In 1998 police nationwide received reports from abortion clinics concerning mysterious envelopes that had arrived in the mail. Clinic personnel notified authorities immediately when they found that the envelopes contained stained pieces of paper bearing the message: "Anthrax. Have a nice death." Though terrified at first, the recipients of the envelopes calmed when lab tests determined the letters showed no trace of anthrax, a virulent disease that plagues livestock and can be equally fatal to humans. Authorities and clinic employees were convinced of a mass hoax, but subsequent sightings of these envelopes still prompted emergency phone calls. No one wanted to be the first victim of a "real" terrorist act. Hazardous material (hazmat) teams responded to every call, costing cities huge sums of money to address what was widely considered to be an empty threat.

The new threat

Journalists T. Trent Gegax and Mark Hosenball, in their Newsweek article...