Bruce Ivins and the Fear of Actual Counter-Terrorism

August 5th, 2008 Posted in Politics

A question that currently preoccupies me: why is there so little regard for the identification and pursuit of actual "terrorists"? Why so many side-shows — Iraq, the predominantly innocent population of Guantanamo, the very possibly innocent Bruce Ivins? It’s not enough to talk about the need for scapegoating, or even the current aversion to law enforcement in relation to terrorism. Try self-destructiveness. Far from being afraid of terrorism, Americans are positively averse to confronting it:

Just as they did with Steven Hatfill (and Iraq before him), government sources continue to try to convict Bruce Ivins in the media of being the anthrax killer by anonymously leaking incriminating claims about him (all while insisting that they can’t unveil their evidence against him because the case isn’t yet closed). If this latest leak is indicative of the FBI’s case against Ivins — "The top suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks was obsessed with a sorority that sat less than 100 yards away from a New Jersey mailbox where the toxin-laced letters were sent, authorities said today" — then it’s no wonder they are reluctant to tell the public the basis for their accusations against him.