By Tim O'Shea

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Selling Anthrax to Iraq

Iraq began its buildup of anthrax in the 1980s.

They bought their starter germs from a company in Manassas, Virginia called American Type Culture Collection, continuing to do so as late as 1988. (Gulflink.org, 28 June 88; Germs, p 88) This company had obtained the anthrax samples as a result of original research done just up the road at Fort Detrick in the 1950s. American Type Culture (phone number 703 365-2700) specialized in variants of the original diseases - stronger versions.

Now why would we sell a lethal biological agent to Iraq, you might wonder. Because up till the late 1980s we considered Iraq an "ally" more or less - a buffer power between us and Iran. In CIA-speak, Iraq was an 'asset.' And their money was as green as anyone else's.

Surrealistically, it wasn't until 1989 that the US decided to stop biological weapons to foreign countries, including Iraq. (Miller p 89)

But they could still sell to any red-blooded American. In 1995 an Ohio civilian bought 3 vials of plague bacteria for $300 from this same company. (Danzig - JAMA) Get the picture? Economics rules, as always.

Getting back to Iraq here, in 1991 during the Gulf War, the CIA and the army began to freak out because they thought that Iraq had at least 3 biological agents ready to go as weapons. (Sanctity, p 125) And where did Iraq get these bugs from? From us, of course.

Yes, Iraq had the agents, but turning biological pathogens into weapons is something very sophisticated -- something only an advanced nation like the US could figure out. At that time, there was no evidence that Iraq had learned how to turn these agents it had purchased from us into mass weapons. (Germs, p105)

Nevertheless, DoD (Dept of Defense) paranoia fueled the panic to force vaccines on soldiers, even though Iraqis never used germ weapons. A lot of anxiety was created and the issue of vaccines became a political issue between the generals and the FDA.

There was an absurd amount of disagreement between the top brass: Schwarzkopf, Griffith, Cheney, Powell, etc. After the usual blustering, politicking, and measuring of external genitalia, the FDA finally gave DoD the OK to use the unproven, untested vaccine for anthrax, even though it was still in the experimental stage after 30 years, and even though it was known to be useless against the type of anthrax agents the Iraqis supposedly had. (Rockefeller)

Moreover, the vaccine was never licensed for aerosol exposure, which is the way that bioweapons are deployed. (p190 Miller)

Result of this collective idiocy with no one driving the bus: 80,000 cases of Gulf War Syndrome. (Rockefeller)

This is the exact type of reasoning and the exact same people that are bringing anthrax vaccine back today.

After the vaccine was approved, the original dosage recommendation was 6 shots over 18 months, which remains today. Why? Nobody knows. It was complete guesswork. ( p 190, Miller)

The Science of the Anthrax Vaccine

One expert on anthrax vaccine is certainly Meryl Nass, MD. Dr. Nass is an internationally acknowledged authority on biological warfare, and for the past 15 years has been extensively quoted and published in the top medical journals all over the world. From her very thoroughly documented website we find out the scientific and economic aspects of anthrax that we're not seeing in the daily Matrix media.

Anyone who expects salvation from anthrax vaccine is directed to that site for a reality check. A few of the highlights from Dr. Nass:

Before the Gulf War, the FDA permitted manufacturers to keep rotating old vaccine stocks from 1970. This includes anthrax vaccine.

Anthrax vaccine is an "investigational" vaccine. By FDA regulations, doses of investigational vaccines never expire!

The lots of vaccine produced by the Michigan facility are inconsistently powerful - some lots may be as much as 40x stronger than other lots!

The FDA did not require efficacy in humans in order to license anthrax vaccine.

The Department of Defense has spent $150 million studying Gulf War Syndrome. None of those studies even looked at the possibility of a connection between anthrax vaccine and Gulf War Syndrome even though that was one of the 3 vaccines given to Gulf War personnel.

The DoD said that it was impossible to do a study like that because "all records have been lost."

Dr Philip Pittman of Fort Detrick found that 44% of personnel who received anthrax and botulism vaccines had systemic reactions.

Kathlerine Zoon, the Director of the FDA's CBER, and the one who has final say in approving military anthrax vaccine recently stated:

"After these vaccines are licensed and administered, the safety and adverse reactions should be assessed."

Appalled by this cavalier, irresponsible attitude of an FDA director, Dr. Nass states:

"Ignoring Federal law, Dr. Zoon is suggesting that biowarfare vaccines be licensed and used on humans and only afterwards should their safety profile be ascertained. Should the military be given carte blanche to field biowarfare vaccines and then determine whether they cause adverse reactions...?

"Dr. Katherine Zoon, Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at FDA, who is in charge of assuring that federal laws are followed and that public health is protected with respect to vaccines, has forgotten where her primary responsibilities lie.

For advocating that vaccines be administered before their safety and adverse reactions are known she should immediately lose her job. "
- The Anthrax Vaccine Saga

In a Mar 2000 report to the DoD, the Institute of Medicine admitted that the few peer-reviewed studies on anthrax vaccine in humans did not evaluate adverse effects from multiple doses. Great news. So where are the studies substantiating the need for the current recommendation of 6 doses in 18 months? There are none!

Harmful Additives

One little item most researchers omit is the presence of a potent neurotoxin - aluminum hydroxide - in the only anthrax vaccine that now exists. (J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 2001;39:85-100)

The implications of injecting aluminum directly into the human bloodstream were discussed at length both in Blaylock's book Excitotoxins as well as in The Sanctity of Human Blood. Many of the symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome correlate exactly with well-known side effects of this neurologic poison.

Another scary component of anthrax vaccine is squalene, likely a biotoxin, which was a big media issue for several weeks. Notice how all that came and went? Well the squalene didn't. Squalene is an unapproved adjuvant discovered in the anthrax vaccine given during the Gulf War.

Work done at Tulane University by virologist Robert Garry, PhD actually used squalene antibodies as a marker for Gulf War Syndrome. (Metcalf) Congressman Jack Metcalf exposed the DoD's efforts to hide the presence of squalene in anthrax vaccine from the public.

As it sparks an immune response, squalene has been correlated with arthritis and neurological problems through a mechanism of autoimmunity. (The Extra Pharmaacopeia, p 233)

Vaccine Monopoly

Keep in mind that since 1998 one company has the exclusive license to produce anthrax vaccine for the military: Bioport.

Dr Nass points out some annoying data about Bioport's current inventory of anthrax vaccine:

"All 6-7 million vaccine doses now held by Bioport have up till now been
unapproved for human use. They fall into one of the following three categories:

1. Lots which the FDA quarantined because of significant manufacturing lapses, which include among others inadequate potency, contamination by gasket material and lack of sterility (and they may be up to eleven years old, having expired several times and been redated with only cursory testing)

2. Lots for which former Secretary of Defense Cohen ordered 'supplemental testing' to assure potency, purity, safety and sterility -- and which failed this test battery on at least two occasions. These lots also may be up to eleven years old.

3. Lots which were produced by the pilot plant after it was rebuilt, but during a period when FDA did not approve the procedures used. This led to some vaccine being sent to Washington State for bottling, as Bioport's bottling suite could not assure sterility. But some lots were bottled in Bioport's unacceptable suite. These lots are up to two years old. "

- 1 Nov 01 Anthrax Bioterrorism Meryl Nass MD

Before we take a closer look at Bioport, it may be helpful to have just a brief overview of

The Politics of Anthrax Vaccine

When we read the daily nonsense in the paper about the necessity for anthrax vaccine, one fact is conveniently left out: the original 1970 FDA license for the vaccine given to the Michigan facility drew no distinction whatsoever between the skin form and the inhaled form of the disease. In other words, the vaccine wasn't licensed FOR anything; it was just licensed. (Gilbreath)

It is also inconceivable that no federal agency is doing any research whatsoever to understand what is wrong with the vaccine, nor are there any studies currently under way to learn about the post-vaccine illnesses and how they can be treated.

After the Gulf War vaccine disasters, the political controversy waved back and forth all through the mid 1990s about whether or not to keep vaccinating the armed forces. Yak yak yak. The rationale was never about health complications, side effects, or whether the vaccine worked.

In 1995 Gen Ron Griffith, vice chief of the army, was against anthrax vaccines, not because they were dangerous or ineffective but because it would make alliances with other countries more difficult - you know, 'our guys are protected and yours aren't' kinda thing ... (Miller p 195)

As we will see, the entire notion of anthrax vaccine has been totally political and had nothing to do with science. Why? Because in reality there has never been nor is there now an effective vaccine against weaponized anthrax. It doesn't exist, and it almost certainly will never exist.

The reason is simple, as Dr. Nass explains - the enemy can simply alter the strain of the germ agent slightly by genetic engineering. This will defeat the vaccine.

Even Congress figured that out:

"The anthrax vaccination.. is a well intentioned but overwrought response to the threat of anthrax as a biological weapon.... their reason for the inadequacy of anthrax vaccine: gene splicing to create vaccine-resistant strains of anthrax." (Burton, Apr 2000)

Six months later the Pentagon itself saw other problems with the vaccine. A 2000 study at the National Academy of Sciences, requested by the Pentagon, concluded that there was insufficient and inadequate evidence to be able to tell whether or not anthrax vaccine caused long-term health problems. All the pertinent science totaled only "a few short-term studies." (Institute of Medicine, 30 Mar 00)

The study stated that the Pentagon had been relying all this time upon incomplete research done on 1500 employees of Fort Detrick in order to decide if the vaccine were safe and effective. Suddenly they noticed after all these years that they forgot to ask the subjects questions about long-term symptoms! In addition, they didn't question anyone who had left the company.

This fact flies in the face of the pompous claims made in a recent issue of JAMA (12 Nov 01) about the vaccine's proven efficacy in humans: those Ft. Detrick employees are the same ones JAMA cites!

But politics never lets a little thing like physical reality stand in the way when there's power and money involved. Since the time of Edward Jenner, vaccines have been a source of massive revenues, especially in situations involving groups of people with little or no rights, such as military personnel.

Bioport - The Golden Goose That Lays No Eggs

Let's take a quick look at who this Bioport is, and see what kind of an outfit would buy a state-owned operation with a 7-year track record of failure. After 7 years of problems, the state of Michigan considered the Lansing facility a losing proposition, overburdened with problems. Michigan was very happy to unload it to Bioport in 1998.

Considering the facility's past, it's amazing that anyone in his right mind would view the production of anthrax vaccine as a good business venture. It's more than amazing: it's highly suspicious. For starters, the facility had not produced any vaccine since the Gulf War.

Why not?

Because they could never pass the periodic FDA inspections for safety, purity, and production protocols.

For example, anthrax work was supposed to be done at Biosafety Level 3. What they were doing could scarcely pass level 2. (Miller p 199) Such safety levels are illustrated in Dustin Hoffman's 1996 movie Outbreak.

When the demand for anthrax vaccine was raised by the military in 1991, they approached every one of the pharmaceutical companies for help. No one wanted to take it on because the army would not indemnify the producer of the vaccine. This is why by 1998 the Michigan facility still held the only contract: no one else wanted it.

A 1997 FDA report on the Michigan facility shows numerous violations, including

• rusting equipment
  
• failure to clean and sanitize utensils
  
• dead insects in clean room

  - Nass - Saga

Exactly who is Bioport? The current CEO of Bioport is Fuad El Hibri, a Saudi national. Most of the stock of the company is owned El Hibri's family. This is not a joke, and can be easily verified by checking the citation below wherein El Hibri identifies himself to the 106th Congress.

El Hibri is at the top of a huge Saudi conglomerate, diversified into many areas of commerce, controlling billions of dollars. So why would an internationally savvy billionaire want to take a chance on this disaster of a company, a venture that all the pharmaceutical companies themselves had turned down when pursued by the US military? Well let's see if we can piece this little puzzle together.

The DoD decided to start vaccinating all military personnel again in 1998, using the same anthrax vaccine from the Gulf War. The exclusive contract to produce that vaccine was transferred to Bioport, just before that decision came out.

Such a contract with Bioport would generate at least $60 million over a five year period. In order for the Saudis to get wind of the amazing opportunity before it took shape, they needed an insider. In Apr 1999, ABC News ran an article that reported that the founder of Bioport was Former Joint Chief of Staff member Adm.

William Crowe, who holds 13% of Bioport's stock. (Rosenberg) Crowe obviously had connections at the Pentagon to alert him to their new decision to vaccinate for anthrax. Crowe and El Hibri - the ancient marriage of military and industry - till death do us part.

The Pentagon finally resumed vaccinating all US troops for anthrax in March 1998, after talking about it for 7 years. (p 244, Germs )

What kind of volume are we talking about? Since 1998, the U.S. military has administrated 2.1 million doses of the vaccine to 521,000 people, said Army Lt. Col. John Grabenstein, deputy director of the Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program Agency.

A full vaccination requires six doses administered over 18 months. Eventually, the Pentagon expects to vaccinate 2.3 million service members, Grabenstein said. (CNN, 26 Oct 01)

Now if the state-owned facility had been unproductive for all those years, and if Bioport itself has not produced any salable doses then where did all these doses come from? The scary answer: stockpiles. Old stuff. This is one reason why there have been over 400 personnel who have refused anthrax vaccine no matter what the consequences.

By mid 2001 hundreds of reserve pilots quit the military rather than be vaccinated for anthrax. In addition, over 400 military personnel faced courtmartial, imprisonment and discharge rather than take the anthrax vaccine. In all there were 51 court-martials. (majorbates.com, Miller p 269)

Not that Bioport cares one way or the other about the fate of the recipients of their vaccine. A recent report by NBC news (Avila) pointed out:

"Adverse reactions to anthrax vaccine, even fatal ones, are not investigated by Bioport."

OK, we can see the money motive for Bioport taking over. But what about the production problems? A 1998 FDA inspection at the time of purchase turned up shortcomings in every stage of production. Why did Bioport think they could succeed in meeting vaccine quotas when Michigan state had been unable to produce for all those years?

This is the brilliant part - one really has to admire Bioport's genius and resourcefulness. They don't have to produce. They would operate at a loss, make excuses, and get subsidies from the military to tide them over. And they could still keep all the old vaccine stockpiles from the original facility because by law, investigational drugs never expire.

And since approval is only politics and not science, eventually all these pesky FDA inspections would get ironed out and they could sell the bogus lots. Hell, the vaccine can't possibly work anyway, so what difference does it make what's in it?

Subsidized by the government, founded by a professional troughsman, Bioport knew how government facilities should act: shuck and jive, delay, and make excuses. And ask for handouts. And that's exactly what they did.

Since they took over, Bioport has been plagued with "production problems." They have consistently failed to pass every FDA inspection, for reasons such as hygiene, safety, purity, efficacy. An amazing list of original FDA inspection reports can be viewed at http://www.gulflink.org/Vaers/inspection.htm.

Again, since 1998 Bioport has not produced one saleable dose of vaccine. Until very recently when the shots were suspended, the military were receiving the old stockpiled doses. A 26 Oct 2001 article from CNN reported the CDC stating that Bioport's current stock

"of vaccine equals "about 10,000 doses."

- Cohen & Garrett

That same CNN article has Bioport making the ridiculous promise to produce 1 million doses of anthrax vaccine in the next year! Considering this company's track record, Bioport has about as much chance of meeting that quota as Michael Jackson has of winning the Preakness.

As with any unregulated organism, these "production problems" continued unabated. Finally, the total disregard for FDA protocols led to suspension of anthrax vaccine production in 2001. At that time all doses were coming from old stock - Bioport still hadn't produced even one dose.

You keep reading all these details about anthrax vaccine in Dr. Nass's research, in Rep. Burton's Congressional investigation in 2000, and in Miller's book Germs and it finally dawns on you: obviously there is some big financial motivation to keep funding this company as long as it remains unproductive.

The less it produces, the more money it gets. Who would benefit from such a set -up? Gee, let's think about it...the owners, the stockholders, the employees, the middlemen in the float transactions ...it's millions. The history of the production of anthrax vaccine since the Gulf War reads like a treatment for a new Coen brothers movie.

Administration of the vaccine is slated to resume very soon into 2002, but don't hold your breath. It's the standard formula with any government operation: keep emphasizing the importance of the program, the threat of disease, and that the only solution is to continue subsidizing the illusion of future production. Poetry in motion.

Continued on Page 3

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