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Anthrax scare set to become further PR blow to Islam
Cairo is not immune from global panic
by Tarek Atia
In Egypt, authorities have distributed gloves and masks to postal employees...
Millions are logging onto the FBI's website to take a peek at the infamous "anthrax" letters sent to a US senator and several US news organizations.. the letters are yet another public relations disaster for Islam...
(cairolive.com, October 24, 2001) Globally, anthrax fears are reaching a fever pitch -- and now the inevitable has happened, with even a White House mail facility reportedly targeted. George Bush says he doesn't have anthrax, but all across the world people are worrying who may be next in line to receive a letter tainted with white powder.
In Egypt, even though there hasn't been a case yet, "authorities have distributed gloves and masks to postal employees to protect them against the disease," reports Greg La Motte of Voice of America.
That's not for a lack of panicky reports. According to AP, "a building on the U.S. Embassy compound [in Cairo] was evacuated after cleaning staff found a powdery substance in two toilets. Experts from the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit in Egypt analyzed the powder and found no anthrax," the story says.
Al-Wafd reports that all incoming mail will be X-rayed upon entry into Egypt from now on. The x-ray machines have been installed at the Cairo airport branch of the post office, in order to ensure that all letters and packages coming into the country from abroad are free of anthrax and all other potentially damaging substances.
Al-Ahram reports that stricter regulatory measures are also being taken at all the nation's slaughterhouses to protect people from any possible animal-related anthrax contamination.
Meanwhile, thanks to the Drudge Report -- which featured the link
as its banner headline starting late Tuesday night -- millions are logging onto the FBI's website to take a peek at photos of the infamous "anthrax" letters sent to a US senator and several prominent US news organizations last week.
The letters are yet another public relations disaster for Islam. All are written in the same childish box-letter all-capital script, and contain nearly identical messages, such as:
"09-11-01
YOU CAN NOT STOP US.
WE HAVE THIS ANTHRAX.
YOU DIE NOW.
ARE YOU AFRAID?
DEATH TO AMERICA.
DEATH TO ISRAEL.
ALLAH IS GREAT."
The childish "nanny nanny boo boo" logic of the letters and simplistic us versus them nuance seems appropriate considering the return address on the one to Senator Daschle reads:
4TH GRADE
GREENDALE SCHOOL
FRANKLIN PARK, NJ 08852
As we've found out from press reports, that school doesn't really exist -- but the state -- New Jersey -- does and is widely known to be home to large numbers of Muslims and Arabs.
What's going on here exactly?
One can only hope that our worst fears -- as to who will be blamed for this latest attack -- don't come true.
Of course, with the way things have been going, somehow it seems inevitable that they will -- at least in some way.
And at that stage, all we can hope for is the best.
... Developing...
Browse our complete coverage of the Terror Aftermath
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