ProMED: 2001 US Anthrax attacks back into unsolved category

[jjane]

Re: ProMED: 2001 US Anthrax attacks back into unsolved category

So I'm open to the possibility that even if Ivins did some anthrax mailings, he may have not been the sole perpetrator, or after reading the case file snippet below, especially the last sentence, perhaps he was totally innocent.

In Emily's document you will see the line:
Ivin's provided a copy of the denial of export to SA (blank) (big blank)

Coming from a counterterrorism background, I would like to suggest that the editor of the document assumed SA was "service agreement", when it could very well be abbreviated Sauudi Araabia.
The FBI was instructed to stay clear of that route in other cases for diplomatic reasons, not uncommon for the timeframe.

Emergent BioSolutions worked on an anthrax vaccine. Issued a warning in 1999 of the biological threats in the Midddlle Eaast (including SA) and vaccinated the US military personnel. They have the means.

Is there any possible connection?

[Laidback Al]

Re: ProMED: 2001 US Anthrax attacks back into unsolved category

In Emily's document you will see the line:
Ivin's provided a copy of the denial of export to SA (blank) (big blank)

Coming from a counterterrorism background, I would like to suggest that the editor of the document assumed SA was "service agreement", when it could very well be abbreviated Sauudi Araabia.
The FBI was instructed to stay clear of that route in other cases for diplomatic reasons, not uncommon for the timeframe.

Emergent BioSolutions worked on an anthrax vaccine. Issued a warning in 1999 of the biological threats in the Midddlle Eaast (including SA) and vaccinated the US military personnel. They have the means.

Is there any possible connection?

Most likely not. "SA" is either an individual's initials or an acronym e.g. Special Agent. The blank following SA most likely is the surname of an individual.

The image below is page 3 from the 1/23/2002 report in the link posted by Emily above. As you can see near the bottom of the page SA is always followed by a blank (surname?) and from the context it is clear that SA is an individual, not a Middle East country.

[Emily]

Re: ProMED: 2001 US Anthrax attacks back into unsolved category

I think Al is right that 'SA' is an acronym for 'special agent' or some other FBI title. The first page of the PDF says that 'SA [ redacted text missing]' is the contact for the investigative field squad.

Welcome and thanks for raising the question, jjane. I originally read the 'SA' to be a location abbreviation of some sort, too.