Bush Hints Anthrax-bin Laden Link
By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON - President Bush cited a possible link Monday between Osama bin Laden and anthrax-tainted mail delivered to the Capitol complex and elsewhere, saying, "I wouldn't put it past him." Officials administered antibiotics to roughly 50 people as a precaution.
Bush made his comments as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld vigorously disputed claims of widespread civilian casualties in the eight-day aerial bombardment of Afghanistan, and signaled stepped up attacks against Taliban troops in the field.
"We hope to have improved targeting information in the period ahead," he said.
Rumsfeld also conceded the Taliban has aircraft and helicopters that "we have not gotten yet," despite an intensive assault that has included the full range of conventional American weaponry.
Nearly five weeks after terrorist attacks killed more than 5,000 in New York and Washington, the administration pressed its diplomatic effort to isolate those responsible. Bush greeted Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the White House, and Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Pakistan, next-door to Afghanistan and the site of anti-American protests since the American campaign began.
The capital was jolted by Bush's announcement that mail delivered to the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle had tested positive for anthrax earlier in the day.
"The letter was field-tested and the staffers that have been exposed are being treated," he said in a disclosure that followed the death of a Florida man from anthrax, the exposure of several other people in the same state and in New York and a swelling number of suspicious packages, spills and jitters elsewhere.
Asked whether he believes there was a connection between the anthrax deliveries and bin Laden, Bush said, "There may be some possible link. We have no hard data yet."
At the same time, he said bin Laden and "his spokesmen are openly bragging about how they hope to inflict more pain on our country."
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States is also investigating whether Iraq has any links to the anthrax cases. There is no evidence tying Saddam Hussein to the cases, the official said, but he has a record of producing and using biological weapons.
Daschle told reporters the tainted mail was delivered to his office in a Senate office building across the street from the Capitol. Lt. Don Nichols, a spokesman for the Capitol police, said a powdery substance found in the mail had tested positive for anthrax twice in preliminary tests. The substance was taken to Ft. Detrick., Md., for further testing, he said.
Dr. John Eisold, the Capitol physician, later told reporters that antibiotics had been given to an estimated 40 to 50 individuals who might have been exposed to anthrax, including staff members in the office, police officers and others. Daschle _ not among those given drugs _ said he could not go to the office because it was quarantined.
The disclosure spread concern throughout the Capitol complex - prompting officials to shut down the air ventilation system briefly in the building where the package was received, and leading them to warn all House and Senate offices to refrain from opening mail.
Nichols also announced that public tours of the Capitol had been suspended indefinitely, although he said there was no connection between that decision and the day's developments. He said the public galleries that ring the House and Senate chambers would remain open for individuals who obtain passes from their lawmakers.
Rumseld, fielding reporters' questions at the Pentagon, ridiculed Taliban claims of hundreds of civilian casualties in Afghanistan. The ruling militia escorted American journalists around a crater-pocked area near the village of Karam over the weekend to buttress their claim.
But the defense secretary said the targets in that case were underground caves suspected of being used to store weapons. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that a secondary fire touched off by the bomb "went on for three and a half to four hours."
Said Rumsfeld: "They were not cooking cookies inside those tunnels... You do not spend that kind of money and dig that far in and store that many weapons ... unless you have very serious purposes for doing it."
He said the individuals in the vicinity "clearly were connected to those activities."
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