On the trail of West Nile virus, with the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito,
which may be a bioweapon from Cuba and Iraq.
Posted on 09/23/2002 7:02:47 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
The United States supplied Saddam’s Hussein Iraq with the West Nile Virus, a recently released CDC letter proves. NewsMax.com has obtained a copy of a 1995 letter sent by Bill Clinton’s then Director of the the Centers for Disease Control , Dr. David Satcher, to Senator Donald Riegle. (You can view the actual letter by Clicking Here.)
Satcher, who would later become Surgeon General, identified the West Nile Virus as one of almost two dozen forms of viruses, retroviruses, bacteria, and fungi provided by the U.S. to Iraqi labs during the 1980s.
The sensational revelations adds more weight to allegations in NewsMax’s bestselling new book, "Catastrophe: Clinton’s Role In America’s Worst Disaster,” that claims West Nile was a form of bio terrorism aimed at the U.S.
Earlier this month, NewsMax reported that Senator Patrick Leahy described reports that West Nile was an act of bio-terror against the U.S. as "credible.” Leahy also suggested that the purpose of the attack was to test our defenses against a biological attack.
Now, Businessweek reports this week that Leahy is not alone, noting that "some congressional leaders are asking whether the mosquito-borne illness could be linked to terrorism or to Iraq's bioweapons program.”
As "Catastrophe” first outlined, there is compelling evidence, including a series of unusual coincidences, that adds credence to worries West Nile was used as a biological weapon.
For example, "Catastrophe" reveals that first outbreak of West Nile took place near the U.N. during the late 90s, at the same time the organization was vigorously seeking to enforce sanctions against the Iraqi regime.
"Catastrophe" also quotes a top Iraqi defector who reported in 1997 – before the first outbreak of West Nile here – that Saddam Hussein had bragged that he would unleash the West Nile virus against the U.S.
In his 1995 letter, Dr. Satcher informed Senator Riegle that the CDC gave Iraq biological agents, including the plague, West Nile, and dengue fever.
The CDC told Businessweek the transfer was not unusual and was in accordance with "World Health Organization guidelines that encouraged the free exchange of biological samples among medical researchers.”
The magazine also reported that the West Nile strain provided Iraq "is not the same strain provided to Iraq.”
But the Iraqi defector who first warned of the virus said Saddam told him he developed an unusual strain of the virus. Other experts have confirmed that Saddam has the ability to mutate viruses and other biological agents.
Also, after the first outbreak of the virus in New York City, then-Surgeon General David Satcher admitted that this particular strain of West Nile was unusual, and had appeared at the same time in only two other countries: Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia had also been strongly pressing for strong U.N. sanctions against Iraq.
So in Bill Clinton's world, WHO trumps national security. Great, just great.
I don't jump on NewsMax all that much, but this is a bit ripe.
On the trail of West Nile virus, with the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito,
which may be a bioweapon from Cuba and Iraq.
If the U.S. supplied Iraq with WNV in the 1980's, this may be one of those things that it's not quite fair to blame Clinton for.
If Leahy believes this, its probably untrue. That said, if it is proven to be true, it is grounds for deployment of a thermonuclear device upon Baghdad.....
"As many as 200,000 Americans have been exposed to West Nile virus since 1999"
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It is clear from today's news that the Administration is concerned about the possibility of the use of small pox as a bio weapon by Iraq. I hope someone at the CDC is looking at the effect of the small pox vaccine on a patient that was previously exposed to the West Nile virus.
. It is rumored, however, that undeclared stocks of smallpox virus may exist in a number of countries, including Russia, North Korea, and Iraq. The evidence in the public domain is circumstantial, such as the fact that Iraq and North Korea continue to vaccinate troops against smallpox.
Iraqi officials also admitted to U.N. weapons inspectors that they had conducted military research on a closely related virus called camelpox, which could have been used as a “surrogate” to develop production and dissemination techniques for smallpox virus
What's the deal with Illinois? Did they not heed the warnings over the past few years about West Nile?
If it needs to be done, I feel pretty confident that someone's doing it.
Before 9/11, I wouldn't have trusted the CDC to recognize a significant health risk until there was no one left to bury the dead. But, despite the public face they may have put on it, Bush and friends have been preparing to fight Iraq for over a year now. They knew from the onset that Hussein had bioweapons and an active research program, so I think they've been very careful to check out everything as thoroughly as possible. IMO, that's the only reason our troops aren't drinking coffee in downtown Baghdad now (though maybe a couple are :)
I can buy that the WNV was a test of the spread pattern or a warning, but I can't see it as an attack in itself. Unless it contains some ticking timebomb we haven't discovered yet, it was totally ineffective.
Due to Fidel's fascination with biowar, it could just as well have been a test by him.
Do you realize how unlikely this is? The name of the critter is "WEST NILE", not West Mississippi. It is endemic throughout the Middle East. Saddam's bio-weapons folks have likely been working on this for decades, and without any input at all from any US administration...
the infowarrior
Are you saying you believe the letter in #19 is a fake?
Without the ultimate details they have run with the story, much as Limbacher ran with the story of clinton's love child....without access to slick willie's DNA there never was any hope of proof.
In this case, they have added to the left's anti-war quivver.
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