How Clinton Betrays Americans

The Anthrax Vaccine Scandals
It wasn't just idle words when Bill Clinton said he "loathed" the military. He has damaged U.S. Armed Services in so many ways that it's no wonder morale, recruitment and retention levels are at all-time lows.

Clinton has used the military to indulge in social experimentation to appease the feminists and gays, and in interventionist experimentation to please his globalist friends. He has also ordered medical experimentation through compulsory anthrax vaccination.

It adds up to a shocking betrayal of the men and women in the U.S. Armed Services. Since the Pentagon is in denial and coverup, we can thank CBS 60 Minutes for its February 6th exposé of the case of Major Sonnie Bates and thank Rep. Christopher Shays' (R-CT) Subcommittee on National Security of the House Government Reform Committee for its scathing report on the vaccine released February 17th. (http://www.house.gov/reform/ns/reports/anthrax1.pdf and reported in New York Times, 2-18-00)

Clinton responded to Congressional hearings by issuing Executive Order 13139 on September 30, 1999. It denies servicemen the right to refuse experimental vaccines that are "not yet approved by the FDA for its intended use," language that obviously covers the anthrax vaccine.

The 60 Minutes segment was a sympathetic portrayal of Major Bates, a 14-year decorated pilot and the highest ranking of some 300 servicemen who have been punished for refusing the vaccine, with penalties from prison to bad-conduct discharge to "correctional custody." The Pentagon then reduced the threat to court-martial Bates to a lesser punishment.

More than 1,000 servicemen with exemplary records are awaiting trial on a felony charge of refusing to take the anthrax shot. Hundreds more, including dozens of pilots described as "the cream of the crop," have left the services. Congressional testimony indicated that, for every one who reported vaccine reactions, three others did not report them because they feared that would be a career killer.

The lengthy report of the Shays Subcommittee concludes that the anthrax policy "lacks an essential element in a medical program: trust." The Pentagon's "absolutist declarations, heavy-handed propaganda, and ad hominem attacks" against those who question the policy are seen as another chapter in a long history of "military medical malfeasance" that includes lies about nuclear testing, Agent Orange, and Gulf War drugs and vaccines.

The long-term effects of the anthrax vaccine have never been studied, but the immediate reactions include autoimmune disorders, lesions, rashes, memory lapses, thyroid problems, blurred vision, inability to drive or read, crippling bone-joint pain, loss of concentration and chronic fatigue. The military has reacted by calling those affected liars, whiners, hypochondriacs, malingerers, hysterical, depressed, or in need of counseling.

The Shays report states that the anthrax vaccine is based on old (1950s-era) medical technology, a "dangerously narrow scientific and medical foundation." Currently, the "safety of the vaccine is not being monitored adequately." A newly built anthrax vaccine plant failed its FDA safety inspection on December 13, 1999. (Washington Post, 12-14-99)

According to the Shays report, even the "efficacy of the vaccine against biological warfare is uncertain. The vaccine was approved for protection against cutaneous (under the skin) infection in an occupational setting, not for use as mass protection against weaponized, aerosolized anthrax," which is how any enemy would use anthrax.

The sole and exclusive manufacturer of the anthrax vaccine, BioPort of Lansing, Michigan, has been cited repeatedly by the FDA for quality deficiencies. It not only has a checkered safety record, but also a checkered financial history.

The anthrax vaccine was originally produced by Michigan Biologics Products Institute. It was taken over in September 1998 by BioPort Corporation, a new company created by Intervac L.L.C., in which former Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral William J. Crowe owned 22.5 percent of the stock even though he hadn't invested a penny. (ABCNEWS.com, 3-12-99)

The very next month, BioPort was awarded a Department of Defense (DOD) contract valued at $25.7 million to produce anthrax vaccine. Crowe will be remembered as the former Joint Chiefs Chairman who endorsed Bill Clinton for President in 1992 and gave Clinton "cover" when his draft record was under attack.

On August 5, 1999, DOD agreed to pay BioPort nearly double the price specified in the contract: $49.8 million instead of $25.7 million, including advance payments of $18.7 million. DOD also indemnified MBPI/BioPort against all liability from adverse reactions because, according to Army Secretary Louis Caldera, the vaccine involves "unusually hazardous risks associated with the potential for adverse reactions in some recipients and the possibility that the desired immunological effect will not be obtained by all recipients."

It is particularly dangerous to require all service women to receive the anthrax shots since the Centers for Disease Control has warned that pregnant women should not be vaccinated "because it is not known whether the anthrax vaccine can cause fetal harm." (www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/anthrax_g.htm) Most military women are of childbearing age and at least 10% are pregnant at any one time.

The mandatory anthrax vaccination of 2.4 million members of the Armed Services should be terminated immediately. And all those who have had the courage to speak out against this policy, which doesn't pass the common-sense test, should be restored to duty and their convictions and punishment expunged from their records.

For more information please see: Vaccines