# What If the Anthrax came From Iraq?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 30, 2004, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814 "2004-09-30T07:20:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2004, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814/1 "2004-09-30T07:20:05Z")
The anthrax powder that was mailed to various people in the US killed several people. The government has never found/revealed the source of this deadly powder I read a theory of what actually happened:
-the anthrax powder was produced in secret labs in Iraq, by Russian scientists hired by Saddam Hussein.
The powder was smuggled into the USA by Al-Queda operatives, and distributed to Mosques in and around the NYC-NJ area.
Mailings of anthrax-contaminated letters were made by Al-Queda operatives, from public mailboxes around the USA…these mailings killed hundreds.
This would explain why the government never told the true story…if such news got out, there would be burnings of mosques, attacks on muslims, etc.
Will the story ever get out? :smack:
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### Author:  [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814/2 "2004-09-30T07:56:56Z")
Do you have _anything_ to corroborate that story, or is just another conspiracy theory ? Any evidence regarding those Russian scientists ? Any evidence of any cooperation between Al Queda and Saddam Hussein ? Any friggin’ motive for Saddam Hussein to engage in this sort of attack on the US ? Any history of him doing so ? Any sign of those secret labs ? Any indication that mosques were used for this crime ? Any idea as to how Iraq got their hands on the Ames strain of Anthrax ?
> [@](#):
>
> Mailings of anthrax-contaminated letters were made by Al-Queda operatives, from public mailboxes around the USA…these mailings killed hundreds.
For low values of hundreds. Five, to be exact.
Unless - let me guess - there’s a _cover-up_.
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### Author:  [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2004, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814/3 "2004-09-30T08:48:29Z")
Samples of all of the different anthrax powders from mailings were cultured and characterized for genetic strains. All were members of the strain kept at the USDA labs in Iowa, and originating in the (US) southwest.
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### Author:  [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814/4 "2004-09-30T09:55:42Z")
:smack: Read the Return To Sender label
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### Author:  [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814/5 "2004-09-30T18:05:54Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> Will the story ever get out? :smack:
No.
You are a slave - to academic induced inculcated belief - an insidious entity, an evil which corrupts human mental ability to accept creation knowledge, as demonstrated in Cubicism[.](http://www.timecube.com)
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814/6 "2004-09-30T23:31:24Z")
> [@tygerbryght](#):
>
> Samples of all of the different anthrax powders from mailings were cultured and characterized for genetic strains. All were members of the strain kept at the USDA labs in Iowa, and originating in the (US) southwest.
Not that I’m giving the OP’s theory any credence, but is it at all possible that the Reagan admin gave anthrax from that strain to Saddam when he was our buddy?
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### Author:  [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814/7 "2004-09-30T23:42:15Z")
The OP’s theory is so far-fetched, even George W. Bush doesn’t use it as an excuse for the Iraq war. _That’s_ how way-out it is.
> [@Revtim](#):
>
> Not that I’m giving the OP’s theory any credence, but is it at all possible that the Reagan admin gave anthrax from that strain to Saddam when he was our buddy?
Doubtlessly someone who turned the anthrax over wrote down the identifying information for the strain(s) involved and noted when it was transferred to Iraqi control. Standard export compliance procedures and whatnot.
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### Author:  [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-anthrax-came-from-iraq/266814/8 "2004-10-01T00:34:24Z")
**ralph124c** , anthrax is not hard to come by. I would be willing to bet that if you collected soil samples in say a dozen areas frequented by cows and cultured them, you could find anthrax. Furthermore, if you had the technology to do something like brew beer, for instance, you could turn this sample into a shitload of anthrax. Do me a favor and read _Vector_ by Robin Cook.