The Anthrax Attacks – In the Shadow of 9/11 – Review
95 minutes, TV-MA
Written and Directed by Dan Krauss
Synopsis:
Days after 9/11, letters containing fatal anthrax spores spark panic and tragedy in the US. Through interviews and reenactments, this documentary tells the story of the FBI investigation, and the man thought to be behind the attacks.
An entire generation of Americans has now grown up post-9/11 and has no idea what it was like to live through that. Heck, some of them probably believe the US deserved it somehow.
Those people are morons.
But this documentary isn’t about that heinous and cowardly attack; rather, it’s about the weeks following when a “powdery substance” (a phrase you still hear the media use on occasion when a suspicious package it delivered somewhere “important”) began to arrive on the desks of lawmakers and other powerbrokers.
An actual, lethal, biological attack was made using the United States Postal Service as the method of delivery.
I’ll be honest, I feel like 95 minutes isn’t really enough to cover the anxiety and paranoia that was running roughshod across the nation during this period, but trust me, it was pervasive. As for the investigation, it’s funny how quickly law enforcement can work when the victim is someone of importance.
Shouldn’t they always be so Johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to investigation?
Regardless, the FBI attacked this problem with a speed appropriate to the threat level, and quickly began to suss out where the source of the Anthrax might have been.
The documentary does a good job of using reenactments to illustrate the investigate style and limitations the FBI had, and doesn’t shy away from boldly exposing their missteps, as occured in the 1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Park bombing when Richard Jewell was focused on early, to the detriment of other leads.
In the case of the Anthrax attacks, that focus fell on bioweapons expert Steven Hatfill, who was, eventually, cleared, but only after a nightmarish existence of having to publicly defend himself despite not being charged with anything. This vilification only happened because his name wound up in the hands of the media, whose mantra of “be first, whether you’re right or not” is still the guiding star of most of those outlets.
It’s right up there with “if it bleeds, it leads.”
Shameful.
In the case of the FBI, the need to close a case came first, while getting it right was a clear second. The tunnel-vision of the investigators cost invaluable time which could have led them to a correct result.
Instead, the case is never conclusively solved, though the likely perpetrator was likely identified, but who ultimately took their own life as the investigation focused more tightly on them.
What then, had Steven Hatfill broken under that early, incorrect pressure and done the same? Might the case have been closed with his name attached in perpetuity and, ultimately, wrongly?
The Anthrax Attacks – In the Shadow of 9/11 is a critical piece of history all Americans should watch, not simply for the reminder of the crime, but the reminder that investigators often have their own agendas which can run counter to reality, either intentionally or accidentally.
And don’t even start on the way the US Postal Service folks were treated–or not!–during this whole escapade.
Shameful x2.
The Anthrax Attacks – In the Shadow of 9/11 will be available exclusively on Netflix beginning September 8 and features Clark Gregg during some re-enactment scenes.
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