double Standard With West On Terrorism -- CNN

When I was CNN’s Moscow Bureau Chief I participated in a round-table discussion with Vladimir Putin, then president for the first time, in the Kremlin library. Sitting next to him, just to his right, I could see how even the word “Chechnya” infuriated him. After all, it was Putin who, in 1999, launched the second Chechen War.

Thursday, in his annual national call-in, “Direct Line,” in which he fielded questions from Russians for almost five hours, Vladimir Putin showed that he still has a deep current of anger toward Chechen terrorists, along with a deep grudge toward the West for what he perceives as its double standard on terrorism.

The Russian President got a question during Thursday’s call-in from a viewer described as a Russian now living in the United States, Mikhail Smurygi, who told him, “In the wake of the terrorist attack in Boston, many Americans turned against Russia, as the terrorists were from the Caucasus.”

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My Comment: He is right. I have always commented that if Chechnya had refrained from committing terror attacks on Russia and on neighboring Muslim dominated Russian provinces .... they would never have been invaded in 1994 and later again in 1999 .... and would now be enjoying a certain degree of independence from Russia today. But no .... radical Islamists had a different agenda .... and we are now in the mess that we are in today.

As to the West's reaction and commentary on terrorist acts in Russia .... bottom line .... if the Beslan massacre had occurred on U.S. soil .... trust me .... we would not even be having this discussion.

Social Media`s Impact On Investigating Terror

Investigating Terror In The Age Of Twitter -- Wall Street Journal

After an arrest was reported in error, Boston police quickly knocked it down online.

In an incredibly short span of five days last week, America went from a nation under attack by terrorists to one made proud as law-enforcement agencies quickly identified the suspected Boston bombers and tracked them down. The attack, the investigation, the manhunt and the swift resolution were unprecedented. So too was the way that law enforcement employed digital tools to do its job.

A dozen years ago when the terrorists struck on 9/11, there was no Facebook or Twitter or i-anything on the market. Cellphones were relatively common, but when cell networks collapsed in 2001, many people were left disconnected and wanting for immediate answers. Last week in Boston, when mobile networks became overloaded following the bombings, the social-media-savvy Boston Police Department turned to Twitter, using the platform as a makeshift newsroom to alert media and concerned citizens to breaking news.

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My Comment: As I have mentioned before .... for breaking news stories social media sights like Twitter are excellent for the first hour or two. After that .... the "nuts" take over.

When To Call A Terrorism Incident Terrorism?

Obama Terms Boston Bombings ‘Terrorism’ Even As Administration Struggles With Word -- Washington Post

The word, and whether President Obama used it quickly enough or correctly, became a political issue in last year’s campaign.

But Obama and his staff still appear to be puzzling over when — and how — to call an attack a “terrorist” act and when to wait for a clear determination of the motives behind one.

Hours after the Boston Marathon bombing, Obama appeared in the Brady briefing room to assure the nation that whoever carried it out would “feel the full weight of justice.”

He did not characterize the attack as terrorism, advising instead that the public “shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts.” It was the caution of a president who once snapped at a reporter during a news conference, “I like to know the facts before I speak.”

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My Comment: I commented on this disconnect when President Obama first responded to the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday. He just could not say the "T" word (see above video) even though it was obvious to me at the time that it was terrorism. Jonathan Tobin's commentary on this issue is a must read.

Should The CIA Be Blamed For Today's Murders Of Anti-Polio Workers In Pakistan?

The C.I.A. And The Polio Murders -- Michael Specter, New Yorker

Scientists, with the help of public-health workers, have managed to wipe just two diseases from the face of the earth: smallpox and rinderpest (otherwise known as cattle plague). This year, it had begun to look as if we would soon add another name to that list, a virus that has been a paralytic threat for millennia: polio.

The effort took a devastating step backward yesterday, with the news that six public-health workers were killed in Pakistan; all had been administering polio vaccines. Earlier this year, the World Health Organization declared the eradication of polio to be a world-wide health emergency (a designation which makes it easier to release funds). It did so primarily because the end seemed in sight. Just three countries continue to report infections: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. As soon as the news of the murders spread, however, the health minister for Pakistan’s southern Sindh Province put a halt to the vaccination program, which had employed more than twenty-four thousand aid workers. The risks of this detour, which will leave tens of thousands of people vulnerable to new infections, cannot be overstated.

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My Comment: How much would I pin the blame on the CIA for today's murders of 6 anti-polio workers in Pakistan .... zero. There are people even in the Western world who believe that there is something nefarious in our vaccination program .... and cannot be told otherwise. So when some uneducated religious fanatics in Pakistan believe that the UN's vaccination program is a nefarious plot by Western governments to cause harm .... do they care about science .... public health .... common sense .... nope .... to them it is just a license to kill and to assert their authority over a public who are just as ignorant and uneducated as they are.

The Era Of Megaterror

Living In The Era Of Megaterror -- Graham Allison, New York Times

Forty years ago this week at the Munich Olympics of 1972, Palestinian terrorists conducted one of the most dramatic terrorist attacks of the 20th century. The kidnapping and massacre of 11 Israeli athletes attracted days of around-the-clock global news coverage of Black September’s anti-Israel message. Three decades later, on 9/11, Al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 individuals at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, announcing a new era of megaterror. In an act that killed more people than Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, a band of terrorists headquartered in ungoverned Afghanistan demonstrated that individuals and small groups can kill on a scale previously the exclusive preserve of states.

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My Comment: I agree .... advances in technology has made it possible for small groups to bring about massive casualties. Pandora's Box is now open .... and mankind must now live with the consequences.

Sending Terrorists To Sub-Gitmo Hell

Obama Sends Terrorists to Sub-Gitmo Hell -- Abe Greenwald, Commentary

Among the unfortunate things about the ObamaCare ruling is that it’s taking oxygen away from some important stories. None more important than Eli Lake’s sensational scoop at the Daily Beast on the wretched facilities in Somalia where America is sending alleged terrorists caught in the expanded U.S. war on terror in that country. When Barack Obama came to office he described Guantanamo Bay as a “misguided experiment,” owing to the facility’s supposedly harsh conditions. He has since decreed that the United States will no longer accept new prisoners there (he was unable to close the facility altogether); Obama also shuttered CIA black site prisons in Europe. But if Gitmo was a “misguided experiment” and CIA sites beneath American standards of humane treatment, what on earth is this?

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My Comment: No tears shed from this blogger.

The 'Nike' Terrorist

Toulouse Shooting: The Rise Of The 'Just Do It’ Terrorists -- The Telegraph

In the intelligence world, they are known as the Nike terrorists, whose motto when it comes to committing acts of terrorism is simply: "Just do it."

And the spate of shootings carried out this week by a lone al-Qaeda terrorist in south-west France perfectly fits the profile of a new generation of Islamist terrorists who are now regarded as posing a major security threat to the West.

Rather than trying to carry out spectacular attacks on the scale of September 11, the Nike terrorists are encouraged to use any means at their disposal to cause the maximum number of casualties. The architect of this new way of killing was Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric who masterminded al-Qaeda’s operations from Yemen until killed by a US drone strike last September.

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My Comment: The above video is a must see to better understand why this type of terrorist is difficult to spot .... and even more difficult to stop.

Why Are We Releasing Terrorists?

President Obama signed executive orders Thursday directing the Central Intelligence Agency to shut what remains of its network of secret prisons and ordering the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Terrorists Go Free -- Max Boot, The Daily

Early release for political killers is dangerously common.

In 2009, Scotland released on “humanitarian grounds” Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the only person convicted in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. The purported Libyan intelligence officer had served only eight years of a 27-year minimum sentence. Afflicted with prostate cancer, he supposedly had only three months to live. Yet there he was this week on Libyan state television, appearing at a rally for Moammar Gadhafi in Tripoli. He was in a wheelchair, looking frail, but he was undoubtedly alive.

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My Comment: A good summary on our history of releasing terrorists. It seems we do not learn from our past.

The Growth Of Microterrorism

The Year of Microterrorism -- Fareed Zakaria, Time Magazine

This has been a year marked by economics — the sluggish recovery, the crisis in Europe, the stimulus, tax cuts and budget debates. Foreign policy has made less news. Iraq is dysfunctional but stable; Afghanistan is unstable but no more so than before. Relations between the U.S. and the rest of the world are in reasonable shape. So it might sound odd to call this the year of terrorism. But it was.

"The number and pace of attempted attacks against the United States over the past nine months have surpassed the number of attempts during any other previous one-year period." That's from a May 2010 Department of Homeland Security report. The October 2010 attempt to blow up cargo airplanes using bombs placed in printer cartridges only confirms the point. And this is not simply an American phenomenon. The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reports that terrorist attacks on Russian territory doubled in 2010.

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My Comment: Of course .... no where in the article does Fareed Zakaria make any mention of Islam and it`s role in .... I would guess .... 99% of all terrorist incidences around the world.

If you cannot define the enemy and the problem .... how can you defeat it.

The Geopolitical Consequences Of A Mumbai Style Terror Attack Against European Cities

Mumbai, India's 26/11 (Photo from the Daily News)

Why A Terrorist Strike On Europe Risks Geopolitical Meltdown -- Time Magazine

Bad as they are, right now, relations between the U.S. and Pakistan could get a whole lot worse if a feared Mumbai-style terrorist plot materializes in Europe.

One reason for the fraying of ties is the dramatic escalation in the Obama Administration's drone war in Pakistan's tribal areas. September saw more missiles fired from drone aircraft than any month on record, purportedly aimed at disrupting possible terrorist attacks planned for European cities — fear of which has also prompted travel alerts by the U.S. and allied governments. And the campaign has not relented. Pakistani officials claim that eight suspected militants of German citizenship were killed in a drone strike on a Waziristan mosque on Monday.

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My Comment: There is not much that I can disagree with in this article.

A Mumbai style of attack on European cities will result in an overwhelming sense of outrage in Europe, anti-Islamic sentiments going through the roof, and governments being forced to implement policies that will severely limit and curtail the flow of people who originate from Pakistan and other places that are deemed to be a "high security risk".

The dynamics of the Afghan war will also change, and calls for retaliation and/or a huge investment to combat Al Qaeda/Taliban and other supported groups will come into play. As for Pakistan .... they will be an ostracized state, and calls for a closer relationship with India will be the result.

Now .... instead of Europe .... it is US cities that end up experiencing a series of Mumbai attacks .... President Obama will be under severe pressure to do more than just drone strikes and permitting secret ops against these groups. There will be calls to expand the Afghan war in Pakistan and beyond. Will he be able to hold back this outrage .... I doubt it.

An Analysis On What Is Al Qaeda Morphing Into -- A Commentary

Wars Fought And Wars Googled -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — The country’s attention was riveted last week by the drama of the generals: Stanley McChrystal, whose indiscretions in Rolling Stone got him cashiered, and his boss, David Petraeus, who stepped in to take direct command of the troubled Afghanistan counterinsurgency effort.

But a startling scene in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday may have had more to say than the command shake-up about the larger fight to contain Al Qaeda and its allies, and the limits of any general’s ability to affect its outcome.

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My Comment: An interesting take on the war against radical Islam. Read it all.

Terrorism Studies -- Social Scientists Do Counterinsurgency.

From The New Yorker:

A few days after the September 11th attacks—which killed seven times as many people as any previous act of terrorism—President George W. Bush declared that the United States was engaged in a global war on terror. September 11th seemed to confirm that we were in a clash of civilizations between modernity and radical Islam. We had a worldwide enemy with a cause that was general, not specific (“They hate our freedoms”), and we now had to take on the vast, long-running mission—equal in scope to the Cold War—of defeating all ambitious terrorist groups everywhere, along with the states that harbored them. The war on terror wasn’t a hollow rhetorical trope. It led to the American conquest and occupation first of Afghanistan, which had sheltered the leaders of Al Qaeda, and then of Iraq, which had no direct connection to September 11th.

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My Comment: There are a lot of disquieting conclusions made in this New Yorker Postpost. Read it all.

Is Al Qaeda Still Pursuing A Nuclear Option?

Al Qaeda's Quest For The Bomb -- H. D. S. Greenway, New York Times

Recently the directors of C.I.A., F.B.I., and National Intelligence told Senator Dianne Feinstein that an attempted terrorist attack on the United States in the next few years was “a certainty.” If Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have anything to do with it, the attack is not likely to be an amateurish effort similar to that of the pathetic underpants bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day.

Nor will it be limited to blowing up buses and trains in London or Madrid. That may be good enough for European targets, but for the United States Al Qaeda seems determined to better 9/11 and do something really spectacular.

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My Comment: When it comes to nuclear weapons we are always hearing the same thing from the same players around the world .... they talk about their intentions but as the years pass by they are not even close to having a viable and deliverable nuclear weapon.

Al Qaeda is guilty of this same type of talk .... and while they may have the supporters who are probably willing to give the financial resources (and martyrs) to do it ....they are no closer today than yesterday in having a viable nuclear weapon.

The only way that Al Aqaeda will have a real and deliverable nuclear weapon is if someone gives it to them .... and that list is very small with deadly consequences to them if they are stupid enough to do it.

What The QDR Means For Our Wars Against Radical Islam And The Long Term Goals Of The US Military

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates testifies before the House Armed Services Committee on the fiscal year 2011 Defense Department budget request in Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 2010. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

An End to the "Long War" -- Robert Farley, American Prospect

The current Quadrennial Defense Review underscores the stark contrast between Obama's and Bush's visions for U.S. military engagement.

On Monday, the Obama administration released a pair of critical documents indicating the path it intends to take on military and defense issues. One of these documents was the budget for fiscal year 2011, which calls for an increase in defense spending as well as the restructuring of a couple of major weapons programs. The other document was the Quadrennial Defense Review, or QDR. Every four years, the Department of Defense reports to Congress on its long-term strategic and procurement plans. The QDR gives the White House the opportunity to both lay the tracks of future equipment procurement and to make a statement about its strategic orientation.

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My Comment: This is a tough one to comment on, and I do not envy what Secretary of Defense Gates and others had to do to come up with such a document. But from my point of view the bottom line is the following .... will we win our wars, and will we be secure in the future. On these two issues I have some concerns and worries.

For the past 8 years we have been pursuing an aggressive policy against Al Qaeda and its allies. Invading two countries, and conducting covert and (not so covert) operations in other countries. All of these actions have been predicated on the idea that we are in long term struggle that will take years .... if not decades .... to win. What is victory? .... the complete repudiation among the mass majority of Muslims on the principles and philosophy of Jihad as advocated by extremists like Bin laden and his Al Qaeda organization.

Unfortunately, this conflict has now cost us thousands of lives (almost 9,000 US lives if I include 9/11), hundreds of billions (if not trillions) in war costs and destruction of infrastructure, and U.S. political isolation and loss of credibility on the international scene. What is worse ..... the conflict still continues and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

It is with this continuous war environment that President Obama is now faced with .... and I am sure that after being in power for one year he now wishes to end it. The 2010 QDR is more of a means to complete the two wars that we have been fighting, with long term planning and the long war against Al Qaeda be put off at a later date. I am confident that this focus of energies and resources will change the dynamics, and I would not be surprised to see us leave Iraq by next year, and Afghanistan soon after.

Unfortunately .... I do not think Al Qaeda has the same vision .... and more importantly I do not think this approach will make us safe. My contacts in the intelligence community are now telling me that the financial supporters of Al Qaeda and their allies are now diverting their monies and resources from their losing theaters of war in Iraq and Afghanistan to supporting groups that want to attack us directly.

If true, this then explains why there has been a spike in terrorist attempts within the US, and worrisome chatter in Al Qaeda and jihadist chat rooms in the Middle East. Even the Brookings Institute .... a think tank with close ties to the Obama Administration are now voicing these same concerns.

It seems that Al Qaeda and their affiliates need war to justify their position within the Islamic community. Peace and prosperity would only undermine the impact of their message .... and worse .... undermine their legitimacy. Hence .... while we focus our energies on ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan .... Al Qaeda is now focusing its energies on attacking us from a different angle .... which in this case is the US homeland.

Imagining A Nuclear 9/11

A Failure To Imagine the Worst -- Graham Allison, Foreign Policy

The first step toward preventing a nuclear 9/11 is believing it could happen.

In his first speech to the U.N. Security Council, U.S. President Barack Obama challenged members to think about the impact of a single nuclear bomb. He said: "Just one nuclear weapon exploded in a city -- be it New York or Moscow, Tokyo or Beijing, London or Paris -- could kill hundreds of thousands of people." The consequences, he noted, would "destabilize our security, our economies, and our very way of life."

Before the Sept. 11, 2001, assault on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, who could have imagined that terrorists would mount an attack on the American homeland that would kill more citizens than Japan did at Pearl Harbor? As then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified to the 9/11 Commission: "No one could have imagined them taking a plane, slamming it into the Pentagon ... into the World Trade Center, using planes as missiles." For most Americans, the idea of international terrorists conducting a successful attack on their homeland, killing thousands of citizens, was not just unlikely. It was inconceivable.

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My Comment: A sobering assessment of what can happen .... even if conventional thinking says that it is not possible.

The Anthrax Attacks Of 2001 Remain Unsolved -- A Commentary

Getty Image

A Commentary From Edward Epstein, Wall Street Journal:

The FBI disproved its main theory about how the spores were weaponized.

The investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks ended as far as the public knew on July 29, 2008, with the death of Bruce Ivins, a senior biodefense researcher at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Fort Detrick, Md. The cause of death was an overdose of the painkiller Tylenol. No autopsy was performed, and there was no suicide note.

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My Comment: The key point in this commentary (and one that has the potential to impact each and everyone of us) is the last paragraph ....

.... So, even though the public may be under the impression that the anthrax case had been closed in 2008, the FBI investigation is still open—and, unless it can refute the Livermore findings on the silicon, it is back to square one ....