AIDS AND ANTHRAX
"Another nation could be attacked surreptitiously, and who could
tell whether a new epidemic was natural or the result of
biological warfare?"
-- Wall Street Journal
What is true for epidemics that we *might* have in the future is just
as true for new epidemics that *have* appeared, in the last few decades.
When we think of biological warfare, more people think of anthrax
than of AIDS. Actually, anthrax is a good example to highlight some
key points about the origin of AIDS.
Not many people are aware of a connection between AIDS and anthrax
in the chronology of human events. In the very same period of time
(1979-1981) when gay men were being innoculated with experimental
hepatitis vaccines, and the first cases of AIDS were breaking out
simultaneously, there were some other interesting events taking place in
this wicked world of ours.
The largest recorded outbreak of anthrax in humans also occurred,
in Zimbabwe, during its civil war, in 1979 and 1980. [1]
Also, in 1979, there was an outbreak of anthrax in the Russian city
of Sverdlovsk. This is the city where Czar Nicholas II and his
family were executed, after the Russian Revolution [2]
Were all of these incidents natural occurrences?
Even though anthrax is commonly associate with biowar and bioterror,
it *can* be perfectly natural. It is not difficult to recover spores from
nature- it can be found in cow pastures.
Indeed, the Soviet government blamed the outbreak as being the result of
bad meat, and bad hygiene.
The problem is, the Soviet government lied. Decades later, the Yeltsin
government admitted a dark secret that we otherwise might never have
known- the outbreak was an accident from a biowar lab.
The fact that anthrax is "natural" does not mean that it is not subject to
additional manipulation in laboratories. The natural disease agent is
modified, made more potent, and weaponized. A disease agent does
not need to be completely "man-made", to be involved in biological war.
At a secretive military base called "Compound 19", there was a production
line producing tons of anthrax. One April morning, a small amount of
dust was accidentally released through the ventilation system. [2]
The result was scores of tombstones all bearing the same April dates,
lungs that looked like jelly, hemorrhaging brains that looked like a
cardinal's hat.
What of the Zimbabwe AIDS outbreak? It was "unusual" in a great
many respects [1]. Usually, anthrax outbreaks are very localized.
This outbreak occurred over a wide area, but occurred almost entirely
in areas assigned to blacks, skipping white-owned areas.
None of Zimbabwe's neighboring countries had an increase in anthrax.
In a 1967 Sterne's map of worldwide anthrax incidence, Zimbabwe
had been placed in the lowest category.
In cattle, the disease spread in a way that cannot be accounted for
by either insect vectors or transport of infected meat.
In the same time period, there were documented incidents of
other chemical weapons being used, such as organophosphates,
which are very common as chemical warfare agents.
The reference [2] cited below gives a very lengthy and detailed
analysis, with contributions from a dozen M.D.'s and PhD's, all
pointing to a high suspicion of biological warfare.
Actually, these three incidents are not the only ones to characterize
the 70's and 80's. In Cuba, there was a huge outbreak
of dengue fever, also alleged in Congressional testimony to be
biowar inspired (I have previously documented this).
In China, there were two epidemics of hemorrhagic fever.
Kanatjan Alibekov, now known as Ken Alibek was a deputy
director in the huge Soviet biowar program [3]. "Our analysts",
said Alibek, concluded that they were caused by an accident
in a lab where Chinese scientists were weaponizing viral
diseases."
Of course, China had meanwhile signed the same 1972 ban
on biological weapons that the U.S. and Russia had signed.
In the case of the Russian outbreak, the only evidence that
an ordinary citizen might have had, was the simple fact that
the unusual outbreak happened near a facility that was reputed
to be in the business of biowar research.
What about America? Were they any strange outbreaks of
unusual diseases, near to similar, alleged facilities, in this same
time period?
The next installment, continuing in August, will answer that question.
Tom Keske
Boston, Mass
[1] Anthrax Epizootic in Zimbabwe, 1978-1980: Due to Deliberate
Spread? by Meryl Nass, M.D.
http://mars.healthnet.org/MGS/NassPSRQ2-4.html
[2] http://www.tv.cbc.ca/national/pgminfo/redlies/index.html
[3] "Defector Tells of Soviet and Chinese Germ Weapons",
by William J Broad and Judith Miller
