FBI's E-Mail Evidence Against Ivins: Not Very Persuasive

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The FBI's "evidence" that Dr. Bruce Ivins was the anthrax killer is not very impressive.

Specifically:

"Authorities say that days before the 2001 anthrax attacks, Army scientist Bruce Ivins wrote an e-mail warning that Osama bin Laden had anthrax and had declared war on the United States and Israel.

Postal inspectors say the language in e-mails by scientist Bruce Ivins was similar to the words used in the anthrax letters that terrorized the nation in 2001."

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• - Ivins alleged communication was an e-mail, while the anthrax letters were hand-written, so it is impossible to match handwriting

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• - E-mails are notoriously easy to fake. We've all gotten spam which seems to be sent form our own address, since our email address has been "spoofed". Has the government authenticated the emails by subpoenaing his internet service provider's records and by having independent experts authenticate that Ivins in fact sent them?

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• - Bin Laden supposedly declared war on the U.S. and Israel in 1998, years before Ivins' alleged email, so his statement is not very incriminating

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• - Even if the language in the emails is similar to that in the anthrax letters (I haven't seen the text from the e-mail), someone could have simply copied the style to frame Ivins.
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