Although I've never been one to be a conspiracy theorist, I find myself unable to accept the government line on the anthrax story. I spent a couple weeks working in Fort Detrick at the NCI-Frederick Cancer Research & Development Center, and ate lunch with the civilian and military scientists in the cafeteria. We continue to work in collaboration with a lab there in Fort Detrick. Although I'm not really close to the story, I feel closer to it than I ordinarily would, and it has certainly drawn my attention.

As of yet, no physical evidence has been produced regarding Bruce Ivins' guilt. And now, he has died under mysterious circumstances. Conveniently, upon his death, the FBI immediately announced that they were "closing in" on him and were "about to seek indictment." This smells very strongly to me of scapegoating, and with Ivins' suicide, it actually looks downright creepy. You'll note that the first anybody heard about Ivins' death was in connection with the case. The FBI didn't let notice of his death leak out without telling in the same breath that he was a suspect and that they were "closing in." It looks too suspicious to me to assume the government is being forthright.

If you recall, the anthrax scare occurred right after the September 11 attacks, and were used partly in the justification to go to war. For the interested, I highly recommend Glenn Greenwald's Salon piece, where he discusses the role of ABCNews in breathlessly reporting government-leaked misinformation about the anthrax scare.

The government already sought one scapegoat, who later sued to the tune of $5 million. Was Bruce Ivins another easy target for blame? I don't know, but if he was innocent, then the scary thing is that this could have happened to any government scientist.

Also: Be sure to check out John McCain on David Letterman's show in October, 2001, spreading rumors that the anthrax attacks may have originated in Iraq. He uses that opportunity, barely one month after 9/11, to announce that Iraq was already being planned for "phase 2." Please do not vote for him.

UPDATE: The FBI has released grand jury documents regarding their case against Bruce Ivins. They can currently be found here. A slightly more accessible collection of documents is available at The Smoking Gun. While their case does make Ivins look suspicious, the science that they describe in the documents indicates that all of their case was circumstantial. I doubt that this would have been enough to get a conviction, and I remain concerned that the FBI is apparently closing the case without physical evidence to indicate that they have the perpetrator.

UPDATE: I was quoted by the Associated Press as part of an article on persistent skepticism on the anthrax story.